Snowpack Meltwater Research Articles

Solving Richards Equation for snow improves snowpack meltwater runoff estimations in detailed multi-layer snowpack model

Abstract. The runoff from a snow cover during spring snowmelt or rain-on-snow events is an important factor in the hydrological cycle. In this study, three water balance schemes for the 1 dimensional physically-based snowpack model SNOWPACK are compared to lysimeter measurements at two alpine sites with a seasonal snow cover, but with different climatological conditions: Weissfluhjoch (WFJ) and Col de Porte (CDP). The studied period consists of 14 and 17 yr, respectively. The schemes include a simple bucket-type approach, an approximation of Richards Equation (RE), and the full RE. The results show that daily sums of snowpack runoff are strongly related to a positive energy balance of the snow cover and therefore, all water balance schemes show very similar performance in terms of Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) coefficients (around 0.63 and 0.72 for WFJ and CDP, respectively) and r2 values (around 0.83 and 0.72 for WFJ and CDP, respectively). An analysis of the runoff dynamics over the season showed that the bucket-type and approximated RE scheme release meltwater slower than in the measurements, whereas RE provides a better agreement. Overall, solving RE for the snow cover yields the best agreement between modelled and measured snowpack runoff, but differences between the schemes are small. On sub-daily time scales, the water balance schemes behave very differently. In that case, solving RE provides the highest agreement between modelled and measured snowpack runoff in terms of NSE coefficient (around 0.48 at both sites). At WFJ, the other water balance schemes loose most predictive power, whereas at CDP, the bucket-type scheme has an NSE coefficient of 0.39. The shallower and less stratified snowpack at CDP likely reduces the differences between the water balance schemes. Accordingly, it can be concluded that solving RE for the snow cover improves several aspects of modelling snow cover runoff, especially for deep, sub-freezing snow covers and in particular on the sub-daily time scales. The additional computational cost was found to be in the order of a factor of 1.5–2.

How relevant is the deposition of mercury onto snowpacks? – Part 1: A statistical study on the impact of environmental factors

Abstract. A portion of the highly toxic methylmercury that bioaccumulates in aquatic life is created from mercury entering bodies of water with snowpack meltwater. To determine the importance of meltwater as a source of aquatic mercury, it is necessary to understand the environmental processes that govern the behavior of snowpack-related mercury. In this study we investigate relationships among 5 types of snowpack-related mercury observations and 20 model environmental variables. The observation types are the 24-h fractional loss of mercury from surface snow, and the concentrations of mercury in surface snow, seasonal snowpacks, the snowpack meltwater's ionic pulse, and long-term snowpack-related records. The model environmental variables include those related to atmospheric mercury, insolation, wind, atmospheric stability, snowpack physical characteristics, atmospheric pressure, and solid precipitation. Bivariate and multiple linear regressions were performed twice for each mercury observation type: once with all observations, and once excluding observations from locations where the snowpack's burden of oxidizing and stabilizing halogens is known or presumed to affect snowpack mercury. Since no observations from long-term snowpack-related records were considered affected by halogens, this group of observations was included with the sets of uninfluenced observations and was not discussed with the complete, original sets of observations. When all observations are included, only 37% of their variability can be explained, on average, with significance confidence levels averaging 81%; a separate regression model predicts each mercury observation type. Without the influence of halogens, the regression models are able to explain an average of 79% of the observations' variability with significance confidence levels averaging 97%. The snowpack-related mercury observations are most strongly controlled by the dry and wet depositions of oxidized mercury, and by precipitation. Mercury deposited through wet processes is more strongly retained by snowpacks than mercury deposited through dry processes. Revolatilization of mercury deposited through wet processes may be inhibited through burial by fresh snowfalls and/or by its more central location, compared to that of mercury deposited through dry deposition, within snowpack snow grains. The two depositions of oxidized mercury together explain 84% of the variability in observed concentrations of mercury in surface snow, 52% of the variability of observed concentrations of mercury in seasonal snowpacks and their meltwater's ionic pulse, and only 20% of the variability of observed concentrations of mercury in long-term snowpack-related records; other environmental controls seemingly gain in relevance as time passes. The concentration of mercury in long-term records is apparently primarily affected by latitude; both the primary sources of anthropogenic mercury and the strong upper-level zonal winds are located in the midlatitudes.

How relevant is the deposition of mercury onto snowpacks? – Part 2: A modeling study

Abstract. An unknown fraction of mercury that is deposited onto snowpacks is revolatilized to the atmosphere. Determining the revolatilized fraction is important since mercury that enters the snowpack meltwater may be converted to highly toxic bioaccumulating methylmercury. In this study, we present a new dynamic physically-based snowpack/meltwater model for mercury that is suitable for large-scale atmospheric models for mercury. It represents the primary physical and chemical processes that determine the fate of mercury deposited onto snowpacks. The snowpack/meltwater model was implemented in Environment Canada's atmospheric mercury model GRAHM. For the first time, observed snowpack-related mercury concentrations are used to evaluate and constrain an atmospheric mercury model. We find that simulated concentrations of mercury in both snowpacks and the atmosphere's surface layer agree closely with observations. The simulated concentration of mercury in both in the top 30 cm and the top 150 cm of the snowpack, averaged over 2005–2009, is predominantly below 6 ng L−1 over land south of 66.5° N but exceeds 18 ng L−1 over sea ice in extensive areas of the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay. The average simulated concentration of mercury in snowpack meltwater runoff tends to be higher on the Russian/European side (>20 ng L−1) of the Arctic Ocean than on the Canadian side (<10 ng L−1). The correlation coefficient between observed and simulated monthly mean atmospheric surface-level gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) concentrations increased significantly with the inclusion of the new snowpack/meltwater model at two of the three stations (midlatitude, subarctic) studied and remained constant at the third (arctic). Oceanic emissions are postulated to produce the observed summertime maximum in concentrations of surface-level atmospheric GEM at Alert in the Canadian Arctic and to generate the summertime volatility observed in these concentrations at both Alert and Kuujjuarapik on subarctic Hudson Bay, Canada. We find that the fraction of deposited mercury that is revolatilized from snowpacks increases with latitude from 39% between 30 and 45° N, to 57% from 45 to 60° N, 67% from 60 to 66.5° N, and 75% polewards of 66.5° N on an annual basis. Combining this latitudinal gradient with the latitudinally increasing coverage of snowpacks causes yearly net deposition as a fraction of gross deposition to decrease from 98% between 30 and 45° N to 89% between 45 and 60° N, 73% between 60 and 66.5° N, and 44% within the Arctic Circle. The yearly net deposition and net accumulation of mercury at the surface within the Arctic Circle north of 66.5° N are estimated at 153 and 117 Mg, respectively. We calculate that 58 and 50 Mg of mercury are deposited annually to the Arctic Ocean directly and indirectly via melting snowpacks, respectively. For terrestrial surfaces within the Arctic Circle, we find that 29 and 16 Mg of mercury are deposited annually directly and indirectly via melting snowpacks, respectively. Within the Arctic Circle, multi-season snowpacks on land and over sea ice gained, on average, an estimated 0.1 and 0.4 Mg yr−1 mercury, respectively, from 2000–2005. The developed snowpack/meltwater model can be used for investigating the impact of climate change on the snowpack/atmosphere exchange of mercury.

Stream water hydrochemistry as an indicator of carbon flow paths in Finnish peatland catchments during a spring snowmelt event

Extreme hydrological events are known to contribute significantly to total annual carbon export, the largest of which in Arctic and boreal catchments is spring snowmelt. Whilst previous work has quantified the export of carbon during snowmelt, the source of the carbon remains unclear. Here we use cation hydrochemistry to trace the primary flowpaths which govern the export of carbon during the snowmelt period; specifically we aim to examine the importance of snowpack meltwater to catchment carbon export. The study was carried out in two forested peatland (drained and undrained) catchments in Eastern Finland. Both catchments were characterised by base-poor stream water chemistry, with cation concentrations generally decreasing in response to increasing discharge. Streamflow during the snowmelt period was best described as a mixture of three sources: pre-event water, snowpack meltwater and a third dilute component we attribute to the upper snow layer which was chemically similar to recent precipitation. Over the study period, pre-event water contributed 32% and 43% of the total stream runoff in Välipuro (undrained) and Suopuro (drained), respectively. The results also suggest a greater near-surface throughflow component in Suopuro, the drained catchment, prior to snowmelt. CO 2 and DOC concentrations correlated positively with cation concentrations in both catchments indicating a common, peat/groundwater flowpath. CH 4 concentrations were significantly higher in the drained catchment and appeared to be transported in near-surface throughflow. Meltwater from the snowpack represented an important source of stream water CO 2 in both catchments, contributing up to 49% of total downstream CO 2 export during the study period. We conclude that the snowpack represents a potentially important, and often overlooked, transient carbon store in boreal snow-covered catchments.

Winter and summer nitrous oxide and nitrogen oxides fluxes from a seasonally snow-covered subalpine meadow at Niwot Ridge, Colorado

The soil emission rates (fluxes) of nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitrogen oxides (NO + NO2 = NO x ) through a seasonal snowpack were determined by a flux gradient method from near-continuous 2-year measurements using an automated system for sampling interstitial air at various heights within the snowpack from a subalpine site at Niwot Ridge, Colorado. The winter seasonal-averaged N2O fluxes of 0.047–0.069 nmol m−2 s−1 were ~15 times higher than observed NO x fluxes of 0.0030–0.0067 nmol m−2 s−1. During spring N2O emissions first peaked and then dropped sharply as the soil water content increased from the release of snowpack meltwater, while other gases, including NO x and CO2 did not show this behavior. To compare and contrast the winter fluxes with snow-free conditions, N2O fluxes were also measured at the same site in the summers of 2006 and 2007 using a closed soil chamber method. Summer N2O fluxes followed a decreasing trend during the dry-out period after snowmelt, interrupted by higher values related to precipitation events. These peaks were up to 2–3 times higher than the background summer levels. The integrated N2O-N loss over the summer period was calculated to be 1.1–2.4 kg N ha−1, compared to ~0.24–0.34 kg N ha−1 for the winter season. These wintertime N2O fluxes from subniveal soil are generally higher than the few previously published data. These results are of the same order of magnitude as data from more productive ecosystems such as fertilized grasslands and high-N-cycling forests, most likely because of a combination of the relatively well-developed soils and the fact that subnivean biogeochemical processes are promoted by the deep, insulating snowpack. Hence, microbially mediated oxidized nitrogen emissions occurring during the winter can be a significant part of the N-cycle in seasonally snow-covered subalpine ecosystems.

Spatio-temporal variation of stable isotopes of river waters, water source identification and water security in the Heishui Valley (China) during the dry-season

Spatial variations of delta D and delta O-18 among seven tributaries and their water sources were investigated in the Heishui Valley of the Yangtze River, China during the dry-season in 2004. A one-way ANOVA (analysis of variation) test showed that both delta D (p < 0.01) and delta O-18 (p = 0.045) spatially varied among the seven tributaries. The plot of delta O-18 versus delta D for the river water collected at different locations showed that isotopic fractionation occurred during the snow and glacial melting process. The depleted delta O-18 and delta D in the tributary waters distributed above the local meteoric water line (LMWL) suggested that the glacial and early snowpack meltwater largely recharged these streams during the early spring. The meltwater was isotopically distinguishable from the precipitation and river water, which had been evaporated during warmer and drier times. If glaciers and snow accumulation diminish with future climate warming, the recharge of these tributaries' baseflow will decline and the security of the water resource in this watershed will be threatened.

Hydrologic and biotic control of nitrogen export during snowmelt: A combined conservative and reactive tracer approach

Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) stored in the snowpack are important sources of N in snow‐covered ecosystems, yet we have limited knowledge of their fate during the melt period. Our objective was to quantify the role of hydrologic and biogeochemical processes in regulating stream fluxes of DIN (NO3− + NH4+) and DON in a forest‐dominated and a wetland‐dominated catchment during the snowmelt period. We combined isotopic hydrograph separation with concurrent measurements of meltwater DIN and DON to calculate “conservative” N export (hydrologic mixing only) and compared it with “reactive” N export (i.e., observed fluxes that include biogeochemical processes). On balance, N was retained in the catchments during snowmelt because of storage of meltwater N in soils, but our N export comparison revealed N generation (mostly as DON) from the mobilization of dissolved organic matter. In contrast, NO3−, which was highly enriched in snowpack meltwater, remained below detection in streams, and both catchments were sinks for NO3−, suggesting that denitrification and/or uptake may be important at the catchment scale. Over the melt period, the forest catchment was a greater total N source because of the convergence of lateral flow and near‐stream riparian N sources in surface soils, which elevated stream DON and to a lesser extent NH4+. In contrast, preferential flow in the wetland catchment tended to dilute DIN in saturated peatland soils and in the stream, whereas DON varied little over time. These findings highlight the importance of hydrologic processes that store meltwater N in catchment soils but at the same time deliver DON from riparian sources to the stream. Further, model results suggest that biotic uptake and/or sorption effectively retain much of the meltwater DIN from the snowpack. Collectively, hydrologic storage and biogeochemical processes act to retain N that is likely important for boreal ecosystem production later in the spring and summer seasons.

An arctic terrestrial food-chain bioaccumulation model for persistent organic pollutants.

A model representing the bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in arctic terrestrial mammalian food-chains is developed, parametrized, tested, and analyzed. The model predicts concentrations of POPs in lichen, caribou (Rangifer tarandus), and wolf (Canis lupus) food-chains of Canada's central and western arctic region from measured concentrations in air and snowpack meltwater. The model accounts for temporal and seasonal variation in diet composition, life-stage, body weight, and fat content over the life-span of the animal. Model predicted concentrations of 25 organic chemicals forecasted for caribou and wolves from Cambridge Bay (69 degrees 07' N 105 degrees 03' W), Inuvik (68 degrees 18' N 133 degrees 29' W) and Bathurst Inlet (64 degrees 15' N 113 degrees 07' W) are shown to be in good agreement with the observed data. The model illustrates a strong relationship between biomagnification factors and chemical K(OA) and illustrates the effect of age, sex, and temperature on POPs bioaccumulation. Model results show that POPs with K(OA)s < 10(5) do not biomagnify in arctic terrestrial food-chains, while substances that exhibit log K(OA)s > 5 and also exhibit a log K(OW) > 2, show significant bioaccumulation in arctic terrestrial food-chains. The model shows that persistent low K(OW) (K(OW)s < 10(5)) but high K(OA) substances such as beta-HCH, 1,2,4,5 tetrachlorobenzene, and beta-endosulfan biomagnify in terrestrial mammals.

Seasonal evolution of meltwater generation, storage and discharge at a non‐temperate glacier in Svalbard

AbstractIn glacierized catchments, meteorological inputs driving surface melting are translated into runoff outputs mediated by the glacier hydrological system: analysis of the relationship between meteorology and diurnal and seasonal patterns of runoff should reflect the functioning of that system, with the role of meltwater storage likely to be of particular importance. Daily meltwater storage is determined for a glacier at 78 °N in the Svalbard archipelago, by comparing inputs calculated from a surface energy balance model with measured outputs (proglacial discharge). Solar radiation, air temperature, wind speed and proglacial discharge are then analysed by regression and time‐series methods, in order to assess the meteorology–discharge relationship and its variation at diurnal and seasonal time‐scales. The recorded discharge time‐series can be divided into two contrasting intervals: up to early August, proglacial discharge was high and variable, mean hydrographs showed little indication of diurnal cycling, ARIMA models of discharge indicated a non‐seasonal, moving‐average generating process, and there was a net loss of meltwater from storage; from early August, proglacial discharge was low and relatively invariable, but with clearer diurnal cycles, regression models of discharge showed substantially improved correlations with air temperature and solar radiation, ARIMA models indicated a non‐seasonal, autoregressive generating process, and eventually a seasonal component, and there was a net gain in meltwater storage. The transition between the two periods is brief compared with the duration of the melt season. The runoff response to meteorology therefore lacks the strongly progressive element previously identified in mid‐latitude glacierized catchments. In particular, the glacier hydrological system only appears responsive to diurnal forcing following the depletion of the seasonal snowpack meltwater store. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Detection of heat-mass transfer regime transitions in the active layer using fractal geometric parameters

Hourly time series of temperature and a surrogate measure of the soil water ionic (solute) concentration were obtained in the upper 50 cm at a site in central Alaska from August 1991 through May 1992. The site is located over a body of permafrost. A strong “zero curtain” develops in winter and persists for three months; maintenance of this isothermal layer is associated with water advection and vapor movement within the unfrozen zone. Warming of the active layer in spring occurs nearly instantaneously and results from infiltration of snowpack meltwater. Analysis of the time series is facilitated by use of spectral techniques. Fourier transform yields variance spectra from which fractal geometric parameters are calculated. Variations in the time- and depth-dependent fractal parameters are related to dominant heat-transfer regimes determined from previous analyses. The time series were also analyzed using Hurst rescaling. Rescaled trace minima and maxima, taken from the top, middle, and base of the active layer, self-model transitions in seasonal heat-mass transfer mechanisms. The Hurst Exponent, calculated from thermal and solute time series, exhibits process-dependent patterns. In theory, the fractal dimension and Hurst Exponent are linearly related. However, when the fractal dimension is calculated using the variance spectra method, the relationship is not linear as anticipated.

Tracer release in melting snow: Diurnal and seasonal patterns

AbstractTime sequences of tracer release from an alpine snowpack were investigated at Mammoth Mountain, California in 1989. Lysimeter discharge and conductivity were recorded at 30 minute intervals. Three separate applications of chemical tracers were added to the snow surface to provide an ionic signal with known origins in the snowpack. Grab samples of meltwater and snow from snow pits were analysed for chemical composition. There were three distinct discharge periods, each characterized by diurnal fluctuations in discharge and conductivity. An inverse relation between discharge and conductivity was interpreted as the combination of a concentrated signal from regions in the pack less subject to leaching and a relatively dilute signal from near the snow surface where the snow was actively melting Conductivity peaks were highest and diurnal changes greatest immediately following periods of freezing. Grab samples showed little correlation with either 30 minute or daily average conductivity. Relative concentrations of individual ions in meltwater were similar between samples. Non‐systematic grab sampling of snowpack meltwater is shown to be potentially misleading because of multiple ionic pulses over the ablation season and strong diurnal fluctuations in chemical concentrations. Continuous measurements of discharge conductivity are a good indicator of diurnal and seasonal changes in the rate of ion release from the snowpack, and should be used to guide sampling. Composite, or time‐integrated samples rather than grab samples may be required to estimate daily and weekly rates of ion release in melting snow.

Solute chemistry of snowmelt and runoff in an Alpine Basin, Sierra Nevada

Snowpack runoff contributions to the hydrochemistry of an alpine catchment in the Sierra Nevada were evaluated in 1986 and 1987 by analyzing snowpack, meltwater, and stream water samples for major inorganic ions, conductance, acid neutralizing capacity (ANC), and silicate. An ionic pulse in meltwater with initial concentrations twofold to twelvefold greater than the snowpack average, varying with site and with ion, was measured in lysimeters placed at the base of the snowpack. Maximum concentrations of ions in meltwater were inversely related to the rate of snowmelt; melt‐freeze cycles increased the concentration of solutes in meltwater. Hydrogen concentration in meltwater was buffered by ANC produced in part by the dissolution of particulates. The anionic pulse in meltwater was observed in stream waters during the first 30 days of snowpack runoff, with NO3− concentrations in stream waters at this time about 1.6‐fold greater than the average NO3− concentration for the time period of snowpack runoff, Cl− about 1.5‐fold greater and SO42− about 1.3‐fold greater. Maximum H+ concentration during snowpack runoff (increase of 170% over winter concentrations) occurred near maximum discharge. ANC minima occurred at maximum discharge as a result of dilution, with a decrease from winter concentrations of 70% in 1986 and 60% in 1987. Interactions between snowpack runoff and soils were important to the chemistry of stream water. Eighty to ninety percent of the H+ stored in the snowpack was consumed before it reached the base of the catchment. Soils were a sink for NH4+ from snowpack meltwater, with less than 1% of the NH4+ released from snowpack storage exported from the basin as NH4+. Sulfate concentrations in stream waters were less variable than NO3− or Cl− concentrations; sorption processes in soils were a likely cause for the regulation of SO42− concentrations.

Subice layering and origin of acidic waters in a small boreal lake during the spring runoff

In a small boreal forest lake, the subice circulation of waters from five distinct origins (lake premelt water, lakeshore snowpack meltwater, ice cover meltwater, groundwater and hillslope through‐flow water) was studied during the spring melt period. A network of collared access holes was used to monitor the temperature, conductivity and pH profiles of the water column beneath the ice cover. The study also included the tracing of snowbank meltwaters and through‐flow waters with rhodamine. Conductivity and pH appeared to be efficient parameters for discriminating most of the water types considered. During the spring melt three distinct low‐pH episodes were recorded at the lake outflow. The first episode (pH 5) occurred in the early melt period; snow and ice meltwaters layered beneath the ice forming a stratum ≈20 cm thick. It moved toward the outlet under laminar flow conditions (observed average velocity, 1m/h). Two subsequent pH episodes of pH 5.3 and 5.1 were observed during the massive melt period. These episodes were due to peak flows of hillslope through flow which entered the lake and formed a layer 20–40 cm thick in the water column (observed average velocity, greater than 20 m/h). The ice cover thus not only modified the nearshore water quality by inducing thermal layering but also strongly influenced the quality of the outflow waters due to the segregation and rapid evacuation of the through flow and surface meltwaters.

A premilinary assessment of the chemical and hydrological interaction of acidic snowmelt water with the terrestrial portion of a Canadian Shield Catchment

This study examines certain aspects of the hydrological and chemical interaction of springmelt runoff with the terrestrial portion of a Canadian Shield catchment. Though NO3 − is the dominant anion in the snowpack for most of the winter, SO4 −2 deposition increases at the end of the winter season (March) such that it is the dominant anion in snowpack meltwater runoff. Pronounced formation office lenses in the snowpack are responsible for notable movement of H+, NO3 − and SO4 ions downslope prior to contact with the ground. Subsurface meltwater flow through the lower portion of the slope is much more acidic (pH 5.18 ) than that flowing within the subsurface in the upper slope ( pH 6.44 ).