Estimating evaporation using stable isotopes: quantitative results and sensitivity analysis for two catchrnents in northern Canada. Nordic Hydrology 24: 79

• Main Authors: J. J. Gibson, T. W. D. Edwards, G. G. Bursey
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1993
• Subjects: Canada; Mackenzie Valley; Keewatin; Tundra
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.456.4648; http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~jjgibson/mypdfs/nordic93-evap.pdf

The stable isotope-mass balance method can provide useful water balance information in ungauged catchments. The method has been used to evaluate evaporation and water balance at two contrasting sites in northern Canada. Areally weighted evaporative discharge from an 850 km2 tundra catchment in south-central District of Keewatin is estimated to be about 7 % of total water discharge ( = 16 mmlyr), compared to about 19 % ( = 65 mmlyr) from a 300 km2 forested watershed in the Upper Mackenzie Valley. Lakes in both watersheds exhibit broad ranges of evaporation/inflow ratios related to local water ba-lance. The potential errors in the estimates are evaluated through considera-tion of possible variations in basin storage, humidity, and the isotopic composi-tion of atmospheric vapour.