Estimating the freshwater budget of high-latitude land areas
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002 As the most land-locked of the world's oceans, freshwater input from the land surface strongly controls the salinity of the Arctic Ocean, and subsequently the thermohaline circulation of the North Atlantic. There is mounting evidence of recent war...
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ftunivwashington:oai:digital.lib.washington.edu:1773/10122 2024-06-02T08:01:00+00:00 Estimating the freshwater budget of high-latitude land areas Bowling, Laura C 2002 viii, 152 p. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/10122 en_US eng b49327550 51956264 Thesis 52001 http://hdl.handle.net/1773/10122 Copyright is held by the individual authors. Theses--Civil engineering Thesis 2002 ftunivwashington 2024-05-06T11:39:40Z Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002 As the most land-locked of the world's oceans, freshwater input from the land surface strongly controls the salinity of the Arctic Ocean, and subsequently the thermohaline circulation of the North Atlantic. There is mounting evidence of recent warming in the arctic, including thinning of sea ice, permafrost warming and increases in fall and winter streamflow in Siberia and Alaska. Such changes have the potential to feedback and further influence global climate through the modulation of fresh water inputs to the Arctic Ocean, and subsequently, the rate of deep water formation in the Greenland Sea. Based on observations alone we do not have the ability to close the water budget of the Arctic drainage basin, or make predictions regarding its response to warmer temperatures. This dissertation describes a course of research aimed at better estimating the arctic regional water budget, with a focus on the influence of lakes and wetlands and sublimation from blowing snow. In low-gradient arctic watersheds, permafrost contributes to the generation of extensive wetlands, ponds and lakes in a semi-arid region of precipitation. In the Putuligayuk catchment in northern Alaska, water balance calculations indicate that between 24 and 42 percent of snow melt water is not immediately available for runoff. This observed storage effect can be explained in large part by the excess of evapotranspiration over summer precipitation from open water areas which results in a seasonal reduction in the extent of surface water of 58 to 73 percent. A lake and wetland algorithm added to the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) macroscale hydrology model is able to simulate this seasonal reduction in wetland extent. An algorithm to represent topographically induced sub-grid variability in wind speed and blowing snow sublimation was designed for use within the VIC model. Annual average sublimation from blowing snow predicted by this model for a region on the Alaskan north slope varies from 55 mm ... Thesis Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland Greenland Sea Ice North Atlantic north slope permafrost Sea ice Alaska Siberia University of Washington, Seattle: ResearchWorks Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland |
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Open Polar |
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University of Washington, Seattle: ResearchWorks |
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ftunivwashington |
language |
English |
topic |
Theses--Civil engineering |
spellingShingle |
Theses--Civil engineering Bowling, Laura C Estimating the freshwater budget of high-latitude land areas |
topic_facet |
Theses--Civil engineering |
description |
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002 As the most land-locked of the world's oceans, freshwater input from the land surface strongly controls the salinity of the Arctic Ocean, and subsequently the thermohaline circulation of the North Atlantic. There is mounting evidence of recent warming in the arctic, including thinning of sea ice, permafrost warming and increases in fall and winter streamflow in Siberia and Alaska. Such changes have the potential to feedback and further influence global climate through the modulation of fresh water inputs to the Arctic Ocean, and subsequently, the rate of deep water formation in the Greenland Sea. Based on observations alone we do not have the ability to close the water budget of the Arctic drainage basin, or make predictions regarding its response to warmer temperatures. This dissertation describes a course of research aimed at better estimating the arctic regional water budget, with a focus on the influence of lakes and wetlands and sublimation from blowing snow. In low-gradient arctic watersheds, permafrost contributes to the generation of extensive wetlands, ponds and lakes in a semi-arid region of precipitation. In the Putuligayuk catchment in northern Alaska, water balance calculations indicate that between 24 and 42 percent of snow melt water is not immediately available for runoff. This observed storage effect can be explained in large part by the excess of evapotranspiration over summer precipitation from open water areas which results in a seasonal reduction in the extent of surface water of 58 to 73 percent. A lake and wetland algorithm added to the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) macroscale hydrology model is able to simulate this seasonal reduction in wetland extent. An algorithm to represent topographically induced sub-grid variability in wind speed and blowing snow sublimation was designed for use within the VIC model. Annual average sublimation from blowing snow predicted by this model for a region on the Alaskan north slope varies from 55 mm ... |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Bowling, Laura C |
author_facet |
Bowling, Laura C |
author_sort |
Bowling, Laura C |
title |
Estimating the freshwater budget of high-latitude land areas |
title_short |
Estimating the freshwater budget of high-latitude land areas |
title_full |
Estimating the freshwater budget of high-latitude land areas |
title_fullStr |
Estimating the freshwater budget of high-latitude land areas |
title_full_unstemmed |
Estimating the freshwater budget of high-latitude land areas |
title_sort |
estimating the freshwater budget of high-latitude land areas |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1773/10122 |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland Greenland Sea Ice North Atlantic north slope permafrost Sea ice Alaska Siberia |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland Greenland Sea Ice North Atlantic north slope permafrost Sea ice Alaska Siberia |
op_relation |
b49327550 51956264 Thesis 52001 http://hdl.handle.net/1773/10122 |
op_rights |
Copyright is held by the individual authors. |
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1800745240201527296 |