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Arctic Science 2000 - Crossing Borders: Science and Community
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, Sept 21-24 2000
American Association for the Advancement of Science & Yukon Science Institute

Water Balance Calculations During Snowmelt in a Subarctic Watershed, Seward Peninsula Alaska

Melsing Creek watershed (78 km2) is located in the southern Seward Peninsula of Alaska. Melsing Creek is a second order stream underlain by discontinuous permafrost. Snow-pack, runoff, precipitation, and meteorological data were collected during an intensive study during the spring of 2000. These data are used to calculate the water balance for the entire basin as part of an effort to characterize the hydrology of this area. Obtaining data values necessary for determining the water balance can be challenging during this spring event. For example, it can be difficult to obtain a continuous record of stream discharge for the majority of spring-melt due to the presence of ice in streams, which results in a shifting stage-discharge relationship. In the case of the 2000 melt at Melsing Creek, measurements were difficult to obtain due to extensive aufeis along the creek (up to 90 meters wide and 1 meter deep) and because the stream was frozen to the bottom. This phenomenon, which was the result of a cold fall with a shallow snow cover, created dangerous stream gauging conditions as it melted and methods other than conventional stream gauging had to be employed to estimate stream discharge. Conductivity measurements, stable isotopes, and various methods of visual estimates were used together to create a hydrograph for the snowmelt period. Based on the data we collected, 70% of the water available in the snow-pack left the watershed as direct runoff in Melsing Creek, approximately 30% went into storage, and evaporation was determined to be insignificant.

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