Significance of ice-induced storage to spring runoff: a case study of the Mackenzie River

✍ Scribed by T. D. Prowse; T. Carter

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 206 KB
• Volume: 16
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6087
• DOI: 10.1002/hyp.371

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

For most ice‐covered rivers at northern latitudes, the spring freshet is often the largest hydrologic event of the year. Based on a case study of the Mackenzie River, water released from hydraulic storage due to flow abstraction during the early winter is shown to be a major component of the flow volume that comprises the following spring freshet. The amount of water placed into hydraulic and ice‐growth storage over a 60‐day period was calculated to be equal to 27% of the flow that would normally have occurred during this period if an ice cover had not formed. The amount of water released from this ice‐induced hydraulic storage at the time of break‐up and the concomitant spring snowmelt peak accounted for 15 to 19% of the spring freshet volume, depending on the temporal definition of the ‘release’ period. The ice‐related contribution increases to as much as 25% of freshet volume if the ice growth during the fall depression is also included. Importantly, even this percentage is considered an underestimate since it does not take into account the flow contribution from the melt of the complete winter ice cover. If the ice‐induced storage volume is not accounted for in the spring hydrograph, then the volumes of water from spring snowmelt and/or rainfall would be significantly overestimated. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.