NTL Record

Title Estimating Future Flood Frequency and Magnitude in Basins Affected by Glacier Wastage: March 2015
Record ID 54782
Personal Name
Creator
Liljedahl, Anna; Debolskiy, Matvey; Youcha, Emily; Arendt, Anthony; Davis, Jennifer; Hock, Regine; Roth, Aurora; Wolken, Gabriel; Zhang, Jing
Corporate Creator Alaska University Transportation Center
Corporate
Contributor
United States. Federal Highway Administration
Publisher Alaska. Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. Research, Development, and Technology Transfer
Publication Date 20150300
Language English
Abstract We present field measurements of meteorology, hydrology and glaciers and long-term modeled projections of glacier mass balance and stream flow informed by downscaled climate simulations. The study basins include Valdez Glacier Stream (342 km2 ), Jarvis Creek (634 km2 ) and Phelan Creek (32 km2 ), Alaska, that represent distinctly different climates and glacier coverage. At Phelan Cr., the decadal-averaged peak annual mean daily runoff was projected to increase 114 % from 14 (2000-2010) to 30 cms (2090-2099) with an 87 % increase by mid-century (2050-2059). At Jarvis, the decadal-averaged peak annual mean daily runoff was projected to decrease 14 % from 24 (2000-2010) to 21 cms (2066-2075), while the glacier contribution increased (from 37 % to 43 %). However, at Jarvis Cr., the flow at the 1% exceedance probability level was projected largest (~30 cms) during the mid-century time period (2035-2050). The highest flood events tended to have less glacier contribution, indicating that rainfall or snowmelt generated events may have a greater influence than glacier melt during peak flows (only Jarvis analyzed). The differing trends in projected runoff between the Jarvis and Phelan Cr. may be attributed to the differing climate forcing and glacier coverage representation, i.e. dynamic and static for Jarvis and Phelan Cr., respectively.
Rosap ID dot:28661
Rosap URL https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/28661
TRT Terms Bridges; Global warming; Floods; Glaciers; Runoff; Streamflow; Hydrologic cycle; Watersheds
General Subjects Research Hub; Hydraulics and Hydrology; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General); I26: Water Run-off - Freeze-thaw; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning; Forecasting; Glaciers; River basins
Geographical
Coverage
Alaska; United States
TRIS Online
Accession No
01557582
Contract Number S16806; T2-12-11
Report Number INE/AUTC 15.04; 4000(119)
Resource type Tech Report
URL https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/54000/54700/54782/4000119_Final_Report.pdf
Format PDF
Database NTL Digital Repository