Register now After registration you will be able to apply for this opportunity online.
Examining glacier melt dynamics from streamflow observations
Glaciers are an essential freshwater resource, especially during warm and dry periods. Assessing the contributions of glacier melt to downstream discharge at daily to weekly scales is important to understand the susceptibility of mountain water supply to the ongoing and future projected glacier retreat. However, these contributions are difficult to obtain as glacier mass balance observations are typically multi-year, annual or seasonal measurements. Therefore, daily streamflow dynamics will be analysed.
Keywords: Glaciology, Hydrology
Glaciers supply freshwater to downstream regions where it sustains ecosystems and is used for drinking water, irrigation and energy production. During extreme dry periods late in summer, glacier meltwater can be the primary source of water, especially in mountain regions. You will be analyzing streamflow observations from gauges downstream of the glaciers during such dry periods to investigate the daily meltwater dynamics of glaciers and estimate its volume. You will analyze the variability of these meltwater volumes in space and in time. A particular focus will be on comparing the estimates with glacier model derived estimates of daily meltwater volumes. In a second step, you will investigate how much of the streamflow is sourced from glaciers and how much water comes from other catchment storages during extensive dry periods. Timeseries of streamflow, meteorological data and glacier data are available. Your task will be to design and conduct the analyses and evaluate the results.
Glaciers supply freshwater to downstream regions where it sustains ecosystems and is used for drinking water, irrigation and energy production. During extreme dry periods late in summer, glacier meltwater can be the primary source of water, especially in mountain regions. You will be analyzing streamflow observations from gauges downstream of the glaciers during such dry periods to investigate the daily meltwater dynamics of glaciers and estimate its volume. You will analyze the variability of these meltwater volumes in space and in time. A particular focus will be on comparing the estimates with glacier model derived estimates of daily meltwater volumes. In a second step, you will investigate how much of the streamflow is sourced from glaciers and how much water comes from other catchment storages during extensive dry periods. Timeseries of streamflow, meteorological data and glacier data are available. Your task will be to design and conduct the analyses and evaluate the results.
1. Detecting dry and warm periods in the timeseries that are suitable to extract a glacier melt signal from streamflow observations
2. Analyzing streamflow dynamics during dry periods and designing a method to infer daily glacier melt dynamics and estimate daily glacier melt volumes
3. Comparing the daily streamflow dynamics with model derived daily glacier melt estimates
1. Detecting dry and warm periods in the timeseries that are suitable to extract a glacier melt signal from streamflow observations 2. Analyzing streamflow dynamics during dry periods and designing a method to infer daily glacier melt dynamics and estimate daily glacier melt volumes 3. Comparing the daily streamflow dynamics with model derived daily glacier melt estimates
For further information please contact Dr. Marit van Tiel (vantiel@vaw.baug.ethz.ch)
For further information please contact Dr. Marit van Tiel (vantiel@vaw.baug.ethz.ch)