A conceptual model has been developed for the prediction of runoff on a daily basis from snowcovered and glacierized basins. The basin is divided into an icefree area and an icecovered area, which are treated separately by the model in an attempt to account for the highly different physical conditions prevailing within these two types of areas. The heat exchange between the atmosphere and the snow- or icecover, which essentially controls the melt production, is calculated either by means of a modified degree-day approach or – if the necessary data are available – by means of the complete energy balance equation. The performance of the model has been tested on a glacierized basin in Western Canada – The Peyto Glacier Basin – from which eight years af basic meteorological observations exist for the melt period in addition to continuous discharge measurements.
Further, the model has been applied to a glacierized basin in Johan Dahl Land, Southern Greenland, which is of interest in relation to hydro power development. The purpose of this study has been to extend the existing 4 years series of discharge measurements on basis of long term meteorological observations from a station located appr. 17 km from the outlet of the basin.
The results of the two case studies are presented and discussed.
