Spring snowmelt floods in the Arctic are common and can be expected every year, mainly because of the extensive snow cover that ablates relatively quickly. However, documentation of extreme flows (both low and high) in the Arctic is lacking in part because extreme flows are relatively rare and gauging sites are very sparse, with most of short duration. In the nested Kuparuk River research watersheds on the North Slope of Alaska, two large summer floods have been observed (July 1999 and August 2002) in the headwaters; these high flows are contrasted to the low flows (drought conditions) observed in the summers of 2005 and 2007. It is clear that the continuous permafrost and the limited near-surface storage in the shallow active layer are responsible for both the high and low flow responses. Or, stated another way, the active layer is a poor buffer to both floods and droughts. When contrasting summer floods with snowmelt floods, it is clear from flood frequency analyses that the smaller, high-gradient headwater basins will be dominated by summer floods while those watersheds draining the low gradient coastal plain will be dominated by snowmelt floods. The two summer floods in the headwaters had flows that were three to four times greater than the largest measured snowmelt flood, while on the coastal plain the 2002 summer storm for the whole of the Kuparuk River only produced the maximum summer runoff of record that was about 1/4 of the maximum snowmelt flood. So, on the coastal plain and even for the Greater Kuparuk River that drains across the coastal plain, snowmelt floods dominate. Drought conditions prevail in summers when the limited surface water storage in the active layer and surface water bodies is depleted because evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation.
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Research Article|
August 01 2008
Contrasting extreme runoff events in areas of continuous permafrost, Arctic Alaska
Douglas L. Kane;
1Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
Tel.: +1 907 474 7808 Fax: +1 907 474 7979; E-mail: [email protected]
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Larry D. Hinzman;
Larry D. Hinzman
2International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
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Robert E. Gieck;
Robert E. Gieck
1Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
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James P. McNamara;
James P. McNamara
3Department of Geosciences, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725-1535, USA
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Emily K. Youcha;
Emily K. Youcha
1Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
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Jeffrey A. Oatley
Jeffrey A. Oatley
4Natural Resource Conservation Service, USDA, Fairbanks, AK 99709, USA
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Hydrology Research (2008) 39 (4): 287–298.
Article history
Received:
January 08 2008
Accepted:
March 04 2008
Citation
Douglas L. Kane, Larry D. Hinzman, Robert E. Gieck, James P. McNamara, Emily K. Youcha, Jeffrey A. Oatley; Contrasting extreme runoff events in areas of continuous permafrost, Arctic Alaska. Hydrology Research 1 August 2008; 39 (4): 287–298. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/nh.2008.005
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