Snow accumulation in mountain headwater basins is vitally important to southern
Alberta, where snowmelt supplies more than 80% of annual downstream runoff. This
study evaluated two snow measurement techniques, and snow accumulation in
southwestern Alberta. The SnowHydro sampler was compared with existing designs and
observed to perform better under the forest canopy. A total station was evaluated for
remotely measuring snow depth in avalanche terrain, but found to have accuracy
limitations in low snow accumulation conditions. Field data were combined with indices
of snow accumulation drivers to run classification and regression tree analysis (C&RT).
Results quantified controls on accumulation over two years, and created spatial
distributions of snow water equivalent across the watershed. Elevation was the dominant
control between years, while canopy closure, slope angle, and aspect varied in
importance between years and within seasons. Accurate representations of SWE suggest
that C&RT could improve annual provincial water supply forecasts. / xiii, 171 leaves ; 29 cm
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:ALU.w.uleth.ca/dspace#10133/3080 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Dixon, James David Neil, University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science |
| Contributors | Boon, Sarah |
| Publisher | Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Geography, c2011, Arts and Science, Department of Geography |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Relation | Thesis (University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science) |
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