Greater vulnerability of snowmelt-fed river thermal regimes to a warming climate
Abstract
While the advective flux from cool melt runoff can be a significant source of thermal energy to mountainous rivers, it has been a much less addressed process in river temperature modeling and thus our understanding is limited with respect to the spatiotemporal effect of melt on river temperatures at the watershed scale. In particular, the extent and magnitude of the melt cooling effect in the context of a warming climate are not yet well understood. To address this knowledge gap, we improved a coupled hydrology and stream temperature modeling system, Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model and River Basin Model (DHSVM-RBM), to account for the thermal effect of cool snowmelt runoff on river temperatures. The model was applied to a snow-fed river basin in the Pacific Northwest to evaluate the responses of snow, hydrology, stream temperatures, and potential fish growth to future climates. Historical simulations suggest that snowmelt can notably reduce the basin-wide peak summer temperatures particularly at high-elevation tributaries, while the thermal impacts of melt water can persist through the summer along the mainstem. Ensemble climate projections suggested that a warming climate will decrease basin mean peak snow and summer streamflow by 92% and 60% by the end of themore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1];
[2];
[3]
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States)
- Snoqualmie Indian Tribe, Snoqualmie, WA (United States of America). Environmental and Natural Resources Department
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1807965
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-156043
Journal ID: ISSN 1748-9326
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Environmental Research Letters
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 16; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 1748-9326
- Publisher:
- IOP Publishing
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; DHSVM; snowmelt; water temperature; fish growth; climate change
Citation Formats
Yan, Hongxiang, Sun, Ning, Fullerton, Aimee, and Baerwalde, Matthew. Greater vulnerability of snowmelt-fed river thermal regimes to a warming climate. United States: N. p., 2021.
Web. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abf393.
Yan, Hongxiang, Sun, Ning, Fullerton, Aimee, & Baerwalde, Matthew. Greater vulnerability of snowmelt-fed river thermal regimes to a warming climate. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abf393
Yan, Hongxiang, Sun, Ning, Fullerton, Aimee, and Baerwalde, Matthew. Fri .
"Greater vulnerability of snowmelt-fed river thermal regimes to a warming climate". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abf393. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1807965.
@article{osti_1807965,
title = {Greater vulnerability of snowmelt-fed river thermal regimes to a warming climate},
author = {Yan, Hongxiang and Sun, Ning and Fullerton, Aimee and Baerwalde, Matthew},
abstractNote = {While the advective flux from cool melt runoff can be a significant source of thermal energy to mountainous rivers, it has been a much less addressed process in river temperature modeling and thus our understanding is limited with respect to the spatiotemporal effect of melt on river temperatures at the watershed scale. In particular, the extent and magnitude of the melt cooling effect in the context of a warming climate are not yet well understood. To address this knowledge gap, we improved a coupled hydrology and stream temperature modeling system, Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model and River Basin Model (DHSVM-RBM), to account for the thermal effect of cool snowmelt runoff on river temperatures. The model was applied to a snow-fed river basin in the Pacific Northwest to evaluate the responses of snow, hydrology, stream temperatures, and potential fish growth to future climates. Historical simulations suggest that snowmelt can notably reduce the basin-wide peak summer temperatures particularly at high-elevation tributaries, while the thermal impacts of melt water can persist through the summer along the mainstem. Ensemble climate projections suggested that a warming climate will decrease basin mean peak snow and summer streamflow by 92% and 60% by the end of the century. Due to the compounded influences of warmer temperatures, lower flows and diminished cooling from melt, rivers reaches in high elevation snow-dominated areas were projected to be most vulnerable to future climate change, showing the largest increases in summer peak temperatures. As a result, thermal habitat used by anadromous Pacific salmon was projected to exhibit substantially lower growth potential during summer in future. These results have demonstrated the necessity of accounting for snowmelt influence on stream temperature modeling in mountainous watersheds.},
doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/abf393},
journal = {Environmental Research Letters},
number = 5,
volume = 16,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Apr 16 00:00:00 EDT 2021},
month = {Fri Apr 16 00:00:00 EDT 2021}
}
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