Estimation of Snow Reserves in Watercourses in the Arctic Region

Abstract

For a reliable estimate of snow reserves in theArctic Archipelagoproper allowance must be made for snow accumulation in the areas of relief lowering such as riverbeds, ravines and canyons. As applied to calculating the water yield from the catchment area, unaccounted reserves in the channels may be even larger than recorded. For thickness of the snow cover on similar objects measuring was used Picor-Led ground-penetrating radar. Test measurements of the thickness of the snow cover performed both by radar and manually showed good repeatability of measurements. Data on snow reserves in the catchments of the Mushketov and Amba rivers were obtained using the radar method for northern part of Bolshevik Island in spring 2017.

Measurements results has revealed significant differences in the amount of snow reserves between the plateau sections and the river valleys. The thickness of seasonal snow cover in the riverbeds and canyons varied widely and reached10.5 metersdepth. The average values of snow thickness cover on the plateau and in the riverbeds of the Mushketov and Amba rivers were 0.37, 1.80 and1.86 mrespectively during the period of maximum snow accumulation. Our estimates showed that snow deposits in riverbeds have specific snow reserves 6.5–7.5 times higher than specific snow reserves on the plateau. In addition,