In this study we investigate the historical (1980–2015) and projection scenario (2070–2099) components of freshwater runoff to Glacier Bay, Alaska, using a modeling approach. We find that many of the historically snow-dominated watersheds in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve may transition towards rainfall-dominated hydrographs in a projection scenario under RCP 8.5 conditions. The changes in timing and volume of freshwater entering Glacier Bay will affect bay ecology and hydrochemistry.

We observed how snowmelt is transported on a hillslope through multiple measurements of snow and soil moisture across a small headwater catchment. We found that snowmelt flows through the snow with less infiltration on north-facing slopes and infiltrates the ground on south-facing slopes. This causes an increase in snow water equivalent at the base of the north-facing slope by as much as 170 %. We present a conceptualization of flow path development to improve future investigations.

We present a study of how melt rates in the California Sierra Nevada respond to a range of warming projected for this century. Snowfall and melt were simulated for historical and modified (warmer) snow seasons. Winter melt occurs more frequently and more intensely, causing an increase in extreme winter melt. In a warmer climate, less snow persists into the spring, causing spring melt to be substantially lower. The results offer insight into how snow water resources may respond to climate change.

We describe a new model for the evolution of snow temperature, density, and water content on the surface of glaciers and ice sheets. The model encompasses the surface hydrology of accumulation and ablation areas, allowing us to explore the transition from one to the other as thermal forcing varies. We predict year-round liquid water storage for intermediate values of the surface forcing. We also compare our model to data for the vertical percolation of meltwater in Greenland.

This study demonstrates a robust procedure for accumulating precipitation gauge measurements and provides an analysis of bias corrections of precipitation measurements across experimental sites in different ecoclimatic regions of western Canada. It highlights the need for and importance of precipitation bias corrections at both research sites and operational networks for water balance assessment and the validation of global/regional climate–hydrology models.

We investigate capillary barriers and preferential flow in layered snow during nine cold laboratory experiments. The dynamics of each sample were replicated solving Richards equation within the 1-D multi-layer physically based SNOWPACK model. Results show that both processes affect the speed of water infiltration in stratified snow and are marked by a high degree of spatial variability at cm scale and complex 3-D patterns.

In hydrological models it is important to properly simulate the spatial distribution of snow water equivalent (SWE) for the timing of spring melt floods and the accounting of energy fluxes. This paper describes a method for the spatial distribution of SWE which is parameterised from observed spatial variability of precipitation and has hence no calibration parameters. Results show improved simulation of SWE and the evolution of snow-free areas when compared with the standard method.

The hydroclimatological model AMUNDSEN is set up to simulate snow and ice accumulation, ablation, and runoff for a study region in the Ötztal Alps (Austria) in the period 1997–2013. A new validation concept is introduced and demonstrated by evaluating the model performance using several independent data sets, e.g. snow depth measurements, satellite-derived snow maps, lidar data, glacier mass balances, and runoff measurements.

We show that strong electrical self-potential fields are generated in melting in in situ snowpacks at Rhone Glacier and Jungfraujoch Glacier, Switzerland. We conclude that the electrical self-potential method is a promising snow and firn hydrology sensor, owing to its suitability for sensing lateral and vertical liquid water flows directly and minimally invasively, complementing established observational programs and monitoring autonomously at a low cost.

By analyzing high-resolution lidar products and using statistical methods, we quantified the snow depth dependency on elevation, slope and aspect of the terrain and also the surrounding vegetation in four catchment size sites in the southern Sierra Nevada during snow peak season. The relative importance of topographic and vegetation attributes varies with elevation and canopy, but all these attributes were found significant in affecting snow distribution in mountain basins.

The catch ratio of Chinese standard precipitation gauge vs. wind speed relationship for different precipitation types was well quantified by cubic polynomials and exponential functions using 5-year field data in the high-mountain environment of the Tibetan Plateau. The daily precipitation measured by shielded gauges increases linearly with that of unshielded gauges. The pit gauge catches the most local precipitation in rainy season and could be used as a reference in most regions of China.