Name
Integrating current Knowledge of Alpine Aquifers in Basin-Scale Hydrological Models to Improve Baseflow Prediction
Date & Time
Monday, May 8, 2023, 10:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Brayden Ralph
Description
Commonly occurring alpine landforms (e.g., talus, moraine, rock glaciers) serve as important aquifers, whose groundwater storage and discharge modulates the baseflow of major rivers that originate in headwater environments. Recent field-based studies conducted in the Canadian Rockies have identified a nonlinear storage-discharge relationship expressed by alpine aquifers and the importance of their positioning and extent in headwater environments. This study aimed to develop a means to integrate these representative features associated with alpine aquifers into a large-scale hydrological model, to improve its baseflow prediction in the future. Specifically, this study developed a geospatial model to map the spatial extent and distribution of alpine aquifers, in addition to validating the capability of a previously discerned simple exponential function to emulate the aforementioned groundwater storage-discharge relationship of an alpine watershed. The geospatial model was implemented in the 2210 km2 Upper Bow River Watershed upstream of Banff, Alberta. The resulting classified map captured the spatial variability of the present aquifers well, yielding an overall accuracy rating of 86%, while providing an efficient means to extract the aquifer�s spatial characteristics. The exponential function was tested in a first-order watershed in the Canadian Rockies and simulated the watershed�s groundwater storage-discharge dynamics to the same accuracy as a distributed physically-based groundwater flow model implemented in the same area. This suggests that the function likely has the capacity to be integrated as the baseflow component in a large-scale hydrologic model and improve its ability to simulate the low-flow period of rivers that originate in headwater environments.
Location Name
Lynx
Full Address
Banff Park Lodge Resort Hotel & Conference Centre
201 Lynx St
Banff AB T1L 1K5
Canada
Abstract
Commonly occurring alpine landforms (e.g., talus, moraine, rock glaciers) serve as important aquifers, whose groundwater storage and discharge modulates the baseflow of major rivers that originate in headwater environments. Recent field-based studies conducted in the Canadian Rockies have identified a nonlinear storage-discharge relationship expressed by alpine aquifers and the importance of their positioning and extent in headwater environments. This study aimed to develop a means to integrate these representative features associated with alpine aquifers into a large-scale hydrological model, to improve its baseflow prediction in the future. Specifically, this study developed a geospatial model to map the spatial extent and distribution of alpine aquifers, in addition to validating the capability of a previously discerned simple exponential function to emulate the aforementioned groundwater storage-discharge relationship of an alpine watershed. The geospatial model was implemented in the 2210 km2 Upper Bow River Watershed upstream of Banff, Alberta. The resulting classified map captured the spatial variability of the present aquifers well, yielding an overall accuracy rating of 86%, while providing an efficient means to extract the aquifer�s spatial characteristics. The exponential function was tested in a first-order watershed in the Canadian Rockies and simulated the watershed�s groundwater storage-discharge dynamics to the same accuracy as a distributed physically-based groundwater flow model implemented in the same area. This suggests that the function likely has the capacity to be integrated as the baseflow component in a large-scale hydrologic model and improve its ability to simulate the low-flow period of rivers that originate in headwater environments.
Session Type
Breakout Session