Alpine hydrology

Keywords Alpine hydrology, Precipitation, Runoff, Water balance, Water towers Contents... 

Information on runoff characteristics in alpine regions provides the key to a comprehensive understanding of alpine hydrology. Runoff is both an expression of the complex interplay between precipitation, evaporation and storage changes, and of the close relationship with natural environmental conditions. 

Mountain chains such as the European Alps constitute an important factor in atmospheric circulation [1]. They trigger a variety of climatic and meteorological effects and cover a wide range of the spatial scale [2]. For example, they are manifested in the modification of the inner-continental climate zones or in the small-scale distribution of precipitation. Both can be important for the hydrology of alpine catchments. 

Man-induced climate change is not just a scenario for the future it has been experienced since the beginning of industrialization, which coincided with the so-called Little Ice Age in the mid-nineteenth century. This contribution analyses the changes in climate and especially in the hydrological cycle and water resources mainly over the last 150 years and for the Swiss Alps. Fortunately, in Switzerland and therefore in the Swiss alpine region, climate and water resources have been under observation for this entire period. 

Hannah D, Brown L, Milner A, Gumell A, McGregor G, Petts G, Smith B, Snook D (2007) Integrating climate-hydrology-ecology for alpine river systems. Aquat Conserv Mar Ereshw Ecosyst 17 636... 

Brown LE, Hannah DM (2008) Spatial heterogeneity of water temperature across an alpine basin. Hydrological Processes 22 954... 

Brown LE, Hannah DM, Milner AM (2005) Spatial and temporal water column and streambed temperature dynamics within an alpine catchment implications for benthic communities. Hydrological Processes 19 1585... 

Tranter M, Brown GH, Hodson AJ, Gumell AM (1996) Hydrochemistry as an indicator of subglacial drainage system structure a comparison of Alpine and sub-polar environments. Hydrological Processes 10 541... 

Part 1, Alpine Water Resources, examines the hydrological basics, the impacts of climate change in the Swiss Alps, and human interventions in mountain waters. Part 11, Biogeochemistry and Pollution of Alpine Waters, deals with the chemistry of mountain rivers, the effects of acid deposition on high elevation lakes, the glaciers as archives of atmospheric deposition, and the occurrence of persistent organic contaminants. 

Sucker J. K., Ryan J. N., Kendall C., and Jarrett R. D. (2000) Determination of hydrological pathways during snowmelt for alpine/subalpine basins. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Water Resour. Res. 36, 63-75. 

Burger, P.A., 1998, Alpine Karst Development and Speleogenesis in the Lime Creek Hydrologic System, Eagle County, Colorado [Master s thesis], Colorado School of Mines, 59 p. 

---