Impacts of forest fires and climate variability on the hydrology of an alpine medium sized catchment in the Canadian Rocky Mountains
Date
2015
Authors
Springer, Johanna
Ludwig, Ralf
Kienzle, Stefan W.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
M D P I A G
Abstract
This study investigates the hydrology of Castle River in the southern Canadian
Rocky Mountains. Temperature and precipitation data are analyzed regarding a climate
trend between 1960 and 2010 and a general warming is identified. Observed streamflow has
been declining in reaction to a decreasing snow cover and increasing evapotranspiration.
To simulate the hydrological processes in the watershed, the physically based hydrological
model WaSiM (Water Balance Simulation Model) is applied. Calibration and validation
provide very accurate results and also the observed declining runoff trend can be reproduced
with a slightly differing inclination. Besides climate change induced runoff variations, the
impact of a vast wildfire in 2003 is analyzed. To determine burned areas a remote sensing
method of differenced burn ratios is applied using Landsat data. The results show good
agreement compared to observed fire perimeter areas. The impacts of the wildfires are evident
in observed runoff data. They also result in a distinct decrease in model efficiency if not
considered via an adapted model parameterization, taking into account the modified land cover characteristics for the burned area. Results in this study reveal (i) the necessity to establish
specific land cover classes for burned areas; (ii) the relevance of climate and land cover change
on the hydrological response of the Castle River watershed; and (iii) the sensitivity of the
hydrological model to accurately simulate the hydrological behavior under varying boundary
conditions. By these means, the presented methodological approach is considered robust to
implement a scenario simulations framework for projecting the impacts of future climate and
land cover change in the vulnerable region of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains.
Description
Open access
Keywords
Alpine watershed , Hydrological modeling , WaSiM , Climate change , Runoff trend , Wildfires , Remote sensing of burned areas
Citation
Springer, J., Ludwig, R., & Kienzle, S. W. (2015). Impacts of forest fires and climate variability on the hydrology of an alpine medium sized catchment in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Hydrology, 2, 23-47. doi:10.3390/hydrology2010023