GPHY 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Rain Shadow, Snowmelt, Baseflow

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Geography
• Course: GPHY 102
• Professor: Ryan K Danby

Document Summary

Depending on the climate rivers will flow according to availability of water: snow melt (seasonal, rainfall, baseflow (contribution from groundwater and is very common, glaciers (multi-year accumulations of snow) In some settings, all of these water sources may contribute. In large catchments sources may reflect a variety of sources that are not apparent downstream. Water sources can be significantly detached from a region topographic hydrograph defines discharge over time. Volume of water passing a point per unit time (typically measured in m3/s, where m3=1000l) Changes at daily (diurnal) and seasonal timescales: often shows predictable patterns. Larger the drainage basin show a longer delay. In general: the larger the watershed, the longer the lag time between peak rainfall and peak discharge. Water stored and released during short melt period. Depends on available melt energy during day. In the spring, snow will melt depending on availability of energy with strong daily quantities of snow melt.