HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS IN A GLACIERIZED CATCHMENT IN THE CANADIAN HIGH ARCTIC

Runoff from a small glacierized catchment in the Canadian high Arctic was monitored throughout one melt season. The stream discharge record is one aspect of a larger project involving glacier mass balance, supe rimposed ice formation and local climate on a glacier in the Sawtooth Range, Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. To better unde rstand the main factors influencing the production of runoff on the gl acier during the period of main summer melt, regression analyses were performed relating daily air temperature, shortwave incoming and net r adiation, absorptivity and wind speed to daily glacier discharge. Air temperature at the glacier meteorological station on rain-free days is the element with the greatest correlation with runoff (r(2) = 0.57; n = 34). A multiple regression of discharge with air temperature, short wave incoming radiation, net radiation hours and wind speed achieved t he best fit (r(2) = 0.84; n = 34). Rain events (> 10 mm d(-1)) can dom inate daily discharge when they occur during the period of ice melt, c reating more runoff per unit area than can be produced by melt alone, and significantly reduce the accuracy of runoff predictions.