A comparison of northern research basins and their landscape characteristics

Abstract

In 2004, a Northern Research Basins (NRB) workshop was coordinated to synthesize water balance research of experimental watersheds. This study examined 10 of those basins more closely. Their landscape features were of special interest as past research has attributed one or more of these characteristics to watershed hydrology. However, the key question posed by this study was how such landscape features influence the water balance of northern basins. Water balance characteristics of a basin may be quantified using the runoff ratio (Q/P) and the ET ratio (ET/P). This study linked those parameters to landscape attributes using both conceptual methods and statistical analysis. The hypothesis was that landscape characteristics of the research basins examined in this study will exhibit identifiable trends in the annual water balance of those research basins. Landscape features are divided into two modes. The first was qualitative characteristics considering permafrost extent, major vegetation type, and soil texture. The second was quantitative characteristics, inferred from a series of terrain indices extracted from DEMs. This research demonstrated that although most features included in this study play some role in the hydrology of northern basins, some were more prominent than others. Overall, the water balance of northern basins is effected by the components of latitude, climate, and topography.