Work

Glacier melt contributions to future streamflow in the Rhône bassin

Year: 2025

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: The alps are impacted by dramatic changes in the context of global warming with large implications for hydrology. The Rhône bassin, draining a large part of the french and Swiss Alps, has already been the subject of hydrological modelling using J2000-Rhone. In this study, we present the integration of a glacier algorithm in the hydrological model J2000-Rhône, the validation of snowmelt, icemelt and streamflow, and the future projections of these processes. The results show that snowmelt, icemelt and streamflow are satisfactorly simulated by J2000-glaciers in the Rhone basin. By the end of the 21st century, the major changes will be a large increase of streamflow in winter but a decrease in summer associated to earlier snowmelt, a decrease of precipitation and glacier shrinkage. On the Arve and upper Rhône catchments, the remaining glaciers will still be crucial to sustain the streamflow in dry summers.

Source: HAL

Authors: Champagne, Olivier, Lemoine, Anthony, Gouttevin, Isabelle, Condom, Thomas, Delaygue, Gilles, Cauvy-Fraunié, Sophie, Branger, Flora

Institutions: Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Fonctionnement des hydrosystèmes, Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques, Institut des Géosciences de l'Environnement, Université Grenoble Alpes

Language: English

Topic: Cryospheric studies and observations

Subfield: Atmospheric Science

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Climate action

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W7205350607

FWCI:

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