The hundredfold speedup in glacier motion in a surge of the kind the kind that took place in Variegated Glacier in 1982-1983 is caused by the buildup of high water pressure in the basal passageway system, which is made possible by a fundamental and pervasive change in the geometry and water-transport characteristics of this system. The behavior of the glacier in surge has many remarkable features, which can provide clues to a detailed theory of the surging process. The surge mechanism is akin to a proposed mechanism of overthrust faulting.
Five ascending and four descending ERS-1/2 tandem-mode synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry (InSAR) data pairs with useful scene coherence are used to measure the surface flow field of an alpine glacier in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The topographic component of the interferogram phase is calculated by using a digital elevation model (DEM) of the terrain and precise orbit data to reconstruct the ERS InSAR imaging geometry. The DEM is derived from the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) Convair-580 airborne SAR interferometer. As dual line-ofsight (LOS) measurements are not sufficient to completely resolve the three-dimensional (3-D) surface flow field, several different assumptions for determining the missing variables are considered, and the 3-D surface flow field is estimated by using single and dual LOS measurements. The InSAR results agree with historic and coincident displacement measurements made using traditional point surveying techniques. Index Terms-ERS, glacier, interferometry (InSAR), synthetic aperture radar (SAR).
Two severe winter storms in 2016 and 2017 caused by landfalling atmospheric rivers over British Columbia (BC) are investigated in this study. Our main concern is the impact of hydrometeor drift on the orographic precipitation. It is shown that the dominant contribution to the windward orographic precipitation was from the horizontal moisture convergence. The precipitation distributions across southern BC were also influenced by the convergence/divergence of condensed water due to the wind-driven effect on hydrometeors. Observed hourly and daily precipitation amounts are used to verify the performances of three Canadian numerical weather prediction systems. Our results indicate that these operational systems were capable of predicting the general features of orographic precipitation in BC. However, the two coarse-resolution systems used a diagnostic precipitation scheme that does not fully simulate the hydrometeor drift process. The High-Resolution Deterministic Prediction System (HRDPS) with a prognostic precipitation scheme was substantially more accurate and skillful in predicting the upwind precipitation as well as the spillover of precipitation on the leeward slopes for these two storms. There was evidence suggesting that the spillover effect was overpredicted by the HRDPS due to a systematic bias originating in the model microphysics. This problem has been improved in the current HRDPS with a new microphysics scheme. Based on our atmospheric water balance analysis, we also proposed two postprocessing schemes that could be applied to improve the quantitative precipitation forecasts of the diagnostic precipitation schemes.
METRIC CONVERSION FACTORS Multiply foot (ft) cubic yard (yd 3) mile (mi) square mile (mi 2) cubic foot per second (ft 3 /sec) cubic mile (mi 3) By 0.3048 0.7646 1.609 2.590 .02832 FOREWORD On May 18, 1980, after more than a month of earthquakes and eruptions, Mount St. Helens, in southwestern Washington, exploded in a volcanic eruption more violent than any in the conterminous United States during the 20th century. A lateral blast of hot gas and rock particles devastated an area of about 150 square miles on the northern side of the mountain knocking down trees to a distance of 15 miles. Several minutes later, a giant ash cloud rose to about 60,000 feet. Winds then carried the ash cloud across the United States, with heavy fallout and deposition in eastern Washington and parts of Idaho and Montana. Earlier, smaller eruptions deposited ash in western Washington and parts of Oregon and Canada. The hydrologic effects of the May 18 eruption have been both widespread and intense. During the eruption, a massive debris avalanche moved down the north flank of the volcano depositing about 3 billion cubic yards of rock, ice, and other materials in the upper 17 miles of the North Fork Toutle River valley. The debris deposits are about 600 feet thick in the upper reaches of the valley. Following the avalanche, runoff from the melted glaciers and snow, and possible outflow from Spirit Lake, caused an extraordinary mudflow in the North Fork Toutle River. The mudflow shattered and uprooted thousands of trees, destroyed most of the local bridges, and deposited an estimated 25,000 acre-feet of sediment in the Cowlitz River channel. A considerable amount of additional sediment was conveyed through the lower Cowlitz into the Columbia River where it deposited and formed a shoal that blocked the shipping channel. Mudflows also occurred in the South Fork Toutle River and in tributaries on the east flank of Mount St. Helens which enter Swift Reservoir. As part of a concerted Geological Survey effort to study the volcanic event and to identify potential hazards, Survey hydrologists have mounted an intensive program to document the hydrologic effects of the eruptions. The major initial hydrologic findings are reported in this circular series. Quick, useful assessment was made possible only because the Survey has long conducted extensive waterresources investigations in the affected areas of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Hence, there was a well-defined basis for identification and documentation of the types and magnitudes of hydrologic changes. The Geological Survey Circular 850, "Hydrologic Effects of the Eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington, 1980," consists of individually published short chapters that emphasize data collection activities, field observations, and initial comparisons of pre-and post-eruption conditions. The series will cover hydrologic events occurring on May 18 in the Toutle and Cowlitz River; physical alteration of the Toutle River system; the chemical and physical quality of precipitation, streams, and lakes affe...
Landfalling atmospheric rivers (ARs) frequently trigger heavy and sometimes prolonged precipitation, especially in regions with favored orographic enhancement. The presence and strength of ARs are often described using the integrated water vapor (IWV) and the integrated vapor transport (IVT). However, the associated precipitation is not directly correlated with these two variables. Instead, the intensity of precipitation is mainly determined by the net convergence of moisture flux and the initial degree of saturation of the air column. In this study, a simple algorithm is proposed for estimating the heavy precipitation attributable to the IVT convergence. Bearing a strong resemblance to the Kuo‐Anthes parameterization scheme for cumulus convection, the proposed algorithm calculates the large‐scale primary condensation rate (PCR) as a proportion of the IVT convergence, with a reduction to account for the general moistening in the atmosphere. The amount of reduction is determined by the column relative humidity (CRH), which is defined as the ratio of IWV to its saturation counterpart. Our analysis indicates that the diagnosable PCR compares well to the forecast precipitation rate given by a numerical weather prediction model. It is also shown that the PCR in an air column with CRH < 0.50 is negligibly small. The usefulness of CRH and PCR as two complements to standard AR analysis is illustrated in three case studies. The potential application of PCR to storm classification is also explored.
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