[guest post by Kevin Ostapowich, MSc candidate]
Alpine snowpacks are a critical source of streamflow in the mountains. Snowmelt is triggered by energy delivered to the snowpack. Most of that energy comes from the atmosphere: sun, warm air, wind. But energy is also delivered to the base of the snowpack, from the heat stored in the ground. Since we don’t know much about this ground heat component and how it relates to winter snowpack variability, I conducted field work this summer with Dr. Joseph Shea to start an alpine ground temperature measurement program as part of my Master’s research.
On August 9th, 2020 we flew into Conrad Glacier, in the Purcell Mountains of B.C. The weather was exceptional on the morning of the flight and, surprisingly, remained so for the duration of the field work. We spent the following 7 days camped at approximately 2350 m above sea level beside the glacier. Our goal while in the field was to install two meteorological stations and four measurement transects. At each site on a transect, we installed temperature sensors in the bedrock, at the surface, and 10 cm above the surface to measure temperature gradients between the ground and the snowpack during winter.
After establishing camp on August 9th, we installed the first meteorological station. On August 10th and 11th we installed temperature sensors along Transect 1, up to a small summit. We then turned our attention to accessing the lower sites: Transect 2 and Meteorological Station 2. Access was a little challenging – to get over the cliff band we roped up, installed a rappel/belay station, and did some low-level alpine climbing. The goats were not impressed.
While we were able to safely navigate the route to the lower sites, and return the same day, the trip was long and tough. We made the decision to not risk getting stranded below by rapidly changing mountain weather, and we abandoned the lower study area after a team discussion.
Our subsequent days (August 13-16) consisted of developing new transects to install the ground temperature sensors along and installing ablation stakes for the Conrad Glacier mass balance program, at the request of Dr. Brian Menounos and Dr. Ben Pelto.
In the end we installed three revised transects. Our revised Transect 2 ascends the west side of the valley, parallel to Conrad Glacier and terminates near the col at the head of the valley. Revised Transect 3, aligned perpendicular to glacier flow, begins right at the edge of the glacier and ascends towards the camp location. Revised Transect 4 consists was placed on Conrad Glacier and the west side of the nunatak. The second map in the slideshow above shows the final transects.
This trip into the high alpine of the Purcell Mountains was a success for numerous reasons. Not only did we achieve our goal of installing four ground temperature transects while safely managing the terrain, we also experienced phenomenal weather in the mountains for seven straight days. Although we did not install the second weather station or the lower elevation transect, the majority of the instrument installation went off without a hitch.
The biggest success of this endeavor was undoubtedly reigniting my passion for the mountains and the processes that are constantly shaping the planet. And when I say ‘reigniting’, I really mean throwing a five-gallon pail of gas onto an already raging bonfire. These trips are one of the reasons why we have both chosen this field of study. Our passion for these locales fuels the ongoing research and contributions to the greater scientific community that ultimately increase our understanding of the natural world around us.
These high alpine basins are incredibly important in contributing to the quality of our daily life and yet are not as well understood as lower elevational watersheds or given the attention they necessarily deserve. It is my goal and hope that this research, and research like it, will be able to fulfill gaps in our knowledge to better understand the processes that shape our everchanging world.