The Data of the Observations at the Kolyma Water Balance Station: the Potential of their Application in Academic and Applied Problems and the Need for the Resumption of Special Surveys

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The Data of the Observations at the Kolyma Water
Balance Station the Potential of their
Application in Academic and Applied Problems and
the Need for the Resumption of Special Surveys

• O.M. Semenova
• State Hydrological Institute Gidrotehproekt Ltd,
  St. Petersburg, Russia
• L.S. Lebedeva
• St. Petersburg State University Nansen Centre,
  St.Petersburg, Russia
• I.N. Beldiman
• "Khotugu Oruster" (the North Rivers), Yakutsk,
  Russia

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Water balance stations of the former USSR

• 29 water balance stations covered main natural
  zones of USSR but the only one was situated in
  the permafrost environments

Kolyma water balance station (KWBS)
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Natural conditions

• Mean air temperature is -11,40?
• Mean annual precipitation 320 mm
• Elevation ranges 800-1700 m
• Variety of landscapes
• Continuous permafrost with the thickness up to
  400 m
• Representative for the vast territories of Upper
  Kolyma River Basin

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Scheme and instrumentation

• 31 cryopedometers 25 precipitation gauges 8
  discharge gages 3 experimental plots 2
  meteorological stations 5 transects of snow
  surveys

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List of the measurements
Measured parameters Observation period Temporal resolution Number of stations
Stream flow 1948cont. Minute Daily 7
Meteorological observations 1948cont. 3h 2
Precipitation 19481997 Minute Pentad, decade in winter, daily in summer Decade Month 10 5 10 10
Snow surveys 19481997 Monthly (October March), decadely (April) 5
Evapotranspiration 19581997 Pentade 4
Snow evaporation 19581997 September October, March April (12-hourly) 1
Pan evaporation 19701997 Decade 1
Energy balance 19581997 Decade 1
Soil freezing/thawing 19581997 Once in 5 days 31
Soil temperature at depths 0.1 3.2 m 19741981 Daily 1
Flow water chemistry 19581997 Event based 2
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Variety of the landscapes
Bare rocks
Bush tundra
Deep active layer, Subsurface runoff
Larch forest
Shallow active layer, surface runoff
Riparian vegetation
www.hydrograph-model.ru
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Typical soil profiles
Soil horizons
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Brief station history (from the heroic start in
1947 to the pity finish in 1997)

• 1947 watershed Kontaktovy was chosen as a
  suitable one for organization of observations on
  the basis of extensive field studies of the
  several regions in the Upper Kolyma River basin
• 1948, May - beginning of the meteorological (2
  sites) and hydrological (3 gages) observations
• 1949-1960 development of precipitation gages
  network (20 gages). Extension of hydrological
  observation up to 6 gages. Start of measurements
  of evaporation from soil and snow, soil
  thawing/freezing, observation in experimental
  plots.
• 1957 arrival of modern equipment, staff
  increase, construction of dwellings, partial
  electrification
• 1968 start of the measurements in the Morozova
  Creek basin, that is
  covered by bare rock entirely

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Brief station history (from heroic start in 1947
to pity finish in 1997)

• 1969 renaming from Runoff station to Water
  Balance station that means increasing and
  deepening goals and objectives comprehensive
  experimental studies of land hydrological cycle
• 1978 snow observations in surrounding avalanche
  catchments snow stratigraphy, temperature and
  mechanical properties at the 4 sites
• 1980 - ice blister dynamics measurements
• 1982 observations at the agricultural
  hydrological plots including soil moisture
  measurements
• By 1989 there are

30 issues of observational material and
archive more than 100 scientific papers and
books dozens of Phd thesis
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USSR USA collaboration

• In May, 1977 American scientists Charles
  Slaughter and Michael Bilello from Fairbanks
  visited KWBS. Their impressions

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Article in the famous Soviet newspaper Pravda
(True)
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Photos and text from
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United States Soviet Scientific Exchange Visit,
1977
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United States Soviet Scientific Exchange Visit,
1977
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United States Soviet Scientific Exchange Visit,
1977. Signed agreement about future cooperation
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Current state of the KWBS

• According to information provided by Evgeniy
  Bojarintsev, former director of KWBS, who till
  now is in contact with people from Magadan
• KWBS in itself have not existed for many years,
  since 1996. There are just three hydrologists
  for the whole Kolyma district and they are in
  administration. Only shortcut meteorological
  observations are conducted. Data repository
  burned in the fire in the station, its copy in
  local administration is lost after the building
  repair...
• There is a catastrophic situation in the station
  the nearest village was liquidated 10 years ago
  and there is no transport in the station

What is the next? Are we able to continue the
mission of our predecessor? Who will continue
the series of observations?
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Studies that have been conducted in the KWBS

• Water balance components, rainfall runoff
  formation (Bojarintsev, Nikolaev , Suschansky,
  Nasybulin, Kuznetsov, Glotov, Glotova)
• Contribution of ground condensation in the water
  balance (Bojarintsev, Kuznetsov , Bantsekina)
• Vegetation its connection with hydrological
  regime (Korolev, Pugachev)
• Thermal and water regime of macrofragmental
  deposits (Bantsekina , Mikhailov )
• Surface-ground water interaction (Glotov,
  Glotova)
• Modelling studies (Shmakin, Kuchment, Gelfan,
  Gusev, Nasonova, Semenova, Lebedeva)
• And others

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Modelling studies
Kuchment et al., 2000 Comparison between
measured (squares) and calculated (lines) snow
depths
Shmakin, 1998 Measured (solid line) and modeled
(dashed line) Soil Temperature.19761977
m
SemenovaLebedeva Simulated (pink and green) and
observed (black) thawing depths
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Prospects of use of the KWBS data

• Developing and testing of different models
  runoff formation, climatic, environmental and
  vegetation dynamics
• Climate change studies and assessment of its
  impact on the permafrost state and the
  hydrological regime of rivers for the last 50
  years
• Experimental studies of specific permafrost
  processes
• Developing and testing of calculation methods for
  the needs of construction as KWBS is
  representative for vast territories

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Conclusions

• The unique observational data collected at the
  KWBS are still not used enough and require
  further researches.

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The authors acknowledge the support of the
TICOPs organizers, sponsors and PYRN for the
provided opportunity to attend the Conference.
Thank you for attention!