Hydrometeorological features of Koryto glacier in the Kronotsky Peninsula, Kamchatka, Russia

Meteorological observations were carried out at ablation and accumulation stations of the Koryto glacier, Kamchatka, in order to understand the characteristics of melting heat balance components. The results of the heat balance calculation showed that the largest heat source for the glacier ablation is the net radiation, which is, as an average, about 45% of the total heat used for the melting. The second largest is the sensible heat flux and the third is the latent heat flux, which are about 30% and 25% of the snowmelt heat, respectively. When the large daily snowmelt occurs, the largest heat source for the snowmelt is sometimes not the net radiation but the turbulent heat fluxes. Hydrological observations were carried out at two runoff streams from Koryto glacier. In Stream A, which had more than 5 times larger discharge than that of Stream B, water level, water temperature and specific electric conductivity were recorded. The discharge of Stream A increased gradually from 5.5 m super(3)/s to 7.5 m super(3)/s. The daily maximum discharge occurred about 3 hours later than the solar noon and the time lag was increased when the discharge became larger. The relationship between the specific electric conductivity and the discharge rate showed that the dilution of in-glacier constituent and/or stream bed material was progressing. Those hydrological results indicate that the ablation is in its beginning stage.