Aims
This project aims to undertake a three year hydrological, glaciological, and sediment transport monitoring programme in the Miers Valley. Information required to study and quantify the energy and mass balance of the glacier-river-lake system will be collected.
The data will permit:
1. | The evaluation of the seasonal variability of glacier behaviour and surface water hydrology. |
2. | An improved understanding of the energy and mass balance of the glacier-river-lake system in Miers Valley, which typifies such systems in the Dry Valleys region. |
3. | The development of a water balance for the Miers Valley hydrologic system. |
4. | The determination of the importance of temperature in controlling viscosity, and therefore the transportational potential, of both air and water "fluid" media. |
5. | The quantification of sediment sources, the relative importance of sediment transporting media, and how these vary both spatially and temporally. |
The principal aims of the 1988-89 programme were therefore to:
1. | Install the three hydrometric sites and two climate stations. |
2. | Field test all the electronic hardware, sensors, and software. |
3. | Install the photogrammetric and field survey control necessary to provide the detailed location monitoring the programme requires. |
4. | To map, sample, and monitor the sedimentological processes operating in the Miers Valley. |
5. | Determine whether the aims listed above could be satisfactorily addressed by the proposed field programme. |