Overestimation of meltwater fractions due to temperature bias in electrical conductivity-based hydrograph separation models in the Himalayas
Abstract
One likely consequence of climate warming is the change in glacier meltwater dynamics, which could lead to a shift in the seasonal water supply. Hydrograph sep aration models are therefore in focus, as they are used to identify contributions of ice and snow meltwater runoff. These models often use electrical conductiv ity (κ) data, which is easy to measure and inexpensive. To better understand the temperature dependence of κ in hydrograph separation studies, stable water iso topes (18O/16O and 2H/1H), temperature-compensated and non-compensated κ values, and chloride (Cl) were used to construct multi-component isotope and geo chemical mixing models. These models were used to quantify the relative contributions of ice meltwater and snowmelt water to the total discharge of differ ent glacier-fed streams of the Central Himalayas. The results showed that non-temperature-compensated κ values, i.e., widely used in the literature, could lead up to 14% temperature-dependent bias in estimating the meltwater fractions with a temperature variability of 0°C–5°C. As the conservative behaviour of κ can be questioned, δ18O- and Cl-based mixing models were also applied. Results from the δ18O–κ and δ18O–Cl mixing models are in close agreement. These find ings suggest that κ values should be referenced to 25°C to accurately estimate meltwater fractions in streams.
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BibTeX
@article{shukla2026overestimation,
title = {{Overestimation of meltwater fractions due to temperature bias in electrical conductivity-based hydrograph separation models in the Himalayas}},
author = {Tanuj Shukla and Indra S. Sen and Nita Roy and Soumita Bora},
journal = {Current Science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.18520/cs/v131/i5/448-459},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05820623v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Overestimation of meltwater fractions due to temperature bias in electrical conductivity-based hydrograph separation models in the Himalayas
AU - Tanuj Shukla
AU - Indra S. Sen
AU - Nita Roy
AU - Soumita Bora
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/20
JO - Current Science
DO - 10.18520/cs/v131/i5/448-459
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05820623v1
AB - One likely consequence of climate warming is the change in glacier meltwater dynamics, which could lead to a shift in the seasonal water supply. Hydrograph sep aration models are therefore in focus, as they are used to identify contributions of ice and snow meltwater runoff. These models often use electrical conductiv ity (κ) data, which is easy to measure and inexpensive. To better understand the temperature dependence of κ in hydrograph separation studies, stable water iso topes (18O/16O and 2H/1H), temperature-compensated and non-compensated κ values, and chloride (Cl) were used to construct multi-component isotope and geo chemical mixing models. These models were used to quantify the relative contributions of ice meltwater and snowmelt water to the total discharge of differ ent glacier-fed streams of the Central Himalayas. The results showed that non-temperature-compensated κ values, i.e., widely used in the literature, could lead up to 14% temperature-dependent bias in estimating the meltwater fractions with a temperature variability of 0°C–5°C. As the conservative behaviour of κ can be questioned, δ18O- and Cl-based mixing models were also applied. Results from the δ18O–κ and δ18O–Cl mixing models are in close agreement. These find ings suggest that κ values should be referenced to 25°C to accurately estimate meltwater fractions in streams.
SN - 0011-3891
ER -