Relationships between climate and river flow in the Alps - Essay Example

annual totals of river flow (discharge) in the Massa, which drains from Grosser Aletschgletscher, measured at Blatten-bei-Naters, for the same months ( x 106 m3 )(C). Annual totals of river flow in the Gornera, which drains from Gornergletscher, measured 0.75 km from the glacier terminus, for the months June through September( x 106 m3 )(D), and annual totals of precipitation (mm) between October (year-1) through May of the given year at Grächen (E), often called P10-5. Both of the glaciers are in tributary valleys of the upper Rhone basin in Kanton Wallis, Switzerland hence are likely to have had very much the same pattern of climatic events over the 30-year period.

Hence, runoff from the two basins is likely to be strongly correlated. The Swiss Alps lie within Switzerland and the north is drained by Inn, Rhine and Rhone rivers, which empty into Black and Mediterranean seas whereas the south is drained by Ticno River, which empties into Adriatic Sea. The pattern for Gornera river flow is uniform over the 30 years period with the highest flow being at around 1993. The flow for river Massa is however not keeps changing at quite big margins over the period.

Both rivers however have the highest flow at around the same period, which is in 1993. (5) Calculate the Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient between the two series. [Choose an empty cell on the spreadsheet – say G1 – and clickthere. In the text bar type = and then select CORREL from the drop down menu. Correlation coefficients are usually reported to two decimal places. Format cell number, decimal places 2, enters]. How well are the two series correlated? Are there any periods when the series are not moving in tandem?

The Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient shows the correlation between two variables. (6) Summer discharge from glacierised basins is likely to fairly strongly influenced by energy availability for melting snow and ice. Plot the xyscattergrams