Delineation of a catchment boundary using velocity and elevation measurements

Abstract

The determination of catchment boundaries is a major source of uncertainty in net balance studies on large ice sheets. Here, a method for defining a catchment boundary is developed using new measurements of ice-surface velocity and elevation near the Ice Stream B/C boundary in West Antarctica. An objective method for estimating confidence in the catchment boundary is proposed. Using elevation data, the resulting mean standard deviation in boundary location is 13 km in position or 6000 km2 in area. Applying a similar uncertainty to both sides of the Ice Stream B catchment results in a catchment-area uncertainty of 9%. Much larger uncertainties arise when the method is applied to velocity data. The uncertainty in both cases is primarily determined by the density of field measurements and is proportionally similar for larger catchment basins. Differences in the position of the velocity-determined boundary and the elevation-determined boundary probably result from data sampling. The boundary positions determined here do not support the hypothesis that Ice Stream B captured parts of the Ice Stream C catchment.