Assessing the Significance of Evapo-Sublimation in Northern Arizona

• Main Authors: Avery, Charles C., Dexter, Leland R.
• Other Authors: Northern Arizona University
• Language: en_US
• Published: Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 1991
• Subjects: Hydrology > Arizona.; Water resources development > Arizona.; Hydrology > Southwestern states.; Water resources development > Southwestern states.
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/296450

From the Proceedings of the 1991 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Association and the Hydrology Section - Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science - April 20, 1991, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona === Climatic data for twenty-one winters was used to construct an index in order to assess the significance of evapo-sublimation at Flagstaff, Arizona. Large intra- and inter-annual variability was noted in the record using both uncorrected monthly index values and values corrected for the relative importance of snow. 1967-68 un- corrected sublimation opportunity index (SOI) values and similar values for both 1982-1983 and 1984-1986 appear to indicate that those winters either had unusually high snowpack evapo-sublimation losses, or were years of low "basin efficiencies". Evapo-sublimation opportunity might be tracked as a climate element for high elevational snowzones which contribute significantly to a regional water supply.