NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Hydrology. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Hydrology, VOL406, ISSUE1-2, 2011 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2011.06.008Proglacial areas receive fluxes of glacial meltwater in addition to their own hydrological inputs and outputs, while in high latitudes the seasonal development of the active layer also affects their hydrology. This paper supplements a previous study of the surface and atmospheric water fluxes in the proglacial area of the Svalbard glacier Finsterwalderbreen (77° N), by focusing on the sub-surface water fluxes of the active layer, and bringing together all the components of the proglacial water balance over a complete annual cycle. Particular attention is given to the transitional zone between the moraine complex and the flat sandur. Sub-surface water in the moraine complex (sourced mainly from snowmelt, lake drainage and active-layer thawing), is exchanged with sub-surface water from the sandur (sourced mainly from glacier-derived snow- and ice-melt), across a largely distinct boundary. Hydraulic head and specific discharge were monitored in a transect of wells spanning this boundary. A hydraulic gradient from the moraine complex to the sandur is maintained throughout the melt season, although this is reversed first briefly when glacial runoff floods the sandur, and then diurnally from mid-melt-season, as peak daily flow in the proglacial channel network drives sub-surface water in the sandur towards the moraine complex. It is estimated that the active layer does not freeze up until mid-December at this location, so that sub-surface water flow may be maintained for months after the cessation of surface runoff. However, the magnitude of sub-surface flow is very small: the total, annual flux from the moraine complex to the sandur is 11 mm, compared with 1073 mm of total, annual runoff from the whole catchment (glacier included). Furthermore, when considering the water balance of the entire proglacial area, there are unlikely to be significant, seasonal storage changes in the active layer

Proglacial areas are expanding globally as a consequence of sustained glacier retreat, but there are very few studies focusing on their hydrology. This paper examines the surface and atmospheric water fluxes over a complete annual cycle in the proglacial area of the Svalbard glacier Finsterwalderbreen (77 N), through a combination of field measurements, physical modelling and statistical estimation. Precipitation in winter (226 mm) exceeded that in summer (29 mm), and over the course of the annual cycle total precipitation exceeded total evaporation (141 mm), although evaporative outputs from the proglacial area exceeded precipitation inputs during the dry summer. Runoff was highly irregular in time, with much of the total annual flow being concentrated into two relatively brief, early-to-mid summer intervals, the greater of which was characterised by the release of subglacially-stored water. Water fluxes were dominated by meltwater supply from the glacier: the total annual glacial runoff (7.38 × 10⁷ m³) was an order-of-magnitude greater than the precipitation flux delivered directly to the proglacial area, and two orders-of-magnitude greater than evaporative losses from it. Outputs of meltwater from the proglacial area were not significantly different from inputs over the duration of the melt season, so surface water storage does not appear to be important in the studied catchment, despite episodes of flooding over shorter timescales. A synthesised description of the seasonal hydrological cycle in Finsterwalderbreen’s proglacial area is presented, which can be viewed as a set of hydrological boundary conditions for comparable high-latitude locations. Further study of these conditions is required, because the challenging nature of hydrometry in the high-latitudes has the potential to limit progress in understanding environmental change there.

Glacier mass balance and hydrology are strongly influenced by the distribution of snow accumulation at the start of the melt season. Two successive end-of-winter snow-cover surveys at Finsterwalderbreen, Svalbard, are here used to investigate the interannual variability in the spatial distribution of accumulation, and its relationship with topography. 40–62% of the variance in snow depth was not determined by elevation (assessed by linear regression of snow depth on surface elevation), which could not therefore necessarily be used as a sole predictor of the spatial distribution of accumulation here. Principal components (PC) analysis of the topographic variables elevation, slope, north–south and east–west aspects shows that only two of six PCs, determined for 2years’ sampling locations, had maximum loadings on altitude; aspect was more important, with maximum loadings on four PCs. Hierarchical cluster analysis was then applied to these PCs: significant correlations with accumulation in each of two terrain clusters were given by (1) elevation and slope, (2) east–west aspect only (1999); (1) elevation only, (2) no significant correlations (2000). There is strong interannual variability not only in the magnitude of winter accumulation (0.41 mw.e. in 1999, 0.58 mw.e. in 2000), but also in its spatial distribution, and its relationship with topography.

The increasing prevalence of wicked problems, such as climate change, requires a transformation in education that equips students with the skills, competencies and knowledge to address these complex challenges. Wicked problems are characterised by their incomplete, contradictory, and ever-changing requirements, rendering them difficult to resolve due to intricate interdependencies. Nexus thinking offers a valuable approach to these problems, as it emphasises the interconnectedness of various systems, fostering a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges at hand. In this paper, we propose the use of Climate, Land, Energy, and Water (CLEWs) modelling as an innovative pedagogical strategy tool to cultivate nexus thinking among students. Building upon the pioneering CLEWs pedagogical work of Shivakumar et al., in their ‘Introduction to CLEWs’ Open Learn course, we demonstrate how this approach can be utilised in a Higher Education (HE) setting in the form of a Masters’ module for geography students.

Surface mass-balance and geometry data are key to quantifying the climate response of glaciers, and confidence in data synthesis and model interpretations and forecasts requires data from as wide a range of locations and glacier types as possible. This paper presents measurements of surface elevation change at the Svalbard surge-type glacier Finsterwalderbreen, by comparing a 1990 digital elevation model (DEM) with a surface GPS profile from 2003. The pattern of elevation change is consistent with that previously noted between 1970 and 1990, and reflects the continued quiescent-phase evolution of the glacier, with mass loss in the down-glacier/receiving area of up to –1.25mw.e. a^–1, and mass gain in the up-glacier/reservoir area of up to 0.60 mw.e. a^–1; the area-weighted, mean change for the whole glacier is 0.19mw.e. a^–1. The spatial pattern of elevation increase and decrease is complex, and the boundary between thickening and thinning determined by combining GPS and DEM data does not appear to correspond with the equilibrium-line altitude determined from surface mass-balance measurements. There is no evidence yet of a decrease in the rate of reservoir area build-up driven by mass-balance change resulting from the warmer winter air temperatures, and decreased proportion of snowfall in total precipitation, noted at meteorological stations in Svalbard.

The near‐surface air temperature lapse rate is an important tool for spatially distributing temperatures in snow‐ and ice‐melt models, but is difficult to parameterize, as it is not simply correlated with boundary‐layer meteorological variables, such as temperature itself. This contribution quantifies spring‐autumn lapse rate variability over 5 years at Vestari‐Hagafellsjökull, a southerly outlet of Langjökull in Iceland. It is observed that summer lapse rates (0.57 °C 100 m⁻¹) are significantly lower than non‐summer rates, and are also lower than the Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate (SALR), which is often adopted in melt models. This is consistent with reduced near‐surface temperature sensitivity to free‐atmosphere temperature change during the occurrence of melting. A Variable Lapse Rate (VLR) regression model is calibrated with standardized, 750 hPa temperature anomalies derived from ERA‐Interim climatology, which is shown to be highly significantly correlated with near‐surface temperatures. The modelled VLR overestimates cumulative June–September Positive Degree Days (PDDs) by 3% when used to extrapolate temperatures from 1100 to 500 m a.s.l. on the glacier, whereas the SALR overestimates cumulative PDDs by 14%. ERA‐Interim data therefore appear to offer a good representation of free‐atmosphere temperature variability over Vestari‐Hagafellsjökull, and the modelling approach offers a simple means of improving lapse rate parameterizations in melt models. Copyright © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society