Athabasca Glacier Research Basin

Purpose / Scientific Focus

Cryospheric Science  •  Snow Redistrubution  •  Energy Balance   •   Climate change and variability

Located on the Columbia Icefield in western Canada, this site monitors glacier change and climate interactions through observations of glacier melt, snow accumulation, energy balance, and glacier hydrology. As a rapidly retreating glacier, Athabasca provides an important benchmark for understanding glacier response to climate change and improving glacier-hydrology models.

Canadian Rockies Hydrological Observatory

Athabasca Glacier Research Basin is a part of CRHO, a comprehensive mountain observing system operated by the Centre for Hydrology. It integrates long-term observations of snow, glaciers, forests, wetlands, groundwater, streamflow, meteorology, and ecohydrological processes across the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies. Through a network of instrumented sites extending from the Columbia Icefield to Kananaskis and the Lake O’Hara region, CRHO supports research on mountain hydrology, climate variability, and ecosystem processes, with the goal of improving understanding and prediction of water resources in changing mountain environments.