Articles | Volume 20, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-1573-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-1573-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Review article
| 
25 Apr 2016
Review article |
| 25 Apr 2016
Recent climatic, cryospheric, and hydrological changes over the interior of western Canada: a review and synthesis
Global Institute for Water Security, University of Saskatchewan,
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Howard S. Wheater
Global Institute for Water Security, University of Saskatchewan,
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Sean K. Carey
School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton,
Ontario, Canada
Kwok P. Chun
Global Institute for Water Security, University of Saskatchewan,
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
now at: Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon
Tong, Hong Kong, China
Related authors
Chris M. DeBeer, Howard S. Wheater, John W. Pomeroy, Alan G. Barr, Jennifer L. Baltzer, Jill F. Johnstone, Merritt R. Turetsky, Ronald E. Stewart, Masaki Hayashi, Garth van der Kamp, Shawn Marshall, Elizabeth Campbell, Philip Marsh, Sean K. Carey, William L. Quinton, Yanping Li, Saman Razavi, Aaron Berg, Jeffrey J. McDonnell, Christopher Spence, Warren D. Helgason, Andrew M. Ireson, T. Andrew Black, Mohamed Elshamy, Fuad Yassin, Bruce Davison, Allan Howard, Julie M. Thériault, Kevin Shook, Michael N. Demuth, and Alain Pietroniro
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 1849–1882, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1849-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1849-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This article examines future changes in land cover and hydrological cycling across the interior of western Canada under climate conditions projected for the 21st century. Key insights into the mechanisms and interactions of Earth system and hydrological process responses are presented, and this understanding is used together with model application to provide a synthesis of future change. This has allowed more scientifically informed projections than have hitherto been available.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Ronald E. Stewart, Kit K. Szeto, Barrie R. Bonsal, John M. Hanesiak, Bohdan Kochtubajda, Yanping Li, Julie M. Thériault, Chris M. DeBeer, Benita Y. Tam, Zhenhua Li, Zhuo Liu, Jennifer A. Bruneau, Patrick Duplessis, Sébastien Marinier, and Dominic Matte
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 3437–3455, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-3437-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-3437-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This article examines future atmospheric-related phenomena across the interior of western Canada associated with a
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
business-as-usualclimate scenario. Changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation and extent of warming vary with season, and these generally lead to increases, especially after mid-century, in factors associated with winter snowstorms, freezing rain, drought, forest fires, as well as atmospheric forcing of spring floods, although not necessarily summer convection.
Xing Fang, John W. Pomeroy, Chris M. DeBeer, Phillip Harder, and Evan Siemens
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 455–471, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-455-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-455-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Meteorological, snow survey, streamflow, and groundwater data are presented from Marmot Creek Research Basin, a small alpine-montane forest headwater catchment in the Alberta Rockies. It was heavily instrumented, experimented upon, and operated by several federal government agencies between 1962 and 1986 and was re-established starting in 2004 by the University of Saskatchewan Centre for Hydrology. These long-term legacy data serve to advance our knowledge of hydrology of the Canadian Rockies.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Mohamed S. Abdelhamed, Mohamed E. Elshamy, Saman Razavi, and Howard S. Wheater
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2023-20, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2023-20, 2023
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
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Prior to any climate change assessment, it is necessary to assess the ability of available models to reliably reproduce observed permafrost and hydrology. Following a progressive approach, various model set-ups were developed and evaluated against different data sources. The study shows that different model set-ups favour different sources of data and it is challenging to configure a model faithful to all data sources, which are at times inconsistent with each other.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Chris M. DeBeer, Howard S. Wheater, John W. Pomeroy, Alan G. Barr, Jennifer L. Baltzer, Jill F. Johnstone, Merritt R. Turetsky, Ronald E. Stewart, Masaki Hayashi, Garth van der Kamp, Shawn Marshall, Elizabeth Campbell, Philip Marsh, Sean K. Carey, William L. Quinton, Yanping Li, Saman Razavi, Aaron Berg, Jeffrey J. McDonnell, Christopher Spence, Warren D. Helgason, Andrew M. Ireson, T. Andrew Black, Mohamed Elshamy, Fuad Yassin, Bruce Davison, Allan Howard, Julie M. Thériault, Kevin Shook, Michael N. Demuth, and Alain Pietroniro
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 1849–1882, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1849-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1849-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This article examines future changes in land cover and hydrological cycling across the interior of western Canada under climate conditions projected for the 21st century. Key insights into the mechanisms and interactions of Earth system and hydrological process responses are presented, and this understanding is used together with model application to provide a synthesis of future change. This has allowed more scientifically informed projections than have hitherto been available.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Zilefac Elvis Asong, Mohamed Ezzat Elshamy, Daniel Princz, Howard Simon Wheater, John Willard Pomeroy, Alain Pietroniro, and Alex Cannon
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 629–645, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-629-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-629-2020, 2020
Short summary
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This dataset provides an improved set of forcing data for large-scale hydrological models for climate change impact assessment in the Mackenzie River Basin (MRB). Here, the strengths of two historical datasets were blended to produce a less-biased long-record product for hydrological modelling and climate change impact assessment over the MRB. This product is then used to bias-correct climate projections from the Canadian Regional Climate Model under RCP8.5.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Christopher B. Marsh, John W. Pomeroy, and Howard S. Wheater
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 225–247, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-225-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-225-2020, 2020
Short summary
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The Canadian Hydrological Model (CHM) is a next-generation distributed model. Although designed to be applied generally, it has a focus for application where cold-region processes, such as snowpacks, play a role in hydrology. A key feature is that it uses a multi-scale surface representation, increasing efficiency. It also enables algorithm comparisons in a flexible structure. Model philosophy, design, and several cold-region-specific examples are described.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Mohamed E. Elshamy, Daniel Princz, Gonzalo Sapriza-Azuri, Mohamed S. Abdelhamed, Al Pietroniro, Howard S. Wheater, and Saman Razavi
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 349–379, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-349-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-349-2020, 2020
Short summary
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Permafrost is an important feature of cold-region hydrology and needs to be properly represented in hydrological and land surface models (H-LSMs), especially under the observed and expected climate warming trends. This study aims to devise a robust, yet computationally efficient, initialization and parameterization approach for permafrost. We used permafrost observations from three sites along the Mackenzie River valley spanning different permafrost classes to test the validity of the approach.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Fuad Yassin, Saman Razavi, Mohamed Elshamy, Bruce Davison, Gonzalo Sapriza-Azuri, and Howard Wheater
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 3735–3764, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-3735-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-3735-2019, 2019
Ronald E. Stewart, Kit K. Szeto, Barrie R. Bonsal, John M. Hanesiak, Bohdan Kochtubajda, Yanping Li, Julie M. Thériault, Chris M. DeBeer, Benita Y. Tam, Zhenhua Li, Zhuo Liu, Jennifer A. Bruneau, Patrick Duplessis, Sébastien Marinier, and Dominic Matte
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 3437–3455, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-3437-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-3437-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This article examines future atmospheric-related phenomena across the interior of western Canada associated with a
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
business-as-usualclimate scenario. Changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation and extent of warming vary with season, and these generally lead to increases, especially after mid-century, in factors associated with winter snowstorms, freezing rain, drought, forest fires, as well as atmospheric forcing of spring floods, although not necessarily summer convection.
Zilefac Elvis Asong, Mohamed Elshamy, Daniel Princz, Howard Wheater, John Pomeroy, Alain Pietroniro, and Alex Cannon
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2019-249, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2019-249, 2019
Publication in HESS not foreseen
Fuad Yassin, Saman Razavi, Jefferson S. Wong, Alain Pietroniro, and Howard Wheater
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2019-207, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2019-207, 2019
Preprint withdrawn
Xing Fang, John W. Pomeroy, Chris M. DeBeer, Phillip Harder, and Evan Siemens
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 455–471, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-455-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-455-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Meteorological, snow survey, streamflow, and groundwater data are presented from Marmot Creek Research Basin, a small alpine-montane forest headwater catchment in the Alberta Rockies. It was heavily instrumented, experimented upon, and operated by several federal government agencies between 1962 and 1986 and was re-established starting in 2004 by the University of Saskatchewan Centre for Hydrology. These long-term legacy data serve to advance our knowledge of hydrology of the Canadian Rockies.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Zilefac Elvis Asong, Howard Simon Wheater, John Willard Pomeroy, Alain Pietroniro, Mohamed Ezzat Elshamy, Daniel Princz, and Alex Cannon
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2018-128, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2018-128, 2018
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Cold regions hydrology is very sensitive to the impacts of climate warming. We need better hydrological models driven by reliable climate data in order to assess hydrologic responses to climate change. Cold regions often have sparse surface observations, particularly at high elevations that generate a major amount of runoff. We produce a long-term dataset that can be used to better understand and represent the seasonal/inter-annual variability of hydrological fluxes and the the timing of runoff.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Gonzalo Sapriza-Azuri, Pablo Gamazo, Saman Razavi, and Howard S. Wheater
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3295–3309, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3295-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3295-2018, 2018
Short summary
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Arctic and subarctic regions are amongst the most susceptible regions on Earth to climate change. There, models require a proper representation of the interactions between climate and hydrology. Typically these model represent the soil with shallow depths, whereas for cold regions, deep soil is needed. To address this, we run model experiments to characterize the effect of soil depth and temperature soil initialization. Our results demonstrate that 20 m of soil profile is essential.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Zilefac Elvis Asong, Howard Simon Wheater, Barrie Bonsal, Saman Razavi, and Sopan Kurkute
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3105–3124, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3105-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3105-2018, 2018
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Canada is very susceptible to recurrent droughts, which have damaging impacts on regional water resources and agriculture. However, nationwide drought assessments are currently lacking and impacted by limited ground-based observations. We delineate two major drought regions (Prairies and northern central) over Canada and link drought characteristics to external factors of climate variability. This study helps to determine when the drought events occur, their duration, and how often they occur.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
José-Luis Guerrero, Patricia Pernica, Howard Wheater, Murray Mackay, and Chris Spence
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 6345–6362, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-6345-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-6345-2017, 2017
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Lakes are sentinels of climate change, and an adequate characterization of their feedbacks to the atmosphere could improve climate modeling. These feedbacks, as heat fluxes, can be simulated but are seldom measured, casting doubt on modeling results. Measurements from a small lake in Canada established that the model parameter modulating how much light penetrates the lake dominates model response. This parameter is measurable: improved monitoring could lead to more robust modeling.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Xicai Pan, Warren Helgason, Andrew Ireson, and Howard Wheater
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 5401–5413, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-5401-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-5401-2017, 2017
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In this paper we present a case study from a heterogeneous pasture site in the Canadian prairies, where we have quantified the various components of the water balance on the field scale, and critically examine some of the simplifying assumptions which are often invoked when applying water budget approaches in applied hydrology. We highlight challenges caused by lateral fluxes of blowing snow and ambiguous partitioning of snow melt water into runoff and infiltration.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Yoshihide Wada, Marc F. P. Bierkens, Ad de Roo, Paul A. Dirmeyer, James S. Famiglietti, Naota Hanasaki, Megan Konar, Junguo Liu, Hannes Müller Schmied, Taikan Oki, Yadu Pokhrel, Murugesu Sivapalan, Tara J. Troy, Albert I. J. M. van Dijk, Tim van Emmerik, Marjolein H. J. Van Huijgevoort, Henny A. J. Van Lanen, Charles J. Vörösmarty, Niko Wanders, and Howard Wheater
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 4169–4193, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-4169-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-4169-2017, 2017
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Rapidly increasing population and human activities have altered terrestrial water fluxes on an unprecedented scale. Awareness of potential water scarcity led to first global water resource assessments; however, few hydrological models considered the interaction between terrestrial water fluxes and human activities. Our contribution highlights the importance of human activities transforming the Earth's water cycle, and how hydrological models can include such influences in an integrated manner.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Jefferson S. Wong, Saman Razavi, Barrie R. Bonsal, Howard S. Wheater, and Zilefac E. Asong
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 2163–2185, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-2163-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-2163-2017, 2017
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This study was conducted to quantify the spatial and temporal variability of the errors associated with various gridded precipitation products in Canada. Overall, WFDEI [GPCC] and CaPA performed best with respect to different performance measures, followed by ANUSPLIN and WEDEI [CRU]. Princeton and NARR demonstrated the lowest quality. Comparing the climate model-simulated products, PCIC ensembles generally performed better than NA-CORDEX ensembles in terms of reliability in four seasons.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
A. Nazemi and H. S. Wheater
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 33–61, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-33-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-33-2015, 2015
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Activities related to water resource management perturb terrestrial water cycle with hydrologic and land-atmospheric implications. By defining water resource management as the integration of water demand with water supply and allocation, this paper critically reviews current schemes for representing human water demands in models relevant to Earth system modelling. We conclude that current representations are limited due to uncertainties in data support, demand algorithms and large-scale models.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
A. Nazemi and H. S. Wheater
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 63–90, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-63-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-63-2015, 2015
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Human water supply and allocation are major drivers of change in terrestrial water cycle. Considering current schemes for representing water supply and allocation in large-scale models, we review the state of the art and highlight various sources of uncertainty. Considering the opportunities for improving available schemes, we argue that the time is right for a global initiative based on a set of regional case studies to improve the inclusion of water resource management in large-scale models.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Related subject area
Subject: Snow and Ice | Techniques and Approaches: Theory development
Changing snow water storage in natural snow reservoirs
Hydrological response to warm and dry weather: do glaciers compensate?
Midwinter melts in the Canadian prairies: energy balance and hydrological effects
Impact of glacier loss and vegetation succession on annual basin runoff
Forest impacts on snow accumulation and ablation across an elevation gradient in a temperate montane environment
Morphological dynamics of an englacial channel
Laboratory evidence for enhanced infiltration of ion load during snowmelt
Christina Marie Aragon and David F. Hill
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 781–800, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-781-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-781-2024, 2024
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A novel snow metric, snow water storage (SwS), is used to characterize the natural reservoir function of snowpacks, quantifying how much water is held in snow reservoirs and for how long. Despite covering only 16 % of US land area, mountainous regions contribute 72 % of the annual SwS. Recent decades show a 22 % decline in annual mountain SwS. Flexible snow metrics such as SwS may become more valuable for monitoring and predicting water resources amidst a future of increased climate variability.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Marit Van Tiel, Anne F. Van Loon, Jan Seibert, and Kerstin Stahl
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 3245–3265, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-3245-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-3245-2021, 2021
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Glaciers can buffer streamflow during dry and warm periods, but under which circumstances can melt compensate precipitation deficits? Streamflow responses to warm and dry events were analyzed using
long-term observations of 50 glacierized catchments in Norway, Canada, and the European Alps. Region, timing of the event, relative glacier cover, and antecedent event conditions all affect the level of compensation during these events. This implies that glaciers do not compensate straightforwardly.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Igor Pavlovskii, Masaki Hayashi, and Daniel Itenfisu
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 1867–1883, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1867-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1867-2019, 2019
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Midwinter melts are often an overlooked factor in hydrological processes in the cold regions. The present paper highlights the effect of melt timing on energy balance and discusses how midwinter melts affect streamflows and groundwater recharge.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Evan Carnahan, Jason M. Amundson, and Eran Hood
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 1667–1681, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1667-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1667-2019, 2019
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We model the effects of glacier dynamics, climate, and plant succession on annual streamflow during glacier retreat. Streamflow initially increases as the glacier melts, but eventually decreases to below preretreat levels due to increases in evapotranspiration. Glacier dynamics largely controls early variations in streamflow, whereas plant succession plays a progressively larger roll throughout. We show that glacier dynamics and landscape evolution are equally important in predicting streamflow.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Travis R. Roth and Anne W. Nolin
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 5427–5442, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-5427-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-5427-2017, 2017
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Maritime snowpacks are temperature sensitive and experience disproportionate effects of climate warming and changing forest cover. We studied the combined effects of forest cover, climate variability, and elevation on snow in a maritime montane environment. The dense, relatively warm forests at Low and Mid sites impede snow accumulation through increased canopy snow interception and increased energy inputs to the snowpack. These results are needed for improved forest cover model representation.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
Geir Vatne and Tristram D. L. Irvine-Fynn
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 2947–2964, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-2947-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-2947-2016, 2016
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Ten years of direct observations of an englacial conduit in a cold based glacier in Svalbard document for the first time how a vertical meltwater waterfall (moulin) is formed from gradual incision of a meltwater channel. This evolution appears to be dominated by knickpoints that incise upstream at rates several times faster than the vertical incision in adjacent near horizontal channel sections.
This article is included in the Encyclopedia of Geosciences
G. Lilbæk and J. W. Pomeroy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 14, 1365–1374, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-14-1365-2010, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-14-1365-2010, 2010
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Short summary
This paper provides a comprehensive review and up-to-date synthesis of the observed changes in air temperature, precipitation, seasonal snow cover, mountain glaciers, permafrost, freshwater ice cover, and river discharge over the interior of western Canada since the mid- or late 20th century. Important long-term observational networks and data sets are described, and qualitative linkages among the changing Earth system components are highlighted.
This paper provides a comprehensive review and up-to-date synthesis of the observed changes in...
