An overview of river flood forecasting procedures in Canadian watersheds

Zahmatkesh, Zahra; Jha, Sanjeev; Coulibaly, Paulin; Stadnyk, Tricia A.

doi:10.1080/07011784.2019.1601598

Cited by 29 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Intuitively, snowmelt runoff in the cold regions of the northern hemisphere is very sensitive to any alternation in parameters related to temperature [71]. The application of flood forecasting plays an integral role in foreseeing such events to minimize the extent of damage caused by heavy runoff [72]. Therefore, such parameters should not be discarded from model calibration, despite their low influence in long-term simulation, because of the high flows and volumes associated with spring freshet in nival-dominated regimes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time Variant Sensitivity Analysis of Hydrological Model Parameters in a Cold Region Using Flow Signatures

Bajracharya

Awoye

Stadnyk

et al. 2020

Water

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The complex terrain, seasonality, and cold region hydrology of the Nelson Churchill River Basin (NCRB) presents a formidable challenge for hydrological modeling, which complicates the calibration of model parameters. Seasonality leads to different hydrological processes dominating at different times of the year, which translates to time variant sensitivity in model parameters. In this study, Hydrological Predictions for the Environment model (HYPE) is set up in the NCRB to analyze the time variant sensitivity analysis (TVSA) of model parameters using a Global Sensitivity Analysis technique known as Variogram Analysis of Response Surfaces (VARS). TVSA can identify parameters that are highly influential in a short period but relatively uninfluential over the whole simulation period. TVSA is generally effective in identifying model’s sensitivity to event-based parameters related to cold region processes such as snowmelt and frozen soil. This can guide event-based calibration, useful for operational flood forecasting. In contrast to residual based metrics, flow signatures, specifically the slope of the mid-segment of the flow duration curve, allows VARS to detect the influential parameters throughout the timescale of analysis. The results are beneficial for the calibration process in complex and multi-dimensional models by targeting the informative parameters, which are associated with the cold region hydrological processes.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time Variant Sensitivity Analysis of Hydrological Model Parameters in a Cold Region Using Flow Signatures

Bajracharya

Awoye

Stadnyk

et al. 2020

Water

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The problem is more pronounced in transboundary river basins. For instance, Zahmatkesh et al [29] mentioned that the absence of an active network of communication and coordination between Canadian provinces and US states for transboundary watersheds is a major communication challenge. A similar gap was found in a study conducted of FEWS for the Bhotekoshi river along the China-Nepal border, Karnali river on Nepal-India border, and Brahmaputra river on India-Bangladesh border in Asia [30].…”

Section: Challenges In Warning Dissemination and Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying societal challenges in flood early warning systems

Perera

Agnihotri

Seidou

et al. 2020

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Flood Early Warning Systems (FEWS) are implemented in many parts of the world, but early warnings do not always translate into an emergency response from all individuals at risk. This article examines challenges such as warning communication and community response capabilities. Literature review, global online survey results, and experiential knowledge helped identify cross-cutting issues such as failure to use participatory approaches involving communities and addressing their concerns in warning, insufficient preparedness and response levels of FEWS, inadequate translation of disaster risk reduction (DRR) policies into action at the community level, lack of DRR knowledge and practices among key stakeholders, insufficient gender and social inclusion in all stages of FEWS, gaps in institutional communication and collaboration, and, finally, technical and financial constraints. The paper also discusses the contribution of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in addressing the identified challenges and eventually strengthening FEWS locally. CSOs were found to act positively at local level challenges and significantly contribute to addressing them through tailored solutions to community concerns. Such solutions include DRR awareness campaigns to educate the communities and key officials; enhanced communication between vulnerable communities and local authorities; transforming reactive community response that relied on government officials to a risk-informed and self-prepared community response; gender inclusion and diversity in various stages of FEWS; and advocacy campaigns to build resilience to disasters. Eventually, policy-based recommendations that can help to root out the challenges discussed in this study are presented.

show abstract

“…The geographic extent of Canada means that water resources engineering practice is generally governed at the provincial level and the boundary, as opposed to federal jurisdiction, which is more common in other countries [35,36]. As a result, methods of RFFA have been inconsistently applied among government agencies, academic communities, and industrial partners [8,11,37].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Attributes for Identifying Homogeneous Flood Regions for Regional Flood Frequency Analysis in Canada

Zhang

Stadnyk

2020

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The identification of homogeneous flood regions is essential for regional flood frequency analysis. Despite the type of regionalization framework considered (e.g., region of influence or hierarchical clustering), selecting flood-related attributes to reflect flood generating mechanisms is required to discriminate flood regimes among catchments. To understand how different attributes perform across Canada for identifying homogeneous regions, this study examines five distinctive attributes (i.e., geographical proximity, flood seasonality, physiographic variables, monthly precipitation pattern, and monthly temperature pattern) for their ability to identify homogeneous regions at 186 gauging sites with their annual maximum flow data. We propose a novel region revision procedure to complement the well-known region of influence and L-Moments techniques that automates the identification of homogeneous regions across continental domains. Results are presented spatially for Canada to assess patterning of homogeneous regions. Memberships of two selected regions are investigated to provide insight into membership characteristics. Sites in eastern Canada are highly likely to identify homogeneous flood regions, while the western prairie and mountainous regions are not. Overall, it is revealed that the success of identifying homogeneous regions depends on local hydrological complexities, whether the considered attribute(s) reflect primary flooding mechanism(s), and on whether catchment sites are clustered in a small geographic region. Formation of effective pooling groups affords the extension of record lengths across the Canadian domain (where gauges typically have <50 years of record), facilitating more comprehensive analysis of higher return period flood needs for climate change assessment.

show abstract

An overview of river flood forecasting procedures in Canadian watersheds

Cited by 29 publications

References 36 publications

Time Variant Sensitivity Analysis of Hydrological Model Parameters in a Cold Region Using Flow Signatures

Time Variant Sensitivity Analysis of Hydrological Model Parameters in a Cold Region Using Flow Signatures

Identifying societal challenges in flood early warning systems

Investigation of Attributes for Identifying Homogeneous Flood Regions for Regional Flood Frequency Analysis in Canada

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About