H23B:
Application of Regional Climate Models (RCMs) in Hydrologic Climate Change Impact Studies

Submit an Abstract to this Session

Session ID#: 6305

Session Description:
An increasing number of regional climate model simulations have been performed and used to dynamically downscale changes in hydro-climate variables to regional scales. While RCMs are generally biased with respect to historical observations, they have attracted much attention because they offer users a dynamically consistent set of variables and they are only weakly bound by the stationarity assumption that underlies statistical downscaling techniques. This session highlights studies on the application of RCMs in hydrologic climate change impact assessments; RCM accuracy and how it compares with General Circulation Models (GCMs) and statistically downscaled simulations; use of RCMs in analyses of extremes; bias correction; improved accuracy via increased resolution; coupling of RCMs and hydrologic models; and statistical downscaling of RCMs to higher resolution. Although the emphasis is on hydrologic quantities such as runoff, studies on other hydro-climatic variables such as temperature and precipitation that provide insight into RCM usefulness are also welcome.
OSPA Liaison:  Mohammad Reza Najafi, Western University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, London, ON, Canada
Chairs:  Mohammad Reza Najafi, Western University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, London, ON, Canada and Arelia T. Schoeneberg (Werner), Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
Primary Convener:  Mohammad Reza Najafi, Western University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, London, ON, Canada
Convener:  Alex J Cannon, Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, University of VIctoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
Index Terms:

1807 Climate impacts [HYDROLOGY]
1839 Hydrologic scaling [HYDROLOGY]
3305 Climate change and variability [ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES]
3355 Regional modeling [ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES]
Co-Sponsor(s):
  • ES - Earth Surface Processes

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

H23B-01
Improvement of Land Surface Schemes for Cold Region Processes: Recent Results from the Changing Cold Regions Network in Western Canada (Invited) (35057)
Howard S. Wheater, University of Saskatchewan, Centre for Hydrology and Global Institute for Water Security, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, Naveed Khaliq, National Research Council, Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Kwok Pan (Sun) Chun, Hong Kong Baptist University, Geography, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, Alan Barr, Environment Canada, Climate Research Division, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, Andrew M Ireson, Global Institute for Water Security, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, Paul A Bartlett, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Climate Research Division, Toronto, ON, Canada, Murray MacKay, Environment Canada Toronto, Science and Technology Branch, Toronto, ON, Canada, Patricia Pernica, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada and Yanping Li, University of Saskatchewan, Global Institute for Water Security, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
H23B-02
Representation of high-latitude hydrology in climate models (Invited) (35234)
Laxmi Sushama, University of Quebec at Montreal UQAM, Montreal, QC, Canada
H23B-03
Toward a Better Understanding of Hydrological Impacts of Climate Change: Lessons Learned from Ouranos Hydroclimatic Studies Based on Regional Climate Model Simulations (Invited) (34490)
Dr. Biljana Music, Laval University, Civil and Water Engineering, Quebec City, QC, Canada; Ouranos - Consortium on Regional Climatology and Adaptation to Climate Change, Montreal, QC, Canada and Anne Frigon
H23B-04
Assessing Extreme Rainfall Characteristics in Future Climate for Canada (Invited) (34862)
Alain Mailhot, Karine Guinard and Gérémy Panthou, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Eau-Terre-Environnement, Québec, QC, Canada
H23B-05
Near-term projections of hydro-meteorological extremes over the United States (36747)
Moetasim Ashfaq1, Deeksha Rastogi2, Rui Mei2, Shih-Chieh Kao3, Bibi S Naz4 and Sudershan Gangrade5, (1)Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Computational Sciences and Engineering Division, Oak Ridge, TN, United States, (2)Oak Ridge National Lab, Oak Ridge, TN, United States, (3)Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Science Division, Oak Ridge, TN, United States, (4)Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Agrosphere Institute (IBG-3), Juelich, Germany, (5)Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge, TN, United States
H23B-06
Projecting the Impact of Climate Change on Extreme Runoff in the Pacific Northwest (35446)
Mohammad Reza Najafi, Western University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, London, ON, Canada and Hamid Moradkhani, The University of Alabama, Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Tuscaloosa, United States
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