South Saskatchewan River Basin Integrated Hydrologic Model:Year 2 Progress Synopsis

Nested Basin Approach• Large river basin models strain the limits of current

computing power.• Improved spatial resolution is realized by generating

smaller models of higher resolution.

Hierarchy of Spatial Scale

Overview• 3-D geological model constructed.• Physical properties applied to land surface and subsurface.• Average monthly climate conditions 2009-2013 applied to date.• Major hydrological processes implemented include: precipitation,

evapotranspiration, snow accumulation, snow melt, overland and subsurface flow.

• Outputs include soil moisture saturation, groundwater levels, stream flow, and snow accumulation.

A Suite of Hydrological Outputs

Flood Risk and Mitigation

Work in Progress• Input of daily climate data.• Irrigation simulation.• Reservoir operations simulation.• Field scale simulations.• Assimilation of measured data (calibration).

South Saskatchewan River Basin (SSRB) location map showing the Oldman River Basin (ORB), Bow River Basin (BRB), Red Deer River Basin (RDRB), and the Lower South Saskatchewan River Basin (LSSRB).

Red Deer River Basin

• soil moisture

Oldman River Basin

• depth to groundwater

Winter Processes• Snow accumulation and melt• Frozen ground

Sub-basin Model Construction

Hydrological Risk to Pasture

HGS simulations for evaluating flood mitigation strategies.

Modeled using high melting rate Modelled using low melting rateObserved conditions from satellite

High resolution finite element models were generated for the four major sub-basins: (1) Red Deer River, (2) Bow River, (3) Oldman River, and (4) Lower South Saskatchewan River. Snow accumulation and melt model will be calibrated using remotely sensed snow cover data and point

source snow survey measurements. Snow cover in blue and bare ground in brown.

ReferencesAllen, R.G., L.S. Pereira, D. Raes and M. Smith. 1998. Crop evapotranspiration - guidelines for computing crop water requirements. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 56, Rome, Italy.

Major River

Basin

~100,000’s km2

Sub-basin

~10,000’s km2

Regional Scale

~100-1000’s km2

Field – Soil

Column Scale

~1 km2

The SSRB HGS model is actually a set of models at varying scales.

Evapotranspiration (ET)

Location of DYMAC pasture growth study sites (green squares), AAF pasture growth study sites (blue circles) and irrigation districts (pink polygons).

• Solar radiation-based potential ET.• Dual crop coefficient approach for

evaporation and transpiration.• Includes root water uptake adjusted

for soil moisture.

Crop coefficient curves showing the basal (Kcb), soil evaporation (Ke), and single crop coefficient (Kc) (after Allen et al., 1998).

• Correlate hydrologic conditions to pasture yield.

• Improve production resiliency under variable climate (flood/drought).

HGS simulations for assessing local flood risk in Medicine Hat, AB.