| Title | A national-scale assessment of long-term water budget closures for Canada's watersheds |
| Author | Wang, S; McKenney, D W; Shang, J L; Li, J |
| Source | Journal of Geophysical Research, D, Atmospheres vol. 119, no. 14, 2014 p. 8712-8725, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JD021951 (Open Access) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Alt Series | Earth Sciences Sector, Contribution Series 20130428 |
| Publisher | Wiley-Blackwell |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | British Columbia; Alberta; Saskatchewan; Manitoba; Ontario; Quebec; New Brunswick; Nova Scotia; Prince Edward Island; Newfoundland and Labrador; Northwest Territories; Yukon; Nunavut |
| NTS | 1; 2; 3; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 20; 21; 22; 23; 24; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 30; 31; 32; 33; 34; 35; 36; 37; 38; 39; 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49; 52; 53; 54; 55; 56; 57; 58; 59; 62; 63; 64; 65;
66; 67; 68; 69; 72; 73; 74; 75; 76; 77; 78; 79; 82; 83; 84; 85; 86; 87; 88; 89; 92; 93; 94; 95; 96; 97; 98; 99; 102; 103; 104; 105; 106; 107; 114O; 114P; 115; 116; 117; 120; 340; 560 |
| Subjects | geophysics; hydrogeology; Nature and Environment; groundwater; groundwater flow; groundwater resources; groundwater movement; groundwater regimes; hydrologic budget; watersheds; surface waters |
| Illustrations | location maps; tables; plots |
| Program | Aquifer Assessment & support to mapping, Groundwater Geoscience |
| Released | 2014 07 25 |
| Abstract | This study examined the long-term water budget closures for 370 watersheds over Canada's landmass by using 30 years' (1981-2010) data products recently produced for precipitation (P) gridded using
climate station measurements, land surface evapotranspiration (ET), and water surface evaporation (E0) obtained by the Ecological Assimilation of Land and Climate Observations (EALCO) model, and observed streamflow (Q). The results show that 29%,
58%, and 83% of the watersheds were closed within 5%, 10%, and 20% of P, respectively. The positive and negative imbalances among the 370 watersheds are largely offset and the national scale average is\'0124mmyr\'011, or 4.2% of P. Water budget
closures have large variation across the landmass. Regions with sparse or less accurate monitoring of P such as the mountainous region and the Arctic exhibit the largest water imbalances. Further efforts on enhancing the climate observation networks,
improving spatial models for P and ET estimates, and streamflow measurements are all likely critical for a better understanding of Canada's water budgets. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
A water budget is the quantitative accounting of the amount of water entering, stored within, and leaving a hydrologic system. To better understand
implications of climate change and to provide improved ability to manage water resources requires improved information on water budgets. This study examines the national scale long-term water budget for Canada¿s landmass by using state-of-the-art
data products from remote sensing, modelling, and in situ measurements. This research relies on the CCMEO/ESS EALCO model ¿ an international leading model for EO applications in natural resources mapping and assessment. The new technology developed
in this study advances the EO applications in large scale water mapping. The results filled knowledge gaps in water resources accounting, quantified the uncertainties in the current water datasets, and provided future directions for improving the
water layers for Canada. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 293558 |
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