Monthly Archives: November 2009

Grad student on the radio

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“Snow Man. He’s a grad student with a snowy mission. Nicholas Kinar is measuring the amount of water in snow. He hopes it will help predict droughts and floods”

On November 10th CBC radio’s “The Morning Edition” had an interview with Nicholas Kinar, a grad student at the Centre for Hydrology. You can listen to the interview here.

Sound waves used to study snow

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By Anne-Marie Hickey, The StarPhoenix, Saskatoon, SK
November 9, 2009

A University of Saskatchewan graduate student has discovered how to use sound waves to determine the water content of snow — a finding that could help scientists better predict floods and droughts and shed light on climate change.
“Nicholas Kinar is the only person who has been able to figure out how to use sound waves to measure the amount of water in snow,” said his supervisor John Pomeroy, Canada Research chair in Water Resources and Climate Change and director of the U of- Centre for Hydrology.
“This will allow people to put improved water management systems in place and offer an early warning for water irrigation supply,” said Pomeroy, noting that 80 per cent of the water in Saskatchewan lakes and rivers comes from melted snow.

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Short Course: “The Physical Principles of Hydrology”

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The Canadian Society for Hydrological Sciences, in partnership with the University of Saskatchewan, is offering a short course entitled “The Physical Principles of Hydrology” to be held at the University of Calgary’s Biogeoscience Institute’s Barrier Lake Station in the Kananaskis Valley from March 2 – 11, 2010.
This course is directed to graduate students and early to mid-level career water resource engineers, hydrologists, aquatic ecologists and technologists from Canada who are either working directly in the disciplines presented or are looking to broaden their understanding of hydrological systems and processes. Details and registration are now available at http://www.cwra.org/branches/cshs/Principles_of_Hydrology_Workshop.aspx. There is room for 40 students. For further information, please contact Dr. Christopher Spence at chris.spence@ec.gc.ca or Dr. John Pomeroy at john.pomeroy@usask.ca.