The work of CH staff during and since this past summer’s flooding events in Canmore and across Alberta are described in an article by Bob andford in the Fall 2013 issue of the U of S’s Arts & Science Magazine, available here.
Canmore – Come Hell and High Water Talks
John Pomeroy and Bob Sandford will present public talks in Canmore, Alberta in the Come Hell and High Water: Understanding Canada’s Changing Hydrology outreach event, hosted by the Town of Canmore and chaired by the Mayor of Canmore.
Pomeroy will discuss changes to hydrology and climate that have been occurring in the Canadian Rockies over the last century and the lead up to and progression of the extreme meteorological and hydrological event that became the flood of 2013.
Sandford will discuss how changes in hydroclimatic conditions will affect our society socially, economically and environmentally now and in the future.
The talks will be in the Canmore Collegiate High School Theatre starting 7 pm, Monday November 25th.
R Lunch – Wednesday November 27th
This month’s R Lunch will be on Wednesday November 27th in AGRI 1E85, from 11:30 to 12:30.
There will be two presentations:
Dr Jill Johnstone (Department of Biology) will present on spatial multivariate analyses using R.
Dr Sun Chun (Global Institute for Water Security) will demonstrate a new package called RGLIMCLIM (A multisite, multivariate daily weather generator based on Generalized Linear Models) which he uses for downscaling precipitation time series.
Bring your lunch and learn something new!
R-Lunch Files: 16th October 2013
Files for the R-Lunch (dated 16th October) are available here:
http://usask.ca/hydrology/R-Lunch/Rlunch_Oct16-2013.zip
The Zip-file contains two folders / directories:
– FFA
– GrasshopperDemo
Calgary Herald Publishes Op-Ed by CH Director
The Calgary Herald (8th October 2013) has published an ‘op-ed’ by Centre for Hydrology Director Professor John Pomeroy.
In the article, Prof. Pomeroy discusses options for reducing the risks of exposure to, and damage from, events such as this summer’s flooding in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba (which seem set to become Canada’s most expensive natural disaster).
He argues that improved prediction, avoidance and active mitigation should be integrated into a new Canadian national strategy, with hydrological science playing a key role.
The piece is available online here.
Opportunities with the Changing Cold Regions Network
The Changing Cold Regions Network, led by the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan, currently has several opportunities for research associates, post-doctoral fellows and PhD studentships: full details are available here.
Globe and Mail Publishes Sandford Climate Change Article
The Globe and Mail has published an important commentary by Centre for Hydrology Fellow Bob Sandford, focusing on the recently-released Working Group 1 Report of the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. The article is available here.
While it is generally accepted in science that global change is occurring and has a substantive anthropogenic cause, and while hydrologists are occupied with better understanding the atmospheric feedbacks and hydrological and water resource impacts of a changing atmosphere on the hydrological cycle and cryosphere, this call for attention and response to the science behind these changes is timely and needed in Canada.
The National Covers CH Floods Perspective
Centre for Hydrology Director Professor John Pomeroy, and the work of CH staff and students during and since the Alberta floods of June 2013, provided the main focus of an extended piece on CBC TV’s The National, on Friday 27th September: the segment is available in full here.
Calgary Herald Reports on CRHO
The Calgary Herald of 23rd September has published an article describing the work of the Canadian Rockies Hydrological Observatory (CRHO), which is being established and will be operated by Centre for Hydrology staff and students.
CH / CSHS Kananaskis short course, March 2014
The University of Saskatchewan’s Centre for Hydrology and the Canadian Society for Hydrological Sciences will again be offering their successful and popular intensive course on the physical principles of hydrology, with particular relevance to Canadian conditions.
The course will take place at the University of Calgary Biogeoscience Institute’s Barrier Lake Station in the Kananaskis Valley, Alberta, from March 1-12, 2014.
Full details are available here. Demand is perennially high, so we must operate a policy of ‘first come, first served’!