Physically based cold regions river flood prediction in data‐sparse regions: The Yukon River Basin flow forecasting system

Abstract The Yukon River Basin (YRB) is one of the most important river networks shared between Canada and The United States, and is one of the largest river basins in the subarctic region of North America. The Canadian part of the YRB is characterized by steeply sloped, partly glaciated mountain he...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mohamed Elshamy, Youssef Loukili, John W. Pomeroy, Alain Pietroniro, Dominique Richard, Daniel Princz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-03-01
Series:Journal of Flood Risk Management
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12835
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850277129256697856
author Mohamed Elshamy
Youssef Loukili
John W. Pomeroy
Alain Pietroniro
Dominique Richard
Daniel Princz
author_facet Mohamed Elshamy
Youssef Loukili
John W. Pomeroy
Alain Pietroniro
Dominique Richard
Daniel Princz
author_sort Mohamed Elshamy
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The Yukon River Basin (YRB) is one of the most important river networks shared between Canada and The United States, and is one of the largest river basins in the subarctic region of North America. The Canadian part of the YRB is characterized by steeply sloped, partly glaciated mountain headwaters that generate considerable runoff during melt of glaciers and seasonal snowcover. Snow redistribution, snowmelt, glacier melt and freezing–thawing soil processes in winter and spring along with summertime rainfall‐runoff and evapotranspiration processes are thus key components of streamflow generation in the basin, making conceptual rainfall‐runoff models unsuitable for this cold region. Due to the remote high latitudes and high altitudes of the basin, there is a paucity of observational data, making heavily calibrated conceptual modeling approaches infeasible. At the request of the Yukon Government, this project developed and operationalized a streamflow forecasting system for the Yukon River and several of its tributary rivers using a distributed land surface modeling approach developed for large‐scale implementation in cold regions. This represents a substantial advance in bringing operational hydrological forecasting to the Canadian subarctic for the first time. This experience will inform future research to operation improvements as Canada develops a nationally coordinated flood forecast system.
format Article
id doaj-art-39555dcbf70e4af1824aa2bd776b161a
institution OA Journals
issn 1753-318X
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Journal of Flood Risk Management
spelling doaj-art-39555dcbf70e4af1824aa2bd776b161a2025-08-20T01:49:58ZengWileyJournal of Flood Risk Management1753-318X2025-03-01181n/an/a10.1111/jfr3.12835Physically based cold regions river flood prediction in data‐sparse regions: The Yukon River Basin flow forecasting systemMohamed Elshamy0Youssef Loukili1John W. Pomeroy2Alain Pietroniro3Dominique Richard4Daniel Princz5Centre for Hydrology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon Saskatchewan CanadaCentre for Hydrology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon Saskatchewan CanadaCentre for Hydrology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon Saskatchewan CanadaCentre for Hydrology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon Saskatchewan CanadaCentre for Hydrology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon Saskatchewan CanadaNational Hydrological Service Environment and Climate Change Canada Saskatoon Saskatchewan CanadaAbstract The Yukon River Basin (YRB) is one of the most important river networks shared between Canada and The United States, and is one of the largest river basins in the subarctic region of North America. The Canadian part of the YRB is characterized by steeply sloped, partly glaciated mountain headwaters that generate considerable runoff during melt of glaciers and seasonal snowcover. Snow redistribution, snowmelt, glacier melt and freezing–thawing soil processes in winter and spring along with summertime rainfall‐runoff and evapotranspiration processes are thus key components of streamflow generation in the basin, making conceptual rainfall‐runoff models unsuitable for this cold region. Due to the remote high latitudes and high altitudes of the basin, there is a paucity of observational data, making heavily calibrated conceptual modeling approaches infeasible. At the request of the Yukon Government, this project developed and operationalized a streamflow forecasting system for the Yukon River and several of its tributary rivers using a distributed land surface modeling approach developed for large‐scale implementation in cold regions. This represents a substantial advance in bringing operational hydrological forecasting to the Canadian subarctic for the first time. This experience will inform future research to operation improvements as Canada develops a nationally coordinated flood forecast system.https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12835flood generationforecasting and warninghydrological modeling
spellingShingle Mohamed Elshamy
Youssef Loukili
John W. Pomeroy
Alain Pietroniro
Dominique Richard
Daniel Princz
Physically based cold regions river flood prediction in data‐sparse regions: The Yukon River Basin flow forecasting system
Journal of Flood Risk Management
flood generation
forecasting and warning
hydrological modeling
title Physically based cold regions river flood prediction in data‐sparse regions: The Yukon River Basin flow forecasting system
title_full Physically based cold regions river flood prediction in data‐sparse regions: The Yukon River Basin flow forecasting system
title_fullStr Physically based cold regions river flood prediction in data‐sparse regions: The Yukon River Basin flow forecasting system
title_full_unstemmed Physically based cold regions river flood prediction in data‐sparse regions: The Yukon River Basin flow forecasting system
title_short Physically based cold regions river flood prediction in data‐sparse regions: The Yukon River Basin flow forecasting system
title_sort physically based cold regions river flood prediction in data sparse regions the yukon river basin flow forecasting system
topic flood generation
forecasting and warning
hydrological modeling
url https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12835
work_keys_str_mv AT mohamedelshamy physicallybasedcoldregionsriverfloodpredictionindatasparseregionstheyukonriverbasinflowforecastingsystem
AT youssefloukili physicallybasedcoldregionsriverfloodpredictionindatasparseregionstheyukonriverbasinflowforecastingsystem
AT johnwpomeroy physicallybasedcoldregionsriverfloodpredictionindatasparseregionstheyukonriverbasinflowforecastingsystem
AT alainpietroniro physicallybasedcoldregionsriverfloodpredictionindatasparseregionstheyukonriverbasinflowforecastingsystem
AT dominiquerichard physicallybasedcoldregionsriverfloodpredictionindatasparseregionstheyukonriverbasinflowforecastingsystem
AT danielprincz physicallybasedcoldregionsriverfloodpredictionindatasparseregionstheyukonriverbasinflowforecastingsystem