Effects of projected climate on the hydrodynamic and sediment transport regime of the lower Athabasca River in Alberta, Canada
Abstract The potential effects of climate change on the hydrodynamic and sediment transport regime of the lower Athabasca River (LAR) in Alberta, Canada, is investigated. Future climate projections for the region suggest a potential increase in mean air temperature and precipitation by about 2.8–7.1...
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crwiley:10.1002/rra.3273 2024-06-02T08:03:05+00:00 Effects of projected climate on the hydrodynamic and sediment transport regime of the lower Athabasca River in Alberta, Canada Dibike, Y. Shakibaeinia, A. Eum, H.‐Il Prowse, T. Droppo, I. Environment and Climate Change Canada's Climate Change Adaptation Program (CCAP) Joint Canada-Alberta Oil-Sands Monitoring Program (JOSMP) 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rra.3273 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Frra.3273 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/rra.3273 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ River Research and Applications volume 34, issue 5, page 417-429 ISSN 1535-1459 1535-1467 journal-article 2018 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3273 2024-05-03T11:43:56Z Abstract The potential effects of climate change on the hydrodynamic and sediment transport regime of the lower Athabasca River (LAR) in Alberta, Canada, is investigated. Future climate projections for the region suggest a potential increase in mean air temperature and precipitation by about 2.8–7.1 °C and 8–25%, respectively, by the end of this century. Implications of these climatic changes on the hydrologic regime of the LAR are found to be significant with spring flows expected to increase by about 11–62% and 26–71% by the end of the century for a moderate and high emissions scenarios respectively with corresponding decreases in summer flows. The effects of such changes are examined using the MIKE‐11 hydrodynamic and sediment transport modelling system with inflow boundary conditions corresponding to the changing hydro‐climatic regime. The results suggest that there will be an overall increase in flow velocity, water level, and suspended sediment concentration and transport for most seasons except in the summer months when there may be some decreases. The projected changes in suspended sediment concentration will result in an overall increase in mean annual sediment load in the LAR and to the Peace Athabasca Delta by over 50% towards the latter part of this century (2080s) compared with the 1980s base‐line period. Implications of such potential changes in the transport characteristics of the river system to the mobilization and transport of various chemical constituents and their effects on the region's aquatic ecosystems are subjects of other ongoing investigations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Athabasca River Wiley Online Library Athabasca River Canada Peace-Athabasca Delta ENVELOPE(-111.502,-111.502,58.667,58.667) River Research and Applications 34 5 417 429 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract The potential effects of climate change on the hydrodynamic and sediment transport regime of the lower Athabasca River (LAR) in Alberta, Canada, is investigated. Future climate projections for the region suggest a potential increase in mean air temperature and precipitation by about 2.8–7.1 °C and 8–25%, respectively, by the end of this century. Implications of these climatic changes on the hydrologic regime of the LAR are found to be significant with spring flows expected to increase by about 11–62% and 26–71% by the end of the century for a moderate and high emissions scenarios respectively with corresponding decreases in summer flows. The effects of such changes are examined using the MIKE‐11 hydrodynamic and sediment transport modelling system with inflow boundary conditions corresponding to the changing hydro‐climatic regime. The results suggest that there will be an overall increase in flow velocity, water level, and suspended sediment concentration and transport for most seasons except in the summer months when there may be some decreases. The projected changes in suspended sediment concentration will result in an overall increase in mean annual sediment load in the LAR and to the Peace Athabasca Delta by over 50% towards the latter part of this century (2080s) compared with the 1980s base‐line period. Implications of such potential changes in the transport characteristics of the river system to the mobilization and transport of various chemical constituents and their effects on the region's aquatic ecosystems are subjects of other ongoing investigations. |
author2 |
Environment and Climate Change Canada's Climate Change Adaptation Program (CCAP) Joint Canada-Alberta Oil-Sands Monitoring Program (JOSMP) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dibike, Y. Shakibaeinia, A. Eum, H.‐Il Prowse, T. Droppo, I. |
spellingShingle |
Dibike, Y. Shakibaeinia, A. Eum, H.‐Il Prowse, T. Droppo, I. Effects of projected climate on the hydrodynamic and sediment transport regime of the lower Athabasca River in Alberta, Canada |
author_facet |
Dibike, Y. Shakibaeinia, A. Eum, H.‐Il Prowse, T. Droppo, I. |
author_sort |
Dibike, Y. |
title |
Effects of projected climate on the hydrodynamic and sediment transport regime of the lower Athabasca River in Alberta, Canada |
title_short |
Effects of projected climate on the hydrodynamic and sediment transport regime of the lower Athabasca River in Alberta, Canada |
title_full |
Effects of projected climate on the hydrodynamic and sediment transport regime of the lower Athabasca River in Alberta, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Effects of projected climate on the hydrodynamic and sediment transport regime of the lower Athabasca River in Alberta, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of projected climate on the hydrodynamic and sediment transport regime of the lower Athabasca River in Alberta, Canada |
title_sort |
effects of projected climate on the hydrodynamic and sediment transport regime of the lower athabasca river in alberta, canada |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rra.3273 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Frra.3273 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/rra.3273 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-111.502,-111.502,58.667,58.667) |
geographic |
Athabasca River Canada Peace-Athabasca Delta |
geographic_facet |
Athabasca River Canada Peace-Athabasca Delta |
genre |
Athabasca River |
genre_facet |
Athabasca River |
op_source |
River Research and Applications volume 34, issue 5, page 417-429 ISSN 1535-1459 1535-1467 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3273 |
container_title |
River Research and Applications |
container_volume |
34 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
417 |
op_container_end_page |
429 |
_version_ |
1800747545135153152 |