Modelling freeze-up ice covers along the Exploits River, Newfoundland

• Main Authors: Lindenschmidt, Karl-Erich, Ghoreshi, Mohammad, Barrette, Paul, Khan, Amir Ali
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: CGU HS Committee on River Ice Processes and the Environment (CRIPE) 2023
• Subjects: ice jam; freezeup; breakup; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/ft/?id=f575e6ad-4d46-4531-9d9a-bff598847568; https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=f575e6ad-4d46-4531-9d9a-bff598847568; https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=f575e6ad-4d46-4531-9d9a-bff598847568

Although spring breakup ice jams have received more attention than freeze-up ice jams in the literature, perhaps due to their greater flood severity, freeze-up ice jams can still be a concern for flooding and pose highwater threats to riverside communities. This paper explores a methodology to model key processes of freeze-up ice jam flood hazard. These processes, modelled in the river ice hydraulic model RIVICE, are addressed using freeze-up along the Exploits River as a case study where the town of Badger is of most concern regarding ice-jam flood risk. Differences between simulated and observed extents of the ice cover and water level elevations served as objective functions for the calibration process, using the calibration of the heat transfer coefficient as an example. The calibration of the hydrological model HEC-HMS set up for the lower subbasin of the Exploits River drainage area is also introduced. The coupling of these two models will be used in future work for flood forecasting and climate change predictions. Peer reviewed: Yes NRC publication: Yes