Modes de variabilité temporelle des débits moyens annuels et leurs liens avec les indices climatiques au québec (canada)

The temporal variability of the annual average discharges (1970-1995) of 70 hydrological stations distributed among Québec three main watersheds was studied by principal component analysis and smoothing by a simple moving average. Five temporal variability modes were thus identified according to the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Géographie physique et Quaternaire
Main Authors: Assani, Ali A., Lajoie, Francis, Vadnais, Marie-Ève, Benseghir, Safia, Bureau, Caroline
Format: Text
Language:French
Published: Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal 2006
Subjects:
geo
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.7202/017996ar
http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/017996ar
Description
Summary:The temporal variability of the annual average discharges (1970-1995) of 70 hydrological stations distributed among Québec three main watersheds was studied by principal component analysis and smoothing by a simple moving average. Five temporal variability modes were thus identified according to the succession of decreasing and increasing discharge phases. The first three modes characterize rivers of the St. Lawrence watershed. The first mode, which includes the greatest number of stations located on both shores of the river, shows a period of decreasing discharges (before 1980), followed by a long phase of moderately increasing discharges. This mode is positively correlated with the Southern Oscillation. The second mode, which includes rivers located in the northern part of the south shore of the St. Lawrence, is characterized by discharges decreasing between 1975 and 1985 and then increasing. It is not correlated with any climate index. The stations forming the third mode are mainly located on the north shore. This mode is characterized by two increasing phases separated by a decreasing discharge phase. Some stations of this mode are correlated with the Arctic, Southern and North Atlantic Oscillations. The last two modes characterize rivers located north of the 55th parallel, in the Ungava Bay and Hudson Bay watersheds. These modes show a continuously decreasing phase since the second period of the 1970s or a decreasing phase preceded by a long normal discharge phase. They are negatively correlated with the Arctic and North Atlantic Oscillations. This study shows that the interannual discharge variability is not synchronous within the St. Lawrence River watershed. La variabilité interannuelle des débits moyens annuels (1970-1995) de 70 stations hydrologiques réparties dans les trois grands bassins versants du Québec a été étudiée au moyen d’une analyse en composantes principales et d’un lissage par une moyenne mobile simple. Cinq modes de variabilité ont été ainsi identifiés selon la succession des phases de ...