Investigation and modelling of ice processes in the Nelson River’s Outlet Lakes Area

Ice is a prominent characteristic of water bodies in cold regions. For rivers regulated for hydropower operations, the production of ice particles can result in obstructions and subsequent performance issues during energy production. Rough and thickened ice covers resulting from high flow conditions...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lees, Kevin
Other Authors: Clark, Shawn P., Malenchak, Jarrod, Stadnyk, Tricia (Civil Engineering), Tachie, Mark (Mechanical Engineering), Lindenschmidt, Karl-Erich (University of Saskatchewan)
Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1993/36548
id ftunivmanitoba:oai:mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca:1993/36548
record_format openpolar
spelling ftunivmanitoba:oai:mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca:1993/36548 2023-06-18T03:41:45+02:00 Investigation and modelling of ice processes in the Nelson River’s Outlet Lakes Area Lees, Kevin Clark, Shawn P. Malenchak, Jarrod Stadnyk, Tricia (Civil Engineering) Tachie, Mark (Mechanical Engineering) Lindenschmidt, Karl-Erich (University of Saskatchewan) 2022-06-10T15:12:40Z application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1993/36548 eng eng http://hdl.handle.net/1993/36548 open access Nelson River Lake Winnipeg River Ice Engineering Jenpeg Generating Station Cross Lake CRISSP2D Numerical Modelling Climate Change Lake-Outlet System River Hydraulics doctoral thesis 2022 ftunivmanitoba 2023-06-04T17:41:05Z Ice is a prominent characteristic of water bodies in cold regions. For rivers regulated for hydropower operations, the production of ice particles can result in obstructions and subsequent performance issues during energy production. Rough and thickened ice covers resulting from high flow conditions can also lead to substantial hydraulic losses. While ice formations impact hydropower operations, a river’s flow hydrograph also influences ice processes from freeze-up through break-up. Research investigations into the influence of regulation on ice processes benefits not only hydropower practioners, but also those who are impacted by hydropower operations. Further, understanding these cause-and-affect relationships supports design of innovative tools to quantify the impact of ice on river hydraulics. In this study, a detailed characterization of ice processes is presented for the regulated Upper Nelson River region located at the outlet of Lake Winnipeg in Northern Manitoba, Canada. With a focus on freeze-up and mid-winter processes, this characterization informed design of a 2D numerical modelling methodology to simulate ice-affected winter hydraulics. Model development included simulation of both thermal and dynamic ice phenomenon, which relied on derivation of numerous site-specific hydraulic functions. The presence of significant skim ice runs in this region inspired development of a novel treatment to simulate freeze-up jamming of skim ice floes on very mild-sloped rivers. The modelling methodology shows strong performance in simulating both freeze-up and mid-winter hydraulics, which is a signficiant contribution considering the complexity of this lake-outlet system. A quantitative evaluation of the effects of climate change on river ice hydraulics is included, with future projection of shorter and warmer winters leading to greater cumulative discharge from Lake Winnipeg. While discharge increases may lead to increased power production in future years, concurrent projections of increased inter-annual ... Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Nelson River MSpace at the University of Manitoba Canada
institution Open Polar
collection MSpace at the University of Manitoba
op_collection_id ftunivmanitoba
language English
topic Nelson River
Lake Winnipeg
River Ice Engineering
Jenpeg Generating Station
Cross Lake
CRISSP2D
Numerical Modelling
Climate Change
Lake-Outlet System
River Hydraulics
spellingShingle Nelson River
Lake Winnipeg
River Ice Engineering
Jenpeg Generating Station
Cross Lake
CRISSP2D
Numerical Modelling
Climate Change
Lake-Outlet System
River Hydraulics
Lees, Kevin
Investigation and modelling of ice processes in the Nelson River’s Outlet Lakes Area
topic_facet Nelson River
Lake Winnipeg
River Ice Engineering
Jenpeg Generating Station
Cross Lake
CRISSP2D
Numerical Modelling
Climate Change
Lake-Outlet System
River Hydraulics
description Ice is a prominent characteristic of water bodies in cold regions. For rivers regulated for hydropower operations, the production of ice particles can result in obstructions and subsequent performance issues during energy production. Rough and thickened ice covers resulting from high flow conditions can also lead to substantial hydraulic losses. While ice formations impact hydropower operations, a river’s flow hydrograph also influences ice processes from freeze-up through break-up. Research investigations into the influence of regulation on ice processes benefits not only hydropower practioners, but also those who are impacted by hydropower operations. Further, understanding these cause-and-affect relationships supports design of innovative tools to quantify the impact of ice on river hydraulics. In this study, a detailed characterization of ice processes is presented for the regulated Upper Nelson River region located at the outlet of Lake Winnipeg in Northern Manitoba, Canada. With a focus on freeze-up and mid-winter processes, this characterization informed design of a 2D numerical modelling methodology to simulate ice-affected winter hydraulics. Model development included simulation of both thermal and dynamic ice phenomenon, which relied on derivation of numerous site-specific hydraulic functions. The presence of significant skim ice runs in this region inspired development of a novel treatment to simulate freeze-up jamming of skim ice floes on very mild-sloped rivers. The modelling methodology shows strong performance in simulating both freeze-up and mid-winter hydraulics, which is a signficiant contribution considering the complexity of this lake-outlet system. A quantitative evaluation of the effects of climate change on river ice hydraulics is included, with future projection of shorter and warmer winters leading to greater cumulative discharge from Lake Winnipeg. While discharge increases may lead to increased power production in future years, concurrent projections of increased inter-annual ...
author2 Clark, Shawn P.
Malenchak, Jarrod
Stadnyk, Tricia (Civil Engineering)
Tachie, Mark (Mechanical Engineering)
Lindenschmidt, Karl-Erich (University of Saskatchewan)
format Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
author Lees, Kevin
author_facet Lees, Kevin
author_sort Lees, Kevin
title Investigation and modelling of ice processes in the Nelson River’s Outlet Lakes Area
title_short Investigation and modelling of ice processes in the Nelson River’s Outlet Lakes Area
title_full Investigation and modelling of ice processes in the Nelson River’s Outlet Lakes Area
title_fullStr Investigation and modelling of ice processes in the Nelson River’s Outlet Lakes Area
title_full_unstemmed Investigation and modelling of ice processes in the Nelson River’s Outlet Lakes Area
title_sort investigation and modelling of ice processes in the nelson river’s outlet lakes area
publishDate 2022
url http://hdl.handle.net/1993/36548
geographic Canada
geographic_facet Canada
genre Nelson River
genre_facet Nelson River
op_relation http://hdl.handle.net/1993/36548
op_rights open access
_version_ 1769007411876593664