Authors: Du, Xinzhong, Shrestha, Narayan Kumar, Wang, Junye
Identifier: CSBE18139
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Published in: CSBE-SCGAB Technical Conferences » AGM Guelph 2018

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Description: Stream temperature patters, which influence the aquatic species and kinetics of biochemical reactions, are expected to be altered by climate change. Therefore, predicting the impacts of climate change on stream temperature is helpful for integrated water resources management. Impact of hydrological processes on stream temperature is usually not accounted for in stream temperature modeling and climate change assessments. In this study, our previously developed Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) equilibrium temperature model, which considers both the impacts of meteorological and hydrological conditions, was used to assess the climate change impact on the stream temperature regimes in the Athabasca River Basin. The streamflow and stream temperatures were calibrated and validated first, using multi-site observed data and then two climate change scenarios (RCP 4.5 and 8.5) from a Canadian Regional Climate Model – the CanRCM4 were used to assess the impacts. Results showed that warmer and wetter future condition will prevail in the basin. Consequently, streamflow in most parts of the basin will increase despite the projected increases in evapotranspiration due to warmer condition. Annual average stream temperatures are expected to increase in most parts of the basin, however temperatures in headwaters regions will decrease due to the cooling effect of increases in snow melt. Moreover, the stream temperature changes showed marked temporal pattern with highest increases in the summer. Such spatial-temporal changes in steam temperature regimes in future period will affect the aquatic species and water quality in the basin, thus requiring immediate appropriate management measures to attenuate the impacts.

Keywords: Stream temperature, climate change, SWAT model, equilibrium temperature, Athabasca River Basin
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Date: 2018-07-22
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Conference name: CSBE/SCGAB 2018 Annual Conference, School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, July 22-25 2018.
Session name: Greenhouse Gas Emissions II

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Type: Text.Article
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Publication type: Technical conference
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Coverage: Canada
Language 1: en
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Rights: Canadian Society for Bioengineering
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