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The process of icing involves the freezing of overflow layers, on ground or within streams, and results in ice bodies called "aufeis" that are common in most northern landscapes. Knowledge about aufeis is still limited despite the cold region engineering challenge they represent. Understanding the causes of overflow events leading to aufeis development represents a key for the prediction, mitigation, and management of this geohazard and can also support the planning and design of infrastructure in the North. This paper introduces a practical classification for the diverse range of overflow processes that generate aufeis, including under-represented processes, such as the instability of winter streamflow. Importantly, it distinguishes flow conveyance from water supply overflow processes and describes the temporal aspect of icing intensity. Finally, research topics are proposed to improve our understanding of aufeis, including their predictability, the impact of climate change on their occurrence and extent, and stream morphology–aufeis interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent expansion of municipality limits has resulted in an increase in the wildland–urban interface, causing fires in the wildlands to potentially encroach and enter urban centers. This paper proposes a fire-risk modeling framework within a climate resiliency context. The study uses large-scale geospatial datasets in combination with the analytical hierarchy process. Using various high-resolution-detailed datasets, an extensive list of variables was utilized to develop a novel fire-risk model. To support the goal of creating a climate-resilient urban municipality, an ecological vulnerability classification map was constructed to identify developable areas and areas under preservation. Regarding creating awareness for climate adaptation and zone, a brief discussion on the role of each stakeholder is provided. The discussion covers strategies for fire prevention and mitigation in high-risk areas/zones, as well as establishing several cornerstones for strategic planning and action to strengthen climate resilience of urban communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada's climate is warming at a rate about double the global average, leading to potential negative impacts on public infrastructures such as jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP). In light of this reality of changing climate, the work contained in this paper is aimed at evaluating JPCP's early-age behaviour in response to environmental conditions. HIPERPAV® software and the associated models developed by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) were used to identify cracking potential. A sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the effect of different levels of air temperature, mix temperature, base layer temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity. Additionally, projected extreme temperatures predicted by the Canadian Regional Climate Model (CanRCM) were used to determine the relative impact of climate change on cracking risk. The results demonstrated the increased cracking risk under changing climate in several Canadian cities by mid-century and highlighted the importance of developing a pathway forward for climate adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research often ranges from incremental innovations of existing approaches to the development of novel methodologies. The current study seeks to combine both paradigms through consideration of a legacy hydro system. Stretched along the border between Canada and the US and regulated by a 1950 treaty, the Niagara River currently provides almost 5000 MW of renewable power. This paper develops a HEC-ResSim representation of the existing reservoir (power) system and uses this model to explore a variety of possible future scenarios. These possibilities will ultimately include considering the sensitivity of the system to climate change, reducing tourist flows, and exploring using additional storage to augment operational flows, although the current paper particularly details the scenario involving increased power diversion by somewhat relaxing treaty restrictions. Such an arrangement is shown to potentially increase monthly hydro discharges by 16% relative to the current baseline, and thus to permit an additional 1050 GWh of annual generation on the Canadian side alone. This preliminary exploratory study simply evaluates the potential hydro benefits by assessing the interplay between various system constraints if treaty provisions were ever to be reconsidered, and thus sets the stage for considering a variety of other scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major ice jam floods occurred along the Saint John River at Perth-Andover, New Brunswick, in 1976,1987,1993, 2009, and 2012. These floods have been devastating and resulted in relocation or demolition of many buildings in affected areas of the community. The purpose of this paper is to review ice processes along the Saint John River from Grand Falls to Beechwood Dam and their relevance to the ice-related problems that have occurred in Perth-Andover. The HEC-RAS program was chosen for ice jam flood stage computations, and cross-sectional, roughness and flow information entered to create a model of the study reach. The model was calibrated using field data obtained on 31 March 2000 along an ice jam in the Perth-Andover area. Model applications resulted in stage-discharge relationships for ice jams of different lengths and locations within the study stretch (Beechwood Dam to Grand Falls). These relationships indicate that ice jams can cause flooding at Perth-Andover, even with moderate spring breakup flows. The variation of ice jamming potential along the study stretch, and its relation to reservoir bathymetry and slope, are discussed. The increase in the number and severity of ice jam floods that have affected Perth-Andover may have resulted from changes in infrastructure and climate that have occurred since the 1950s. Local ice problems are likely to be aggravated over the next few decades but tempered in the longer term if the climate continues to change according to current projections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ice conditions in a regulated river will depend on the climatic changes as well as the changes to the hydropower operation strategies in the future. The existing literature shows that very few studies have been carried out to investigate the impact of climate change on the river ice regime, which is important for operation of hydropower in cold climates. In this study, a series of modelling tools have been used to transform the climate change signal in terms of precipitation and air temperature into cross-section based river ice assessment in a basin with a complicated hydropower system. The study is based on the EURO-CORDEX climate change data extracted from a regional climate model driven by a suite of five general circulation models with three representative concentration pathways. Hydrological model simulation results show that the winter and spring flow will be increased, which will have an impact on the river ice conditions towards the middle and end of this century. Reservoirhydropower model simulation shows that the production flows in the winter will be increased in the future. River ice model simulation shows the number of days with freezing water temperature are reduced in the future climate, and correspondingly days with frazil ice are reduced at most of the locations in the study area. The future period with ice cover will also be shortened. The paper also demonstrates a general methodology and procedure to simulate future ice conditions in a regulated river combining multiple models and data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]