Research projects and publications

This topic under study reviews the role of adaptation monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks and their contributions to the climate resilience of the electricity sector.
 

The amplification of precipitation and flow extremes in a warmer climate is greater for small watersheds, for shorter durations, and for frequent recurrences. The results show the importance of considering the size of watersheds in assessing vulnerability to increased extreme summer and fall precipitation.

These four publications deal with the recommendations on floodplain management in the Lake Champlain-Richelieu transboundary watershed presented to the International Joint Commission.

This project focuses on the consequences of extreme events linked to climate change. In particular, the aim here is to analyze the direct link between CO2 emissions and socio-economic impacts such as loss of worker productivity during episodes of intense heat. 

The project has enabled APM to identify the elements of the Montreal port system most vulnerable to climate change on which they can focus their adaptation actions.

An in-depth study of the components of the water balance will fill the knowledge gap on the hydrology of minerotrophic patterned fens and their influence on the production and emission of greenhouse gases.

Upon completion of this project, hydroelectric power resource managers and the authorities concerned with climate change will benefit from a better understanding of the temporal and spatial changes in hydroclimatic conditions, which may facilitate the development of appropriate hydrological scenarios for this climate-sensitive region.

This project allowed a structured reflection to help the Quebec government develop a comprehensive and integrated strategy towards the development of priority actions involved in adapting to climate change rather than scattered initiatives.

This project led to an improved fifth generation Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM5) allowing the production of climate change projections to support vulnerabilities, impacts and adaptation projects. This project will improve our understanding of specific processes to be considered for climate change studies.

The success of this project has meant that freezing rain and ice pellets are now among the standard outputs available from the CRCM5 climate projections produced by Ouranos. The development of a more complex microphysics model, adapted to the computational cost of a climate model, is also in the works for the years ahead.

The results of this project will support efforts to reduce air polluants of anthropogenic origin, and target interventions for regions and populations that are at risk from pollution, to maximize adaptation efforts in these locations.

This project allowed to draw up a portrait of the climate from 1986 to 2005, in part using a method for estimating missing values developed by Ouranos. The bases of the optimal network determined by analyzing temperature data will have to be decided upon with confirmation from data on various climatic parameters.

New modeling tools to assist in the integrated management of the dams of the Ottawa River basin will be proposed, especially in light of the increasing constraints in dam management.

This project, in co-operation with government agencies, committees of watershed management councils and farmers, allowed to develop strategies for adapting to climate change, with the goal of improving the quality of bodies of water and ecosystems' recovery capacity.

The "Climate teconstruction at Ouranos for Quebec" CROQ project has created a complete and consistent database for several weather variables of interest to users for recent climate in Québec. For example, CROQ precipitation data is being used for the interpolation of IDF curves in a project with Hydro-Québec, and for post-processing extremes as part of an INFO-Crue project.

The CANOPEX database can be used as a baseline for climate change and adaptation studies in a coherent framework across Canada

This work shows that the most widespread and harvested species in the boreal forest of eastern Canada, due to its exceptional qualities, shows surprising resistance to treatments simulating medium-term global warming (8 years).

Studying the potential impacts of climate change on northern biodiversity will provide better tools for tracking its spatial and temporal dynamics. The results will help identify areas that meet the goals of the protected areas network and ensure sound biodiversity conservation.

It is important to take into account both the direct impact and indirect impact (via disturbance regimes) of climate on vegetation in order to understand how climate change will affect the future distribution of species.

This project has highlighted the importance of changing stormwater management practices in urban areas in order to adapt drainage systems to climate change. One of the actions suggested in this project is to promote projects that reduce impervious surfaces.

Agricultural land has become increasingly sensitive in recent years to climate extremes. This work is a preliminary phase in developing regional management strategies for agricultural practices and land use.

The use of the maps created with this project as a tool for community land-development planning was a simple but fundamental initial means of adapting to climate change.

This project allowed examination of cyclone tracks over North America, mainly focusing on those over the east coast and on intraseasonal, interannual and decadal timescales. Moreover, cyclone tracks were simulated by CRCM.

This project involved the development and testing of diagnostic programs for the extraction and analysis of climate data in the Ouranos database. Modifications to the existing programs will enable the processing of data from the new CRCM at 15 km simulations and the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program simulations.

This project has enabled the optimization of flood and low-water risk management and the development of proactive adaptation strategies.

This project allowed an extensive analysis of extreme precipitation that occurs in the Saint Lawrence River Valley.

The goal of this project is to explore the potential of CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project - Phase 5) data-base for its future use in impact and adaptation studies at Consortium Ouranos.

This project has provided a better understanding of the relationships between atmospheric circulation and the spatial and temporal variability of water inflows in northern Quebec and will thus become a fundamental source for predicting water resources in that area.

Many climate change adaptation and mitigation measures involve changes in land use, including urban planning, agricultural practices, the planting of trees or crops for bioenergy or carbon capture, and the restoration of natural ecosystems.

This project has strengthened collaboration between Quebec and Bavaria in watershed management in a context of climate change.

The project helped to strengthen the tools and knowledge available to support the implementation of adaptation initiatives and build closer linkages between the monitoring and evaluation and adaptation communities practice.

This project strengthened the case for climate change adaptation for both government and civil society.

The results of this project will improve the coverage of the observation network for climate, ice, fresh water and wind. They will provide additional knowledge on large-scale atmospheric and ocean actions/interactions.

This project has led to the development of models that will enable our industrial partners Hydro Québec and Rio Tinto, among others, to better manage their equipment stocks in the face of climate variability and changes.

This project made it possible to offer simple procedures and guidelines to support small municipalities in developing their response plans and assessing risk in the context of climate change.

This project provided basic knowledge on trembling aspen and improved our ability to anticipate the impact of global changes on its productivity. This species is important due to its distribution and economic potential.

The results of this project will provide tools to help municipalities better understand the value and means of developing a municipal-level (regional or sometimes local) climate change adaptation plan through a participatory process.

This project gave rise to a better understanding of the dynamics of runoff, water storage and evapotranspiration in a small boreal watershed with a large minerotrophic patterned fen peatland.

This project aims to provide Quebec with a method for estimating the current and future water needs of the main economic sectors while considering the impacts of climate disruption and socio-economic development on water availability. 

This project is making use of well-established collaborations with Mexico and Bavaria in order to allow Quebec to initiate the development of a knowledge base on practices and tools for sharing water when it is limited. 

This collaborative research project encourages small and medium-sized tourism businesses in the Magdalen Islands and the Laurentides region to develop and experiment with climate change adaptation measures.   

This study has made it possible to improve the post-processing tools used and to verify the relative performance of these statistical methods for estimating the biases that exist in climate studies, which may not be constant even over two periods that are very close in time.

This project will offer support for the process of prioritizing public infrastructure components in terms of vulnerability to climate change, based on evidence.

The CRCM5 driven by MPI projects almost no sea ice in the Arctic Ocean in 2100. Furthermore, warming of 22°C is projected until the end of this century. These robust changes can affect the lives of Indigenous people, animals and the whole planet.

This project will enable modeling of future tree distribution, taking into account both the direct effects of climate on reproduction and growth, and the indirect effects on fire activity.

Once completed, this project will provide a robust research tool for investigating various questions related to hydrology and climate change in Quebec. It will also offer a way for the hydrological modelling community in Quebec to work together and discuss new developments in the field.

This project focused on the modeling of climate change impacts on water resources, specifically in Quebec and Bavaria, which is a growing concern for the scientific community working in the field of water resources.

This project has provided an integrated tool for clearly assessing vulnerability to riverbank erosion and identifying important variables in river dynamics. It has also made it possible to localize areas vulnerable to riverbank adjustments by identifying favourable zones for sediment accumulation in the channel.

Air traffic plays an essential role in the functioning of Nunavik communities, whose infrastructures must be maintained in good operating condition. This study provided a technical description of how permafrost degradation affects these infrastructures.