Use of North American regional reanalysis data for hydrologic modeling and climate downscaling

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This project investigates the use of a recently released reanalysis data set, known as the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), for hydrologic modeling and climate downscaling. The NARR data set provides credible estimates of precipitation and temperature on a 32-km regular grid which is a suitable resolution for regional climate change impact assessments.The overall objective of the project is to evaluate climate change impact on streamflow in four medium-sized watersheds in central Canada. The specific objectives in this proposal are twofold: (1) to calibrate and evaluate a hydrologic model using NARR data of precipitation and temperature in lieu of traditional weather station information; and (2) to develop a statistical downscaling model using the gridded NARR data. The models resulting from this research will be compared with those developed using geographically interpolated climate station information.The use of reanalysis data in this project as an alternative to weather station information is particularly useful in Canada where many regions have sparse weather station networks. If the project is successful in demonstrating the usefulness of NARR reanalysis data, this source of information may be adopted in other hydrologic studies that otherwise would not have been feasible due to a lack of data.