Monitoring and modelling water quality under ice affected conditions in rivers

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In Canada and other cold regions, river ice could last for half a year or more. The presence of river ice substantially impacts hydrodynamics and transport and fate of chemicals in rivers, resulting in great implications to river ecosystems and river functions. Understanding and predicting the much less explored water quality during ice-affected stages is equally important as the open-water stage. However, current knowledge is limited, and current models have limited capability for stable ice-cover stage and cannot handle the more complex, dynamic stages (freeze-up and break-up). Climate change and increased anthropogenic activities further complicate this issue, and their impacts need to be assessed for the already sensitive winter river water quality. This research will use field monitoring, lab experiments and numerical simulation to generate new knowledge in the following areas: 1) an improved understanding on the impacts of various river ice stages and forms to river water quality in winter; 2) a novel, comprehensive model/tool that is capable of simultaneously modelling water quality, river ice and hydrodynamics, allowing the feedbacks amongst them to be accounted for; and 3) a science-based, practical guideline for policy makers in protecting and improving water quality in cold region rivers in the context of climate change and anthropogenic activities. This research will have important societal impacts within Canada and abroad. Scientifically, it will expand the current knowledge of river water quality from open-water to the ice seasons. Practically, it will provide an important tool/model and guideline for regulators, policy makers, researchers, consulting firms and industrial users to improve river management in terms of water quality, ice and flow (flooding). This research will also train highly qualified personnel (HQP) of the next generation.