The water budget of a mountainous boreal watershed, the Quesnel River Basin, British Columbia

在过去的世纪，二氧化碳和甲烷等温室气体的人为排放导致全球地表气温上升了约0.6°C。 随着温室气体排放的加剧，这一趋势预计在下个世纪将加速。 一些最大的环境变化将发生在高纬度和高海拔地区，那里的地表能量收支对冰雪覆盖的变化非常敏感。 因此，全球变暖将对北方山区流域（如不列颠哥伦比亚省（BC）的Quesnel河流域（QRB））的水预算产生重大影响。Quesnel河流经11，500平方公里的可变（山区到平坦）地形，平均海拔1400米，它包括BC省内陆最潮湿和最干燥的地区。虽然由于大气层在温度升高时保持水蒸气的能力增强，未来的降水量可能会增加，但尚不清楚额外的淡水流入陆地表面后将如何分配。我的研究计划的总体目标是：1）获得和保持QRB的水预算条款的长期气候学; 2）探索气候变率和变化对QRB水通量（降水，蒸发和径流）和商店（积雪，冰川，永久冻土和土壤水分）的影响。 很好地理解气候变异性和变化对QRB水预算的作用至关重要，因为它是弗雷泽河的主要支流，构成太平洋鲑鱼的主要产卵区，并支持积极的伐木，农业和旅游业，以及其他商业活动。淡水仍然是加拿大最重要的自然资源。然而，由于气候变化、需求增加和全球化等因素造成的压力增大，需要准确了解其未来的供应情况。 我的研究计划将回答加拿大社会在21世纪世纪将面临的一些最相关的问题：我们将有足够的水来满足我们的需求，它将从哪里来？

The anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane has caused global surface air temperatures to rise by about 0.6°C during the past century.  This trend is expected to accelerate in the next century as greenhouse gas emissions intensify.  Some of the greatest environmental changes will be in high-latitude and high altitude regions where the surface energy budget is highly sensitive to modifications in snow and ice covers.  Global warming will therefore have significant repercussions on the water budget of northern mountainous watersheds such as the Quesnel River Basin (QRB) of British Columbia (BC). The Quesnel River drains an area of 11,500 square kilometres of variable (mountainous to flat) terrain at a mean elevation of 1400 m, and it encompasses some of the wettest and driest areas of BC's interior. Although future precipitation is likely to increase owing to the enhanced capacity of the atmosphere to hold water vapour at warmer temperatures, it is unknown how the additional input of freshwater will be partitioned after falling on the land surface. The overarching goals of my research program are: 1) to obtain and maintain a long-term climatology of water budget terms for the QRB; 2) to explore the effects of climate variability and change on the QRB water fluxes (precipitation, evaporation and river runoff) and stores (snowpack, glaciers, permafrost and soil moisture).  A good understanding of the role of climate variability and change on the QRB water budget is critical since it is a major tributary of the Fraser River, constitutes a major spawning area for Pacific salmon, and supports active logging, agricultural, and tourism industries, among other commercial activities. Freshwater remains a natural resource of primary importance in Canada. However, amplified stressors arising from climate change, increasing demand, and globalization require precise knowledge of its future availability.  My research program will answer some of the most pertinent questions that Canadian society will face in the 21st century: Will we have sufficient water for our needs and where will it come from?