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

过去一个世纪，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约0.6摄氏度。随着温室气体排放的加剧，这一趋势预计将在下个世纪加速。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高度敏感。因此，全球变暖将对不列颠哥伦比亚省(BC)奎斯奈尔河流域(QRB)等北部山区分水岭的水收支产生重大影响。奎斯奈尔河排水面积为11,500平方公里，平均海拔1400米，地形多变(从山区到平坦)，它包括不列颠哥伦比亚省内陆一些最潮湿和最干旱的地区。虽然未来的降水量可能会增加，因为大气在较温暖的温度下保持水蒸气的能力增强，但尚不清楚额外的淡水输入在降落到陆地表面后将如何分配。我的研究计划的总体目标是：1)获得并维持QRB水量收支的长期气候学；2)探索气候变化和变化对QRB水通量(降水、蒸发和河流径流)和储存(积雪、冰川、永冻土和土壤湿度)的影响。2)很好地了解气候变化和变化对QRB水量收支的作用是至关重要的，因为它是弗雷泽河的主要支流，是太平洋鲑鱼的主要产卵区，并支持活跃的伐木、农业和旅游业等商业活动。淡水仍然是加拿大最重要的自然资源。然而，气候变化、不断增长的需求和全球化带来的压力被放大了，这需要对未来水资源的可获得性有准确的了解。我的研究项目将回答加拿大社会在21世纪将面临的一些最相关的问题：我们是否有足够的水来满足我们的需求？水从何而来？

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?