Our overall goal is to improve the numerical modeling of glacier melt in order to better predict the future of glaciers in Western Canada and worldwide. Most commonly used models rely on simplifications of processes that dictate melting at a glacier surface, in particular turbulent processes of heat exchange. We compared modeled against directly measured turbulent heat fluxes at a valley glacier in British Columbia, Canada, and found that more improvements are needed in all the tested models.

Large-scale hydrological variability can affect society in profound ways; floods and droughts, for example, often cause major damage and hardship. A recent gathering of hydrologists at a symposium to honor the career of Professor Eric Wood motivates the present survey of recent research on this variability. The surveyed literature and the illustrative examples provided in the paper show that research into hydrological variability continues to be strong, vibrant, and multifaceted.

This study focuses on predictive uncertainties in the snow hydrology of British Columbia's Fraser River Basin (FRB), using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model forced with several gridded climate datasets. Intercomparisons of forcing datasets and VIC simulations are performed to identify their strengths and weaknesses. This reveals widespread differences over FRB's mountains in precipitation and air temperature forcing datasets and their VIC simulations of runoff/snow water equivalent.

This manuscript focuses on observed changes to the hydrology of 42 rivers in northern Canada draining one-half of its land mass over the period 1964–2013. Statistical and trend analyses are presented for the 42 individual rivers, 6 regional drainage basins, and collectively for all of northern Canada. A main finding is the reversal of a statistically significant decline in the first half of the study period to a statistically significant 18.1 % incline in river discharge across northern Canada.