Assessing Impacts of Climate Change on Laurentian Great Lakes Water Supply using Regional Climate Models

Several studies have shown that water levels of the Great Lakes would inevitably decline in a warmer climate. These studies were based on a modeling system that was not accounting for two-way exchanges of water and energy between the atmosphere and the earth surface, hence excluding key feedback mechanisms. The general objective of this project is to improve our understanding of the Great Lakes water resources and its sensitivity to climate change. To do this, we will explore recently generated simulations by state-of-the-art regional climate models (in which two-way exchanges of water and energy are included), in order to provide a more credible quantitative assessment of the Great Lakes water fluctuations with climate change.

Faculty Supervisor:

Daniel Nadeau

Student:

Edouard Mailhot

Partner:

Ouranos Inc

Discipline:

Engineering - civil

Sector:

Natural resources

University:

Program: