Improving the process representations and predictive performance of the next generation Water Resources Modeling framework in cold regions: The Yukon River Basin

The next generation Water Resources Modeling Framework (hereafter referred to as “NextGen”) has the capability to combine process algorithms from different modeling groups and hence improve the fidelity of hydrologic process representations in diverse hydrologic landscapes. In this project, we will leverage expertise in modeling and predicting hydrologic processes in both Canada and the USA to improve the process representations and predictive performance of the Nextgen framework in cold regions. The research focuses on improving algorithms to represent cold region processes, including blowing snow, glacier mass and energy balance, infiltration, water retention and transmission in partially frozen soil, permafrost freeze/thaw, river temperature, ice jamming, ice freeze- and break-up, and floodplain inundation. The research also focuses on improving methods within the broader NextGen prediction ecosystem, including methods for estimating spatial meteorological fields, ensemble data assimilation, large-domain parameter estimation. The expected impact is to improve future operational instantiations of the National Water Model (NWM) in cold regions.