Topographic analysis for the prairie pothole region - Drought ...

Topographic analysis forthe prairie potholeregionDean ShawLawrence MartzUniversity of SaskatchewanAlain PietroniroNational Hydrology ResearchCentre

Contributing area in the prairiepothole regionSpring2005

Non-contributing areas- mean annual runoff -British ColumbiaPeace River1Athabasca RiverAlbertaCalgary1Edmonton40Saskatchewan RiverChurchill RiverSaskatchewanSaskatoon3Seal River00Nelson RiverManitoba10Lake WinnipegHayes River0OntarioWashingtonIdahoHelenaMontana27Missouri RiverRegina62Assiniboine RiverNorth Dakota30WinnipegRed River1Winnipeg RiverMichiganOregonBismarckMinnesotaBoiseWyomingSouth DakotaMinneapolisSaint PaulWisconsinSource:Non-contributing area - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P.F.R.A.Elevation data - Environmental Systems Research Institute

‘Fill and Spill’

Key Concepts

Conceptual landscapes

Study area

Prairie potholealgorithm

Relationship between contributingarea and pond storage in St. Denis

Importance of Connectivity

Modeled vs. Actual ponddepths

Conclusions► The practical benefit of this research is the development ofa digital landscape analysis tool (PIT) to determinecontributing areas at varying pothole storage levels► Incorporating the dynamic nature of prairie potholecontributing area has the potential to improve land surfaceschemes as well as general circulation and regional climatemodels applied in the prairie pothole region.► Ongoing research is focussing on the application of curveparameters as a method for characterizing prairie potholelandscapes in regional scale hydrological models

Acknowledgements►University of Saskatchewan►National Hydrology Research Institute►Canadian Wildlife Service►DRI: Drought Research Initiative►Dr. Alain Pietroniro►Dr. Lawrence Martz