Feb 25, 2025: NHS Webinar 2: Advancing Flood Mapping and Land Modelling in Canada

The Canadian Water Resources Association (CWRA) is pleased to announce a webinar series in early 2025 in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada’s National Hydrological Service (NHS). This series will highlight groundbreaking hydrology and hydraulics research conducted as part of the Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping Program (FHIMP) and showcase the latest advances in flood mapping science across Canada.

The webinars are targeted at flood mapping practitioners, researchers, interested parties, and the general public, offering an opportunity to tune in for presentations from subject matter experts at no cost to the participants. All webinars and accompanying materials will be offered in both official languages. Recordings of the presentations and resources will also be made available online after the sessions.

• Mélanie Trudel (Professor, Université de Sherbrooke), “Analysis of the Impact of Bathymetric Data on Floodplain Mapping”
  • Speaker Bio: Mélanie Trudel is an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Building Engineering at the Université de Sherbrooke. She is an expert in remote sensing of water resources, as well as in hydraulic and hydrological modeling. Her research focuses primarily on the acquisition and integration of remote sensing data, whether satellite, airborne or drone-based, for monitoring water resources. Her expertise was recognized by the 2024 Radio-Canada Scientist of the Year Award, awarded to four representatives, including Professor Trudel, on behalf of the group of researchers who established the benchmarks that will be used to develop the new generation of flood zone and mobility maps in Quebec.
  • Presentation Description: Analysis of the impact of bathymetric data on floodplain mapping
    Topo-bathymetric LiDAR (TBL) is an emerging method for characterizing river bathymetry. However, its contribution to hydrodynamic modeling and floodplain mapping needs to be assessed. This presentation summarizes the results of research into the integration of TBL LTB data into the hydrodynamic modeling of two rivers in Quebec.
• Martyn Clark (Professor, University of Calgary), “Improving Canadian land models”
  • Speaker Bio: Dr. Clark is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary. He is also a Schulich Research Chair in Environmental Prediction and Executive Co-Director of the United Nations University Hub at the University of Calgary. Dr. Clark is elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (in 2016) and is the previous Editor-In-Chief for Water Resources Research (2017-2020). Dr. Clark has dedicated his career to advance the science and practice of environmental prediction. His research group builds large-domain terrestrial systems models that are used for a myriad of applications, including environmental forecasting (e.g., predicting floods and water quality threats), climate impact assessments (e.g., understanding climate vulnerabilities at multiple spatial scales), and Earth System prediction (e.g., improving the land component of Earth System models). Dr. Clark has authored or co-authored over 250 journal articles since receiving his PhD in 1998.
  • Presentation Description: This project critically reviewed methods used in Canadian land surface models to simulate water movement . The aim was to improve the representation of runoff components, focusing on both saturated and unsaturated subsurface flows. The research identified limitations in existing methods for simulating water flow dynamics. It proposed enhancements to improve the accuracy of runoff calculations and advance their implementation in the Canadian land surface model (CLASSIC), enabling more reliable assessments of climate change impacts.

Available in French

About the Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping Program (FHIMP)

The Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping Program (FHIMP) is a collaborative, Government of Canada initiative led by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), in partnership with Public Safety Canada, and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). The FHIMP is investing in updating Canada’s existing flood mapping capabilities.

In partnership with provincial and territorial governments, the FHIMP aims to complete flood hazard maps of higher-risk areas in Canada and make this flood hazard information accessible. These maps will help emergency planning by guiding the placement of evacuation routes and support land use planning by identifying locations for building critical infrastructure and flood mitigation structures like dikes. Flood maps provide reliable information on flood hazards and support decision-makers and Canadians in their efforts to adapt to a changing climate while protecting properties and lives.

A second component of the FHIMP is the funding of universities and non-profit organizations to develop flood science and integrate the impacts of climate change and uncertainty into flood hazard mapping. From 2021 to 2024, the Government of Canada invested $3M in this aspect of FHIMP and these webinars highlight research supported by this investment.

About CWRA

The Canadian Water Resources Association (CWRA) is a national registered charity comprised of members from the public, private and academic sectors who are committed to promoting responsible, innovative, and effective water resources management.

Formed in 1947 as the Western Canada Reclamation Association, CWRA is the only national organization addressing all water resources issues across all regions of Canada. We offer a range of services and programs focused on professional development, providing expertise and advice, education, and collaboration.