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Gridded hydrologic model output

This data portal provides access to gridded projections of hydrologic states and fluxes for three watersheds that originate in British Columbia; the Peace, Fraser and Columbia. Within the portal, users can: 

  • Access data for historical and future time periods at a resolution of approximately 30km2 (1/16°)
  • Explore a range of variables and choose between a moderate (RCP 4.5) or high (RCP 8.5) emissions scenario
  • Zoom, pan and select a region of interest using the interactive map
  • Download data in NetCDF or ASCII formats
Access the gridded hydrologic model output

About the data

Hydrologic simulations were conducted with the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC-GL) model, reconfigured to couple with an external dynamic glacier model. 

Future simulations were prepared by forcing the VIC-GL model using 6 statistically downscaled CMIP5 global climate models (GCMs) running the two scenarios to produce 12 projections. These models were selected to span a wide range in future climate extremes. 

Statistical downscaling of the GCMs was conducted using the Bias Correction/Constructed Analogues and Quantile mapping (BCCAQv2) method, with PNWNAmet as the target dataset. For more information on BCCAQv2, see the Statistically downscaled climate scenarios page.

The colour bar on the interactive map represents the range of values for all time steps and latitude-longitude grids. To evaluate change in a given variable, one should compare the future to the past within the same GCM-RCP scenario.

Each variable in the data portal is stored in three-dimensional array (latitude, longitude, time). Although the data can be downloaded in several formats, downloading as NetCDF will be the most efficient. Also, to allow hosting of these large datasets on our server, the data are stored as “packed” values. When downloading data as NetCDF, the data are automatically “unpacked”. If downloading in any other format the data must be unpacked manually. Please see the Metadata for the appropriate scale_factor and add_offset parameters. Note that some precision is lost during unpacking. This should not be a concern for most practical applications other than for values less than or equal to 0.0009, which should be treated as zero. For more details, see the User Docs.

Please cite this dataset as:

  • Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, University of Victoria, (January 2020). VIC-GL BCCAQ CMIP5: Gridded Hydrologic Model Output. Downloaded from <Permalink> on <Date>.

For information about CMIP5 and the RCPs, see:

Taylor, K.E., Stouffer, R.J., Meehl, G.A., 2011. An Overview of CMIP5 and the Experiment Design. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 93, 485–498. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00094.1

van Vuuren, D.P., Edmonds, J., Kainuma, M., Riahi, K., Thomson, A., Hibbard, K., Hurtt, G.C., Kram, T., Krey, V., Lamarque, J.-F., Masui, T., Meinshausen, M., Nakicenovic, N., Smith, S.J., Rose, S.K., 2011. The representative concentration pathways: an overview. Clim. Change, 109, 5. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-011-0148-z

To learn more about the BCCAQ downscaling method, the target dataset, and for code downloads, see:

Werner, A. T. and Cannon, A. J. 2016. Hydrologic extremes – an intercomparison of multiple gridded statistical downscaling methods, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 1483–1508. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-1483-2016

Cannon, A.J., Sobie, S.R., Murdock, T.Q., 2015. Bias Correction of GCM Precipitation by Quantile Mapping: How Well Do Methods Preserve Changes in Quantiles and Extremes?. Journal of Climate, 28, 6938–6959. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00754.1 

Werner, A.T., Schnorbus, M.A., Shrestha, R.R., Cannon, A.J., Zwiers, F.W., Dayon, G., Anslow, F., 2019. A long-term, temporally consistent, gridded daily meteorological dataset for northwestern North America. Sci. Data, 6, 180299. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2018.299

Hiebert, J., Cannon, A.J., Murdock, T.Q., Sobie, S.R., Werner, A., 2018. ClimDown: Climate Downscaling in R. Journal of Open Source Software, 3(22), 360, https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.00360

To learn more about the VIC and VIC-GL hydrologic models, see:

Liang, X., Lettenmaier, D.P., Wood, E.F., Burges, S.J., 1994. A simple hydrologically based model of land surface water and energy fluxes for general circulation models. J. Geophys. Res. Atmospheres, 99, 14415–14428. https://doi.org/10.1029/94JD00483

Liang, X., Wood, E.F., Lettenmaier, D.P., 1996. Surface soil moisture parameterization of the VIC-2L model: Evaluation and modification. Glob. Planet Change, 13, 195–206.

Schnorbus, M.A., 2022. VIC Generation 2 Deployment Report Volume 1-6. 

This data is subject to PCIC's terms of use. It has been obtained from a variety of sources and is provided as a public service by the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium. The data is provided by the Consortium on an “AS IS” basis without any warranty or representation, express or implied, as to its accuracy or completeness. Any reliance you place upon the information contained here is your sole responsibility and is strictly at your own risk. In no event will the Consortium be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever, including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, arising from reliance upon the data or derived information.