Research summary
Hydrological models are physical, mathematical or computational models that aid in understanding, predicting and managing water sources. They are regularly used in water resource management, hydroelectricity generation, flood warning systems and climate change adaptation approaches. But their ability to provide useful predictions is hampered by the inherent assumptions that are used to represent the water cycle, known as the “model structure.”
As Canada Research Chair in Hydrological Modelling and Analysis, Dr. James Craig aims to improve the accuracy of hydrological models. He and his research team hope to provide strategies to address the inevitable uncertainty in model structure by developing new structural optimization, upscaling and model selection methods. These new, more robust, models will support informed decisions about Canada’s water resources, thereby helping to protect the environment and the public.