River ice breakup processes: recent advances and future directions

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 703-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spyros Beltaos
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
Aquatic Life ◽  
Ice Jams ◽  
Ice Jam ◽  
Ice Breakup ◽  
Extreme Flood ◽  
Mitigation Methods

The breakup of the winter ice cover is a brief but seminal event in the regime of northern rivers, and in the life cycle of river and basin ecosystems. Breakup ice jams can cause extreme flood events, with major impacts on riverside communities, aquatic life, infrastructure, navigation, and hydropower generation. Related concerns are underscored by the issue of climate change and the faster warming that is predicted for northern parts of the globe. Advances in knowledge of breakup processes and related topics, achieved over the past 15 years or so, are outlined. They pertain to breakup initiation and ice-jam formation, ice-jam properties and numerical modelling of ice jams, waves generated by ice-jam releases, forecasting and mitigation methods, sediment transport, ecological aspects, and climate-change impacts. Major knowledge gaps are associated with the dynamic interaction of moving ice with the flow and with the stationary ice cover. Increasing computing capacity and remote sensing sophistication are expected to provide effective means for bridging these gaps. Key words: climate, ecology, forecasting, ice jam, modelling, onset, sediment, wave.

scholarly journals Impact of Climate Change on the Frequency of Dynamic Breakup Events and on the Risk of Ice-Jam Floods in Quebec, Canada

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoit Turcotte ◽  
Brian Morse ◽  
Gabriel Pelchat
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Financial Risk ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Flood Damage ◽  
River Ice ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Cold Regions ◽  
Ice Jams ◽  
Ice Jam ◽  
Ice Breakup

In cold regions, every year, river-ice jams generate sudden, surprising, intense flooding that challenges the capacity of public security services. This type of flood is commonly unpredictable and often appears chaotic because its occurrence depends on multiple, interacting weather, hydrological, ice and morphological parameters. This paper presents the findings of a research project assessing how climate change impacts dynamic river-ice breakup and associated floods along seven rivers of the province of Quebec, Canada. A combination of empirical river-ice breakup models, state-of-the-art hydrological simulations and standardized climate projections was used to estimate the historical (1972–2000) and future (2042–2070) frequencies of dynamic breakup events. Ice jam flood damage reimbursement data were used to predict changes to financial risk associated with dynamic breakup events. Results show that, overall, ice-jam floods will generate more damage in the future, which justifies watershed-based flood adaptation plans that take into account cold regions hydrological processes. The success of the methodology also sets the table for a comparable project that would include more rivers from different regions of Northeastern America.

Modelling climatic impacts on ice-jam floods: a review of current models, modelling capabilities, challenges, and future prospects.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Apurba Das ◽  
Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
River Ice ◽  
Ice Jams ◽  
Ice Jam ◽  
Northern Latitudes ◽  
Climatic Impacts ◽  
Current Modelling

River ice is an important hydraulic and hydrological component of many rivers in the high northern latitudes of the world. It controls the hydraulic characteristics of streamflow, affects the geomorphology of channels, and can cause flooding due to ice-jam formation during ice-cover freeze-up and breakup periods. In recent decades, climate change has considerably altered ice regimes, affecting the severity of ice-jam flooding. Although many approaches have been developed to model river ice regimes and the severity of ice jam flooding, appropriate methods that account for impacts of the future climate on ice-jam flooding have not been well established. Therefore, the main goals of this study are to review the current knowledge of climate change impacts on river ice processes and to assess the current modelling capabilities to determine the severity of ice jams under future climatic conditions. Finally, a conceptual river ice-jam modelling approach is presented for incorporating climate change impacts on ice jams.

Ice jam mitigation

1990 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 675-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold S. Belore ◽  
Brian C. Burrell ◽  
Spyros Beltaos
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
River Ice ◽  
Ice Jams ◽  
Ice Jam ◽  
Ice Breakup

In Canada, flooding due to the rise in water levels upstream of an ice jam, or the temporary exceedance of the flow and ice-carrying capacity of a channel upon release of an ice jam, has resulted in the loss of human life and extensive economic losses. Ice jam mitigation is a component of river ice management which includes all activities carried out to prevent or remove ice jams, or to reduce the damages that may result from an ice jam event. This paper presents a brief overview of measures to mitigate the damaging effects of ice jams and contains a discussion on their application to Canadian rivers. Key words: controlled ice breakup, flood control, ice jams, ice management, river ice.

Analyse hydro-météorologique des débâcles de glaces de la rivière Nashwaak (Nouveau-Brunswick)

1992 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-354
Author(s):  
S. Hebabi ◽  
N. El-Jabi ◽  
S. Sarraf
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Predictive Model ◽  
Dimensional Analysis ◽  
Predictive Models ◽  
Meteorological Factors ◽  
Ice Jams ◽  
Ice Jam ◽  
Ice Breakup ◽  
Meteorological Analysis

The problems associated with ice cover formation, development, and breakup are numerous. In fact, every year ice breakup and ice jams cause damage throughout Canada. In New Brunswick, ice breakup is responsible for 35% of floods and 70% of damage to bridges. This paper describes a hydro-meteorological analysis of ice breakup along the Nashwaak River in New Brunswick. Thirteen events that occur between 1969 and 1982 were studied. First, river records were used to determine a breakup initiation index. A dimensional analysis was then performed integrating the index with meteorological variables and river flows. Although there was no resemblance between variations of meteorological factors from one event to the next, the results suggest that the index formulated has potential as a tool for development of predictive models for ice breakup. Key words: ice breakup, ice jam, floods, meteorology, flow, predictive model, damages, bridges, Nashwaak River.

Longitudinal floating structures – new concepts in river ice control

1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 933-939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darryl J. Calkins
Keyword(s):  
Patent Application ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
River Ice ◽  
Army Corps ◽  
Army Corps Of Engineers ◽  
Ice Jams ◽  
Control Structures ◽  
Ice Jam ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Ice Control

Ice control structures placed in the streamwise direction of a river were analyzed to determine the effectiveness in reducing ice jam thicknesses. The theory describing the thickness for “wide” river ice jams was modified to analyze these longitudinal types, providing the computational verification that ice jam thicknesses could be reduced where the mode of ice cover thickening is internal collapse. These longitudinal structures appear to provide a new tool for modifying the river ice regime at freeze-up and possibly at breakup. By decreasing the ice jam thicknesses, which leads to lower stages, the structures have the potential for decreasing ice jam flood levels. The structures' ability to function is independent of the flow velocity and these structures should perform in rivers with velocities greater than the usual limitation of roughly 1 m/s associated with conventional cross-channel ice booms. Other possible applications include controlling ice movement at outlets from lakes, enhancing river ice cover progression, or even restraining the ice cover at breakup. A U.S. patent application has been filed jointly by the author and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Key words: river ice, ice jams, ice control, hydraulic structures, ice booms.

Surges from ice jam releases: a case study

1982 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 276-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Beltaos ◽  
B. G. Krishnappan
Keyword(s):  
Water Flow ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Ice Jams ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Ice Jam ◽  
Ice Breakup ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Maximum Water ◽  
Ice Water

Accounts by witnesses of spring ice breakup in rivers often mention violent ice runs with extreme water speeds and rapidly rising water levels. Such events are believed to follow the release of major ice jams. To gain preliminary understanding of this problem, an attempt is made to reconstruct a partially documented ice jam release reported recently by others. The equations of the ice–water flow that occurs after the release of an ice jam are formulated. It is shown that the problem may be approximately treated as a one-dimensional, unsteady, water-only flow of total depth identical to that of the ice–water flow, and average velocity. The retarding effect of the frequently encountered intact ice cover below the jam is considered implicitly, that is, by adjusting the friction factor so as to make the predicted and observed downstream stages equal. The effects of jam length are considered next by assuming longer jams of the same maximum water depth. The duration of the surging velocities increases with jam length and so does the peak stage. Less than 2 h after the jam release the surge was arrested and a new jam formed, causing further stage increases. Present capabilities of modelling the reformation process are discussed and the major unknowns identified.

Ice jams in shallow rivers with floodplain flow

1983 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 538-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darryl J. Calkins
Keyword(s):  
Field Measurements ◽  
Close Correlation ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
Ice Jams ◽  
Ice Jam ◽  
Surface Gradient ◽  
Breakup Channel ◽  
Modified Equations ◽  
Cover Thickness ◽  
Ice Jam Thickness

The equilibrium ice jam thickness given by Pariset et al. is modified to yield a clearer, consistent relationship between the flow hydraulics and thickness. The modified equations are analyzed with respect to a floating ice jam in the main channel with flow also occurring in the floodplain. The final derivation allows the expected ice jam thickness to be computed, given the bed and ice cover roughness coefficients, the channel characteristics, the water surface gradient, and the pre-breakup channel ice cover thickness. The analytical computation for the ice jam thicknesses is compared with prototype data on ice jam thicknesses from four shallow rivers which had significant floodplain flow with the ice jam event. A reasonable correlation between the predicted and measured ice jam thicknesses was obtained. The data suggests that once bankfull depth is exceeded the ice jam thickness does not increase appreciably because of flow diversion to the floodplain. Field measurements of the thickness of the remaining ice jam shear wall along with actual measurements of the ice jam thickness showed a close correlation between the two sets of data.

scholarly journals Impacts of bridge piers on the initiation of ice cover – an experimental study

2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Wang ◽  
Fayi Shi ◽  
Pangpang Chen ◽  
Peng Wu ◽  
Jueyi Sui
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Bridge Piers ◽  
Winter Period ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
Ice Jams ◽  
Ice Jam ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Northern Rivers

AbstractIce jams in northern rivers during winter period significantly change the flow conditions due to the extra boundary of the flow. Moreover, with the presence of bridge piers in the channel, the flow conditions can be further complicated. Ice cover often starts from the front of bridge piers, extending to the upstream. With the accumulation of ice cover, ice jam may happen during early spring, which results in the notorious ice jam flooding. In the present study, the concentration of flowing ice around bridge piers has been evaluated based on experiments carried out in laboratory. The critical condition for the initiation of ice cover around bridge piers has been investigated. An equation for the critical floe concentration was developed. The equation has been validated by experimental data from previous studies. The proposed model can be used for the prediction of formation of ice cover in front of a bridge pier under certain conditions.

Field measurements of ice-jam-release surges

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 699-711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spyros Beltaos ◽  
Brian C Burrell
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Water Wave ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
River Ice ◽  
Aquatic Life ◽  
Ice Jam ◽  
Ice Breakup ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
Reporting Method

Surges are the most violent and spectacular events that occur during the ice breakup. Upon the release of an ice jam, water and ice held by the jam are suddenly free to move. The resulting surge generates increased water stages and higher flow velocities, such that the water wave and ice run pose a risk to downstream structures, people, and aquatic life. Climate-induced changes to river ice processes, such as enhanced mid-winter jamming or increased spring flows, could result in more frequent occurrence of major and damaging surges. To address a dearth of related quantitative data, a remote water-level reporting method has been developed and used to obtain field measurements on ice-jam generated surges. The results are consistent with the few available data but only partly conform to existing theories.Key words: breakup, celerity, ice jam, release, river, surge, wave.

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