Professor Ali Assani holds a master's degree (Geology of Surface Terrain) and a Ph.D. (Physical Geography). He completed postdoctoral training in Physical Geography. He teaches climatology, hydrology and climate change. His research is in the fields of hydroclimatology, climate change, hydrogeomorphology and ecohydrology.
Part of the book: Climate Change
The goal of this study is to look at how the interconnection of five North American Great Lakes affects the relationship between climate indices and mean annual and extreme daily water levels during the period from 1918 to 2012, and how human activity impacts the dependence between these two variables. Analysis of correlation revealed the existence of a negative correlation between water levels in Lakes Superior, Michigan–Huron and Erie, and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) climate index, although this correlation is not observed at the daily scale for Lake Superior. Water levels in Lake Ontario are negatively correlated with Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). The temporal evolution of the dependence between water levels and climate indices is characterized by breaks interpreted to result from variations in the amount of precipitation probably linked with an AMO phase change in the Lakes Superior, Michigan–Huron, and Erie watersheds. In the case of Lake Ontario, such breaks in dependence are thought to be related to water level regulation in this lake resulting from the digging of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Part of the book: Lake Sciences and Climate Change
Although many plots of land that were once farmed have been reforested in the St Lawrence Lowlands of Quebec since the 1950s, no study has yet looked at the morphological impacts of this land‐use change. To address this, we analyzed the evolution of the Matambin River (99 km2) channel width and sinuosity using diachronic analysis of air photographs taken between 1935 and 2008. Results of this analysis show a roughly 21% decrease in mean channel bankfull width from 1935 to 1964. This time interval was characterized by a low frequency of strong flood flows in the region and a roughly 32% increase in the forested land area, the reforestation having started in the 1950s. After 1964, a trend of increasing mean channel bankfull width is observed. This increase is associated with the increase in frequency of strong flood flows in the region and a decrease in the amount of suspended sediments produced by soil erosion following the increase in forest cover in the watershed. In contrast, channel sinuosity did not change much over the period from 1935 to 2008.
Part of the book: Hydro-Geomorphology
The most intense spring freshet observed since 1950 in many regions of southern Quebec took place in 2008. The goal of the chapter was to examine the influence of natural (La Niña) and human (land use and dam management) factors on the characteristics (magnitude, duration, timing, and flow variability) of this freshet. As far as natural factors are concerned, a positive correlation was found between La Niña events (both moderate and strong) and flood peaks in natural rivers. Despite its high intensity, however, the 2008 freshet was produced by a relatively moderate 2007–2008 La Niña event. The influence of land use, for its part, resulted in a higher flood peak but of relatively shorter duration in the agricultural watershed (L’Assomption River) than in the forested watershed (Matawin River) due to greater runoff in the former watershed. Finally, dam management mode affected the timing, duration, and flow variability of the freshet, as well as the number of days with zero flow. The greatest changes were observed downstream from the Matawin dam, which causes an inversion of the natural annual cycle of flow.
Part of the book: Flood Risk Management
The goal of this study is to compare the seasonal variability of 12 physicochemical characteristics of waters in the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers (SLR). Water samples were collected on board the research vessel Lampsillis in the spring (May), summer (August), and fall (October) of 2006 at four stations located downstream from the confluence of the two rivers. Temperature and total nitrogen values varied significantly for the three seasons. In contrast, seasonal values of light extinction coefficient and turbidity do not show any significant variation. The values of the other characteristics varied significantly only for one season. Comparison of these data with those measured in 1994–1996 reveals a net warming of the waters and a significant increase in nitrite-nitrate concentrations due to the increasing use of nitrogen-bearing fertilizers by farmers in Quebec. Concentrations of these two substances are higher than the limits set by the government of Quebec for water quality in rivers.
Part of the book: Achievements and Challenges of Integrated River Basin Management
The goals of this study were (1) to compare the long-term trend of the interannual variability of maximum daily temperatures for four summer months (June, July, August, and September) using the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and Mann-Kendall tests and (2) to analyze the link between these temperatures and El Niño events of varying intensities using the linear correlation method. Data from 23 stations for the period from 1950 to 2010 were analyzed. As far as the analysis of the long-term trend is concerned, the observed warming is greater for the last 2 months (August and September) than for the first 2 months (June and July) of the summer season, likely as a result of the warming of ocean surface waters. As for the link between El Niño events and summer maximum daily temperatures, a negative correlation was highlighted for the first time between these two variables for southern Quebec. However, this correlation is only observed for the two “cooler” summer months (June and September), likely due to a weak influence of site (station) characteristics on maximum daily temperature variations.
Part of the book: Extreme Weather