Progress in Canadian Snow and Frozen Ground Hydrology, 2003-2007

This paper reviews advances made in Canadian snow and frozen ground hydrology between 2003 and 2006, and follows the 1999 to 2002 review of Woo and Marsh (2005). In this assessment, frozen ground hydrology encompasses the influence of both seasonally and perennially frozen ground (permafrost) on hydrology. In reviewing snow hydrology, we exclude processes associated with precipitation, glaciers and snow avalanches. With respect to frozen ground, its influence on infiltration, percolation and runoff in both permafrost and more temperate environments continues to be an active area of research. The role of permafrost at the landscape scale, and its interaction with soil properties in controlling runoff, has received particular attention. In snow hydrology, knowledge on physical processes of accumulation, redistribution and melt continue to advance through both field experiments and numerical modelling in both natural and urban settings. There also continues to be research on snow chemistry.