Research

Research Infrastructures

CIRSA Experimental Station of the Sainte-Marguerite River


The station is located 10 km north of Sacré-Coeur, near the Ste-Marguerite River, a tributary of the Saguenay. The station is used for training in hydrometry, geomorphology, ecology and research in hydrology and fish habitats. The scientific equipment includes: a weather station, a water temperature monitoring station in the Ste-Marguerite River, an ADCP measuring the flow from May to November in the Ste-Marguerite River. Users also have access to mobile ADCPs (Sontek M9 and Teledyne Streampro), electric fishermen, thermographs and turbidimeters. The facilities include a laboratory area, a chalet with a classroom for 30 people, a dormitory for 35 people, a kitchen / cafeteria and a sanitary area with showers. She is in operation from May to November. The station belongs to the Interuniversity Center for Research on Atlantic Salmon (CIRSA) and is managed by the INRS.

Institution
  • Institut national de recherche scientifique (INRS)
Location
Sacré-Cœur-sur-le-Fjord, Québec
Contact person
André St-Hilaire, Professor
andre.st-hilaire@ete.inrs.ca, 418 654-3113
Associated axes :
  • Axis Water Availability
    Theme 2: Hydrometeorological regime under climate
  • Axis Water Availability
    Theme 3: Flow rates and water levels
More info de CIRSA Experimental Station of the Sainte-Marguerite River

Experimental Watershed Sainte-Marthe


The St. Marthe Experimental Watershed consists of a set of hydrometeorological measurement stations continuously recording the key parameters related to hydrology and snow. These measurement points are located in and near the drainage zone of tributary 29 of Rivière à la Racquette. It has an area of almost 10 km2.

Institution
  • École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS)
Location
Sainte-Marthe (Québec)
Contact person
Michel Baraer, Professor
michel.baraer@etsmtl.ca, 514 396-8992
Associated axis :
  • Axis Water Availability
    Theme 3: Flow rates and water levels
More info de Experimental Watershed Sainte-Marthe

Experimental site for geoenvironmental and hydrological studies


The main objective of this project is to evaluate different final cover scenarios to reduce the production of leachate in a Saint-Nicéphore landfill, located in Drummondville, Quebec. In order to assess the percolation, the Université de Sherbrooke team proposed to build an experimental plan on the existing coverage of the site. Five lysimeters were built in 4 enclosures, that is to say areas where all the runoff water is collected in order to monitor their quantity and quality over time. The quality must be monitored due to the presence of contaminated soil in some of the scenarios under study, while the quantities are used to carry out water balances over time. This project is done in collaboration with the company Waste Management and receives financial support from WM, CRSNG and CRIBIQ.

Institution
  • Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS)
Location
Drummondville (Québec)
Contact person
Alexandre Cabral, professor
Alexandre.Cabral@USherbrooke.ca, (819) 821-8000, ext. 67906
Associated axes :
  • Axis Water Availability
    Theme 1: Integrated quantity and quality simulations
  • Transversal axis: Governance and management
    Theme 2: Risks and disrupters of governance
  • Axis Uses of water
    Theme 2: Water uses for primary production
More info de Experimental site for geoenvironmental and hydrological studies

Forêt Montmorency experimental watershed (BEREV)


The purpose of the BEREV is to characterize the water cycle and the surface flows (energy, water and carbon) in a boreal environment in order to increase our understanding of the hydrological and hydrometeorological processes in the presence of abundant snow, in support of a better modeling and better forestry practices. In particular, BEREV has micrometeorological equipment above the canopy. To know more, watch this webinar about the BEREV: https://youtu.be/-bbwMuuYLYg

Institution
  • Université Laval
Location
Forêt Montmorency, Quebec
Contact person
Sylvain Jutras, Professor
sylvain.jutras@sbf.ulaval.ca, 418 656-2131, ext. 12260
Associated axes :
  • Axis Water Availability
    Theme 1: Integrated quantity and quality simulations
  • Axis Water Availability
    Theme 2: Hydrometeorological regime under climate
  • Axis Uses of water
    Theme 2: Water uses for primary production
More info de Forêt Montmorency experimental watershed (BEREV)

Multiscale research complex in hydrology, hydraulics and environment


The hydrology, hydraulics and environment research complex is a unique research infrastructure in Canada. The research complex, located outside the main campus of the University of Sherbrooke, consists of an experimental watershed and an experimental river. Covering an area of ​​approximately 0.4 ha, the watershed is 100 m long and varies in width from 30 m at its outlet to about 50 m at its widest point. The bottom and the walls are made up of an assembly of concrete walls and geomembranes to ensure complete watertightness of the basin. The depth of the basin varies between 3 m at its outlet to almost 5 m upstream. The basin is filled with mixed soil taken from the site and made up of till, sand and gravel with spatial heterogeneities. A groundwater collection system with drainage pipes and valves is used to control the water table. A set of instruments and sensors include rain gauges, soil moisture probes, piezometers, pressure monitors, lysimeters, a weather station and a snowpack analyzer which provides a detailed portrait of the state and flux variables in the watershed. The experimental river is made up of a dynamic river channel 3 m wide and 50 m long with an initial slope of 0.5%. The canal can wind freely in a valley 20 m wide. The corridor is filled with a mobile substrate at least 1 m thick which allows to modify the shape, the slope, the roughness and the topography. An impermeable membrane is placed under the bed and the banks of the canal to minimize water loss by infiltration. The backfill material is composed of a mixture of gravel/rounded sand. The river operates as a closed circuit system. The water, which circulates in a loop, is conveyed by two variable speed centrifugal pumps totaling 0.8 m3/s to a supply channel and a head tank and will flow into the experimental river via a weir. The depth of flow at the downstream end of the river is controlled by a flow valve, after which the water flows into a sedimentation basin and then to the pumping basin. The transported sediments are collected in the sedimentation basin and will be transported/stored upstream via the sediment recirculation system.

The infrastructure will be accessible as a priority to researchers who obtained the grant that allowed the construction, some of which are members of CentrEau, as well as to collaborating researchers. Researchers who do not collaborate with the principal investigators will also be able to use the infrastructure. Charges may apply.

Institution
  • Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS)
Location
Sherbrooke
Contact person
Robert Leconte, professor
Robert.Leconte@USherbrooke.ca, (819) 821-7247
Associated axis :
  • Axis Water Availability
    Theme 3: Flow rates and water levels

Site d'étude comparative des précipitations solides (NEIGE)


Le site NEIGE vise à contribuer à l’amélioration de l’estimation des apports en eau pendant la période hivernale grâce au perfectionnement des méthodes de mesure de la neige en milieu forestier, dans le biome boréal. Il permet d'évaluer la sous-captation horaire, bi-journalière et journalière des précipitations solides pour différents types de précipitomètres et de paravents installés à la Forêt Montmorency; de développer des équations utilisant des paramètres météorologiques usuels afin de permettre le débiaisage des données brutes de précipitation solide en fonction des appareils et des paravents utilisés; de comparer l’efficacité des appareils permettant l’estimation de l’équivalent en eau de la neige contenu dans le manteau nival; de favoriser le partage des données et des résultats entre les intervenants grâce à des activités de transfert de connaissance et des ateliers thématiques.

Institution
  • Université Laval
Location
Forêt Montmorency, Québec
Contact person
Sylvain Jutras, Professeur
Sylvain.Jutras@sbf.ulaval.ca, 418 656-2131, poste 12260
Associated axis :
  • Axis Water Availability
    Theme 2: Hydrometeorological regime under climate
More info de Site d'étude comparative des précipitations solides (NEIGE)