SKI Conference Canada 2023

GIScience for Observing and Predicting Snow and Glacier Hydrology in the Canadian Rockies

John Pomeroy, Canada Research Chair in Water Resources and Climate Change, UNESCO Chair in Mountain Water Sustainability and Distinguished Professor, in the Dept of Geography & Planning and Director of the Centre for Hydrology, Coldwater Laboratory and Global Water Futures program, University of Saskatchewan, Canmore, AB.

Abstract: GIS plays a central role in our attempts to better observe, understand, and predict the complex snow and ice hydrological systems of the Canadian Rockies. Here, intense spatial variability due to topography, vegetation, geology, development and climate governs hydrological processes in the headwater basins of the triple continental divide from whence the Columbia, Saskatchewan and Mackenzie rivers drain to separate oceans. GIS science is key to observing hydrology of this region, through detailed mapping by UAV of glacier surfaces and extent, snow depth, vegetation structure, surface temperature, water levels and topography. Spatial measurement campaigns using UAV-LiDAR and multispectral imagery has been used to track glacier retreat, snow redistribution by wind in the alpine environment, the interception of snow by forest canopies and the influence of slope/aspect, elevation, vegetation and wind exposure on snowmelt rates in the spring. Spatially distributed models have been developed using GIS to define spatial units for mass and energy balance calculations called "hydrological response units" and using triangular irregular networks (TINs) over adaptive meshes defined from topography, vegetation and hydrography. These models have greater computational efficiency and parsimonious parameterisation needs due to the inherent classification of landscape compared to regular gridded models. Application of these models to determine the impacts of climate change on the hydrology of the Canadian Rockies and to forecast snow accumulation and melt at high resolution over vast areas are shown.

The 8th Conference on Spatial Knowledge and Information Canada will be held February 16-19, 2023 in Banff, Alberta.

Spatial Knowledge and Information (SKI) Canada brings together researchers of geographic information science (and systems), spatial data science, and the geoweb who live and work in Canada. We invite submissions as short papers and abstracts for peer-review and publication.

The SKI conference mixes the practical and the theoretical. Come share your experiences in using GIS in academia in Canada and around the world. Learn from other researchers and students of GIS on best practices and ways of accommodating different domains of knowledge. We invite submissions on a range of topics including (but not limited to):

• GIScience
• Spatial Data Science
• Geomatics and geomatics engineering
• Remote Sensing
• Participatory GIS
• GIS in health and epidemiology
• GIS in transportation
• GIS in hydrology
• Geoprivacy
• Planning Support Systems and landuse planning
• Digital Earth and the Geospatial Web 2.0 (geoweb) (e.g., Google Earth, Virtual Earth, Google Maps) Research
• Neogeography, Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and crowdsourcing
• Geovisualization and cybercartography
• Business geographics
• Spatial statistics
• Location based services
• GIS and spatial modeling in the Earth Sciences
• Urban simulation and modelling
• Computer dimensions of GIS (e.g., data modelling)
• Big Data, machine learning, Geo AI
• Smart Cities & Artificial Intelligence

Who should attend?

Students of all levels (undergraduate, masters, and PhD) and professors who identify as GIScientists, Spatial Data Scientists, Geomatics Researchers or GIS Applications users from across Canada. We are particularly interested in students attending the conference so please share this CfP within your departments.

How to participate

Submit a short paper for peer review

Short papers can be up to 2000 words in length and a maximum of 10 pages (including figures and references). Each short paper will be reviewed by the Program Committee and feedback will be provided to the authors. Accepted short papers will be published in the SKI conference proceedings via Open Science Framework (OSF). In addition to gaining experience with the review process, students should be aware that the proceedings are given a persistent identifier (DOI) and indexed, which may be useful for their CV.
Download the short paper template here

Submit an abstract

For students who have been registered in their programs for less than six months (as of the deadline of abstract submission), we invite submission of a short abstract (200-300 words). Short abstracts will not be included in proceedings but are an opportunity to discuss and receive feedback from your peers. Short abstracts should include the research context, goal, methods, anticipated results, and expected impacts. Short abstract submissions must be accompanied by an email or letter from the student’s supervisor indicating they have reviewed and approved the submission and confirmation that the student has been in their program of study for less than six months. If new students have sufficient results, a comprehensive literature review or a well-developed methodology, we encourage them to submit to the paper stream.
Download the abstract template here

Faculty research synopsis

Faculty are welcome to submit Extended Abstracts and be allocated the same 10-minute presentation slot as other presenters, these abstracts should focus on a specific research project or topic. Alternatively, faculty can email grant.mckenzie@mcgill.ca and request to give a 2-minute research synopsis/elevator pitch covering the general range of research they conduct. Additionally, faculty can submit a 300 word summary of their research program which will be posted on the conference website, but will not be part of the peer-reviewed proceedings. Submit synopsis here

Dates

The full conference event will be held from Thursday February 16 to Sunday, February 19, 2023. The conference begins with an icebreaker and social on Thursday night, with paper presentations commencing Friday February 17 and continuing Saturday February 18. Further details will be posted soon.

The submission deadline for short papers and abstracts is November 21st 14th, 2022 (End of day AOE).

Conference Structure

The conference will be structured as a series of plenary sessions, and hosted by a moderator. Conference sessions will be designed around a rapid-communication format successfully used in medicine, neuroscience, and other disciplines. Each presentation will be 10-minutes with a short shared opportunity for public questions. Additionally, each evening of the conference will also include a reception offering ample time for interaction and discussion. In addition to the research presentations we will have a keynote address during the dinner hour of the first evening.

Conference Location

This year's conference on Spatial Knowledge and Information Canada will be held at the Banff Park Lodge.