Reconstructed river water temperature dataset over Canada 1980-2018.

The daily water temperature (°C) dataset is reconstructed using the air2stream model (Toffolon and Piccolroaz 2015) with i) air temperature from ~10 km resolution 1980-2018 Regional Deterministic Reforecast System, version 2.1 (Gasset et al. 2021) and ii) streamflow data from the Water Survey of Canada (WSC) hydrometric stations used as the primary inputs. The reconstructed dataset was calibrated/validated with observed water temperature records from various sources. A detailed description of the methodology, sources of observed water temperature, air temperature, and streamflow datasets used in the model setup are available in Shrestha and Pesklevits (2023a and 2023b).

Gasset, N., and Coauthors, 2021: A 10 km North American precipitation and land-surface reanalysis based on the GEM atmospheric model. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 25, 4917–4945, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-4917-2021.

Shrestha, R. R., and J. C. Pesklevits, 2023a: Modelling spatial and temporal variability of water temperature across six rivers in Western Canada. River Research and Applications, 1–14, https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4072.

Shrestha, R.R., J. Pesklevits. 2023b. Reconstructed river water temperature data for western Canada 1980-2018, Data 8, 48 doi.org/10.3390/data8030048.

Toffolon, M., and S. Piccolroaz, 2015: A hybrid model for river water temperature as a function of air temperature and discharge. Environ. Res. Lett., 10, 114011, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/11/114011.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Last Updated January 16, 2026, 20:54 (UTC)
Created January 16, 2026, 20:54 (UTC)
contains_pii non
criticality_level Élevé
data_formats HTML
fair_openness Level 2 - Machine-readable
geographic_scope Canada
sensitivity_level Faible
source_inventaire Inventaire_W
source_url https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/2d188a08-99d7-4ecc-8d02-aa4c88a59138
subject nature_and_environment
update_frequency as_needed
year_most_recent 2023-12-08 14:30:53.544000
year_start 2023-02-16 19:09:22.170000