Foothills Orographic Precipitation Experiment (FOPEX)

The Alberta foothills are a primary source of spring runoff into the prairie regions to the east. For this reason, precipitation accumulations in the foothills are vital to prairie water resources. The Foothills Orographic Precipitation Experiment (FOPEX) was initiated in 2002 to study the dynamics of precipitation and its relationship to elevation in the lee of the Rocky Mountains, including the quantification of processes such as the influence of up-slope (easterly) atmospheric flow on precipitation. Six surface meteorological sites were installed in the Alberta Rocky Mountain foothills between Limestone Mountain and Caroline. Data collection began in the fall of 2002 and several sites remained in operation until the spring of 2008.


Each surface meteorological site measured accumulating precipitation, snow depth, surface pressure (at 3 sites), temperature, humidity, and wind speed and wind direction. The sites were installed at strategic locations to obtain a transect through various elevations between 1000 and 2200 masl. The meteorological data was collected at a frequency of 30 minutes. Manual snow surveys were completed monthly during the snow accumulation and ablation periods during much of the project (2002 through 2006).


Information on FOPEX results can be found in Smith C.D. (2008) The Relationship between Monthly Precipitation and Elevation in the Alberta Foothills during the Foothills Orographic Precipitation Experiment. In: Woo M. (eds) Cold Region Atmospheric and Hydrologic Studies. The Mackenzie GEWEX Experience. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73936-4_10

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Metadata Record Information

File Identifier
ded9d5d4-2fe4-4473-a137-8bfebb8d2188 XML
Date Stamp
2022-06-28T19:11:16
Metadata language

eng; CAN
Character set
UTF8
Hierarchy Level
Series
Author
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada - Environment and Climate Change Canada ( Public inquiries centre )
Fontaine Building 12th floor, 200 Sacré-Coeur Blvd , Gatineau , Quebec , K1A 0H3 ,
1-800-668-6767
http://ec.gc.ca
 

Data identification

Date (Creation)
2018-05-31
Date (Publication)
2018-05-31
Status
Completed
Metadata language

eng; CAN
Metadata language

fra
Character set
US ASCII
Topic category
  • Climatology, meteorology, atmosphere
Maintenance and Update Frequency
Not planned
Spatial representation type
Text, table
Principal investigator
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Science and Technology - Smith, Craig D. ( Physical Science Specialist )
11 Innovation Blvd , Saskatoon , Saskatchewan , S7N 3H5 , Canada
306-975-5793
Hours of Service

8:00-16:00 EST

Keywords

Theme

  • precipitation, orographic, meteorology

  • Observation/Measurement

Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus

  • Snow

  • Meteorological data

  • Climate

ECCC Information Category EN

  • Weather and Climate

Geography

  • Water - Drainage regions - South Saskatchewan

Business Functions

  • Provide Climate Information Products and Services

  • Expand Scientific Knowledge for Climate Monitoring and Prediction

external.theme.EC_Branch

  • Science and Technology Branch

external.theme.EC_Directorate

  • Atmospheric Science and Technology

external.theme.GC_Security_Level

  • Unclassified
 
Use Limitation

Open Government Licence - Canada ( http://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada )

Access Constraints
Unrestricted
Use Constraints
Unrestricted
Begin Date
2002-10-01
End Date
2008-05-30

Extent

N
S
E
W
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Ref. system Reference Systems

Reference system identifier
http://www.epsg-registry.org / EPSG:4326 /
 

Distribution

Distribution Formats

Distribution format
  • CSV ( unknown )

  • DOC ( Microsoft Word 97 - 2003 )

 
Distributor
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada - Environment and Climate Change Canada ( Public inquiries centre )
Fontaine Building 12th floor, 200 Sacré-Coeur Blvd , Gatineau , Quebec , K1A 0H3 ,
1-800-668-6767
http://ec.gc.ca
 
 

Overviews

overview
AB1June2001-1.png
overview
AB3March2002-5_s_fre.png
overview
large_thumbnail
overview
thumbnail

N
S
E
W
thumbnail


Keywords

Observation/Measurement precipitation, orographic, meteorology
Business Functions
Expand Scientific Knowledge for Climate Monitoring and Prediction Provide Climate Information Products and Services
ECCC Information Category EN
Weather and Climate
Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus
Climate Meteorological data Snow
external.theme.EC_Branch
Science and Technology Branch
external.theme.EC_Directorate
Atmospheric Science and Technology
external.theme.GC_Security_Level
Unclassified

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