Services
Flood hazard and risk is the core of the firm. Climate projections and design rainfall feed it; review, training and tools support it. We say which is which so you can match the firm to the assignment.
Primary offering
Flood hazard and risk assessment
Design floods, compound and coastal events, and the climate basis for risk models: focused assignments, and specialist contributions inside multidisciplinary engineering teams
What we do
- Flood frequency analysis with non-stationary and regional methods when the record is short or conditions are changing, including machine-learning regional frequency models
- Compound and coastal flood analysis: joint probability of surge, waves, rainfall and river flow using multivariate extreme-value methods, with sea-level or lake-level change
- Climate-adjusted design floods for dams, levees and drainage infrastructure
- Risk inputs and scoring for regional risk models: hazard layers, exposure overlays, warming-level timing and flood-related indices, delivered to the prime consultant's GIS workflow
- Hydrologic and hydraulic modelling (HEC-HMS, HEC-RAS, 2D models) for defined scenario studies; full regulatory floodplain mapping and stormwater system design are taken on with a partner firm
What you receive
Hazard and frequency estimates with their uncertainty, risk inputs in the form your model needs, technical memoranda, and models handed over so your staff or your prime consultant can re-run them
Primary offering
Climate projections for engineering design
Translating climate projections into design values requires careful choices about model suitability, downscaling, evaluation and uncertainty. We document those choices so the resulting inputs can be reviewed independently.
What we do
- Select global and regional climate models (CMIP6, NA-CORDEX, convection-permitting simulations) suited to the region and the question, with the criteria written down
- Statistically downscale and bias-correct daily variables with methods such as quantile mapping and multivariate MBCn, evaluated against observations over the historical period
- Express results by warming level (1.5, 2, 3 degrees) and by the planning horizons your asset management plan already uses
- Compute climate indices for assets, ecosystems and operations
What you receive
Gridded daily datasets with full provenance, index tables by horizon and scenario, ensemble ranges, and a methods report a peer reviewer or a provincial regulator can follow
Example: daily projections for the Great Lakes basin, 1950 to 2100.
Primary offering
Design rainfall and IDF curves
Short records, sparse gauges and changing rainfall extremes make design rainfall hard to estimate well. We weigh the available evidence, test its limits and quantify the uncertainty.
What we do
- Evaluate gauge records, radar (MRMS) and satellite (IMERG) products, precipitation analyses such as CaPA, and reanalysis products such as CaSR against reference stations, and bias-adjust where justified
- Fit historical IDF curves for durations from 5 minutes to 24 hours and return periods from 2 to 100 years, with regional frequency analysis where it improves reliability
- Project future design rainfall using temperature scaling and recognized delta-change methods, stating the assumptions and limits of each, consistent with CSA guidance on IDF information (W231)
What you receive
Historical and projected IDF tables and curves with uncertainty bounds, a memo on the datasets used and their limitations, and guidance on applying the curves in design and policy
Specialist application
Multi-hazard and severe-storm assessment
For clients whose exposure comes from combinations: hail with damaging wind, tornadoes with flash floods, droughts that end in floods
- Multivariate analysis of compound hail, wind and rainfall extremes from radar, satellite and field records
- Probability of concurrent and sequential hazards, and how it changes with warming
- Multi-hazard risk for interdependent infrastructure networks
Offered where the question is specific and the data allow it; we will say early if they do not
Supporting service
Independent technical review and standards work
A second opinion on climate change studies, flood assessments and IDF updates prepared by others, and technical contributions to standards and guidance. Review memos say plainly what is sound, what is not, and what would fix it.
Supporting service
Training
HEC-RAS and climate data courses for municipal and consulting teams, private or semi-private. Course outlines and formats.
Supporting service
Decision-support tools
Reproducible data pipelines, web viewers for climate indices and flood layers, and statistical or machine-learning emulators with their limits stated, built where a project needs its results to keep working after the report is filed
Not sure which service fits?
Describe the decision and the deadline. We'll say which pieces are needed, which are not, and whether a partner firm should be involved.