Water temperature is increasingly acknowledged as a key variable for the sustainable management of lotic environments. Thermal variability in rivers dictates in large part the ecosystem functions of these water bodies. River thermal sensitivity (TS), defined in this work as the value of the regression slope between water and air temperature (Tair) measurements, is often used to determine how river temperature regime is expected to vary as climate evolves. This study proposes a method to contextualize climate conditions during the river temperature-monitoring period in order to define a common basis to compare TS values calculated for different stations distributed across various climatic regions in the province of Québec (Canada). Nine climate classes were defined based on Tair and precipitation. Annual climate conditions were classified according to their anomalies compared to a reference period (1981–2010). For the reference climate class (“Normal–Normal” conditions), results indicate contrasted summer TS values between Québec rivers and within rivers. Furthermore, observed summer TS variations between climate classes underline the need to account for climate conditions when studying spatial variations in river thermal sensitivity. Climate contextualization also allows us to study the potential role of previous conditions. Rivers were grouped according to their drainage basins characteristics to examine spatial variability in TS for the chosen reference climate conditions. River slope, station elevation and geographic location partly explained TS spatial variability. Useful proxies are needed to describe the relative contribution of groundwater to river temperature and to potentially improve the group classification results.

中文翻译：

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将河流热敏感性定义为气候的函数

水温越来越被认为是水环境可持续管理的关键变量。河流的热变化在很大程度上决定了这些水体的生态系统功能。河流热敏感度 ( TS ) 在这项工作中定义为水温和气温 ( Tair ) 测量值之间的回归斜率值，通常用于确定河流温度状况如何随着气候演变而变化。本研究提出了一种将河流温度监测期间气候条件背景化的方法，以便确定一个共同基础来比较TS为分布在魁北克省（加拿大）不同气候区域的不同站点计算的值。根据Tair和降水定义了九个气候等级。年度气候条件根据与参考时期（1981-2010 年）相比的异常情况进行分类。对于参考气候等级（“正常-正常”条件），结果表明魁北克河流之间和河流内部的夏季TS值存在对比。此外，观察到的夏季TS气候类别之间的差异强调了在研究河流热敏感性的空间变化时考虑气候条件的必要性。气候背景化还使我们能够研究先前条件的潜在作用。河流根据其流域特征进行分组，以检查所选参考气候条件下TS 的空间变异性。河流坡度、站点高程和地理位置部分解释了TS空间变异性。需要有用的代理来描述地下水对河流温度的相对贡献，并有可能改进组分类结果。