Northern River Ice Regimes

Régions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, South Slave Region

étiquettes: physical sciences, flooding, ice thickness, river ice, ice jams, hydro-electric, ice growth

chercheur principal: Sherstone, David A. (12)
Nᵒ de permis: 12280
Organisation: Science Institute of the NWT
Année(s) de permis: 1993 1992 1991 1990 1988
Délivré: janv. 01, 1992
Équipe de projet: Norm McCowan, Les Kutny

Objectif(s): (1) To monitor rates of ice growth and decay, and to observe maximum ice thickness achieved each winter; (2) to determine the timing of maximum thickness for predicting impacts on ice regime by upstream hydro-electric developments; (3) to assist the Hay River flood monitoring committee in mitigating flood damage from spring ice jams; and (4) to develop a database of ice values for use in long-term climate impact studies.

Description du projet: Ice gauges are installed on river ice once the ice is strong enough to support researchers (20 gauges for the Mackenzie Delta and 15 gauges for Hay River). These gauges are read every 10 days to obtain total ice thickness, white ice thickness and snow depth. From these data, the rates of ice growth and decay can be calculated, and the approximate date of maximum ice thickness can be determined.