Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region
Tags: physical sciences, climatology, permafrost, snow accumulation, snow water equivalence, runoff process
| Principal Investigator: | Marsh, Philip (37) |
| Licence Number: | 12852 |
| Organization: | National Hydrology Research Institute |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2005
2004
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| Issued: | May 14, 1996 |
| Project Team: | Dr. J. Pomeroy, Mr. C. Onclin, Ms. N. Neuman, Mr. M. Russell & Mr. B. Reid |
Objective(s): To determine the rates of and processes controlling: accumulation of snow, snowmelt, water flux through snowcovers; exchange of water between snowcover, active layer and permafrost; movement of solutes and nutrients through the snowcover and to the stream channel; to determine the effect of snow/soil temperature regime and vegetation types of runoff processes; to develop physically based, predictive models of snowmelt runoff.
Project Description: Snow plays an important role in northern ecosystems. It accounts for a large portion of the years total precipitation and therefore when its melts in the spring it is responsible for significant flood, for increased soil moisture upon which plants are reliant for summer growth, & for refilling lakes and ponds. Snowcover stores atmospheric input of solutes, nutrients, & pollutants during the winter, and then releases them to the ecosystem during the spring melt. Snowcover insulates the ground, providing warmer ground temperatures and a better environment for overwintering of small animals and vegetation. This study will look at the role of snowcover in controlling streamflow ecosystems. Also develop computer models to predict distribution and properties of snow, its melt and runoff during the spring period. Also examine forest / tundra ecosystem and climate change effects.
