NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region

Tags: physical sciences, hydrology, meteorology

Objective(s): The Global Energy and Water Experiment (GEWEX) is a program initiated by the United Nations' World Climate Research Program to observe, understand and model the hydrological cycle and the energy fluxes in the atmosphere, at the land surface and in the upper oceans. The Mackenzie GEWEX Study represents the Canadian contribution to the international GEWEX hydrometeorology effort and involves a coordinated series of process, remote sensing and modeling studies within the Mackenzie River Basin. The objectives of the study are twofold. First to expand the database of information on those processes relevant to the Canadian Shield hydrology such as spring snow melt, active layer dynamics, wetland hydrology and lake storage. Secondly, to test hydrologic models of steam flow using the improved database and compare these results to estimates from linked hydrologic/atmospheric models developed in MAGS. For an accurate application of hydrologic/atmospheric models to the Mackenzie Basin there must be an understanding of the physical processes within the Shield.

Project Description: Lower Carp Lake is part of the Yellowknife River and is roughly 22km in size. A number of remote meteorological and hydrometric data collection sites will be constructed around the lake. An island on the lake will be used as a base camp for the research activities. This island is roughly circular rising up to 50m from the lakeshore. A portion of the island is dominated by sandy glacial deposits. Most of the island however is exposed bedrock with shallow soils. Black spruce characterizes the vegetation cover. This island will be used: 1) to operate an automatic weather and hydrometric stations and associated camp to support scientific studies of the Canadian GEWEX effort known as the Mackenzie GEWEX Study (MAGS); and 2) to provide meteorological data for use in weather forecasts and warnings, for the period May 1998 to May 2002. A Water Survey of Canada streamflow meter is located at the outlet of the lake to provide lake level and streamflow information. This is the first such monitoring in the middle to upper reaches of the Yellowknife River. Other investigation sites measure stream flow entering Lower Carp Lake, local slope runoff conditions, levels of headwater lakes and evaporation rates.