NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

Tags: physical sciences, environmental impact, active layer, ground temperature, permafrost, hydrology, prediction models, industrial development, snow accumulation, pipeline corridor, snowmelt, ground cover, energy fluxes, runoff process, water budget, hydrometric monitoring

Objective(s): The primary objective of this project is to develop improved understanding of the fluxes of water and energy in northern regions, and to develop improved predictive models of these processes. This work is an important contribution to the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Studies (CFCAS), the Program for Energy Research and Development (PERD), and assessment of the Mackenzie Gas Project. The research continues to contribute to the Mackenzie GEWEX study (MAGS). The study considers both the atmospheric and land surface water budgets of the Mackenzie Basin, with an emphasis on predicting the effects of climate change on the hydrology of the northern environment. The research includes studies of the rates of, and processes controlling: accumulation of snow, snow melt, water flux through snow, exchange of water between snowcover, active layer and permafrost; the effect of snow/soil temperature regime and vegetation types on runoff processes; evaporation processes; and development of physically-based predictive models of snowmelt runoff. This work will provide improved techniques for predicting a wide range of environmental impacts in northern areas, including potential climate change impacts and associated implications to northern oil and gas exploration and development, and the changing environmental conditions on pipelines. Changes in the hydrologic regime of northwestern Canada will be compared with that of the Alaska North Slope.