| Principal Investigator: | Lamoureux, Scott F (9) |
| Licence Number: | 15687 |
| Organization: | Queen's University |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2015
|
| Issued: | Jun 12, 2015 |
| Project Team: | Ashley Rudy, Scott Lamoureux |
Objective(s): To investigate the impact of permafrost disturbance on water quality by examining varying sizes of watersheds with different magnitudes of disturbance.
Project Description: The objective of this work is to investigate the impact of permafrost disturbance on water quality by examining varying sizes of watersheds with different magnitudes of disturbance. The impact of disturbance on water quality will be examined in a number of different research questions: 1) does watershed size impact downstream water quality where there is the same magnitude of disturbance; 2) is water quality impacted more by a large areal extent of disturbance or increased frequency of disturbance; and 3) does the connectivity or distance to a water source affect downstream water quality. A disturbance inventory for eastern Banks Island was acquired through a partnership with the Northwest Territories Government and a Cumulative Impacts Monitoring Program. In total 637 active Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) were digitized using satellite imagery (SPOT and Quickbird) and ranged in size from 300 to 224 000 square meters. Watersheds were derived from the Canadian Digital Elevation Data and National Hydro Network stream data sets using ArcGIS with ArcHydro and Spatial Analyst extensions. Watersheds were created based on stream order (e.g., 4th order and higher, 5th order and higher) to produce a hierarchy of nested watersheds. Using these watershed maps field sampling locations will be selected to represent the different research objectives. Water samples will be collected and processed back at the field camp for suspended sediment, major ions and heavy metals. Our research is being made possible due to a collaboration with the Geological Survey of Canada project "Geo-Mapping for Energy and Minerals Program: Western Arctic Project, Banks Island. This work was presented to the community in August of 2014 by the research team during a stay in Sachs Harbour to conduct field work. A report concerning the 2014 season has been sent to the Sachs Harbour Hunters and Trappers Committee. All watershed and disturbance mapping completed in 2015 will also be made available to the community of Sachs Harbour along with a written report in early 2016. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from July 2, 2015 to July 12, 2015.
