NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Tags: physical sciences, vegetation, climate change, greenhouse gases, remote sensing, carbon dioxide, methane

Objective(s): To measure the emission/uptake of methane and carbon dioxide at Fish Island in the outer Mackenzie Delta over a full growing season.

Project Description: The objective of this campaign will be to measure the emission/uptake of methane and carbon dioxide at Fish Island in the outer Mackenzie Delta over a full growing season. This data will be used to determine the carbon balance of the island, and estimate the carbon balance of the land surfaces in the outer Mackenzie Delta. Additionally, the research team will investigate factors influencing the exchange of these gasses, such as seasonal decreases in water levels, vegetation growth, changing light conditions, and other climate factors. A method known as eddy covariance (EC) will be used to measure the emission/uptake of methane and carbon dioxide at Fish Island in the outer Mackenzie Delta. This method allows the team to study the exchange of gasses between the atmosphere and a landscape. In this case, the sensors will be place on a tripod eight meters above the ground surface, allowing the team to observe the emission/uptake of methane carbon dioxide over an area of about 0.2 square kilometers. The research team will collect soil and climate data such as: radiation, air and soil temperature, water table depth, and active layer depth to help understand what is observed. Additionally, the team will use drone photography to capture high resolution imagery of the area at multiple times through the season. This will aid in analysis modelling after the data has been collected. This data will be used to calculate a carbon budget for Fish Island and upscale that to all the land surfaces in the outer Mackenzie Delta. The system will be powered by an array of solar panels and bank of 6 sealed, spill proof batteries. This set has been tested at Illisarvik in 2016 and found to work quite well. The research team plan to install the EC system in early-mid June, as close to the end of the snow melt/spring flood period as possible. The system will be operated until early September when sunlight becomes insufficient to power the system. Early and late season fluxes are poorly understood and it is important to catch as much of these periods as possible. The EC system will be operated remotely from Inuvik using satellite communication and the site will be visited about every three weeks to preform cleaning/maintenance and to collect the data. Each time the site is visited the team will also collect drone imagery to map the change in the landscape over the season. The Principal Investigator would like to present about the previous and ongoing work during the time in Inuvik, and will participate in the summer speaker series at the Aurora Research Institute. The PI is especially interested in any opportunities to engage with youth and help foster interest in science among future generations. In a broader sense, the results of this research will help advance understanding of climate change in the north. Findings from this work will be presented at professional conferences such as the Canadian Geophysical Union and Arctic Net and published in academic journals. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from June 14, 2017 to September 15, 2017.