NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Tags: physical sciences, air quality, remote sensing, aerial photography, dust monitoring, spectrometry

Objective(s): To re-fly the flight lines to collect additional airborne remote sensing data in August 2018.

Project Description: The extended Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) Study Area includes most of northwestern North America west of Hudson Bay and north and east of the coastal mountain ranges. The core study area includes 4 jurisdictions: Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. It encompasses the variability in the key types of ecosystems that are both unique to arctic and boreal regions in North America as well as being representative of the larger Northern High Latitude region. In 2017 ABoVE airborne teams collected data across a wide variety of ecosystems in both the US and Canada (Figure 1). With the availability of some additional funding, we will re-fly the flight lines to collect additional radar data in August 2018. For 2018, the G-III aircraft with an L-band radar instrument will re-fly lines in the ABoVE study area. The flight team will be based out of Yellowknife and Fairbanks airfields, but will be refueling at many different airports in the region. Overall flight coordination will be completed as required through official channels with the United States Federal Aviation Administration and Transport Canada. The instruments has been cleared by NASA internal safety reviews, and the United States Federal Communications Commission has given authority to operate, and similarly in Canada, the Ministry of Industry has approved their operating parameters for the radar system. The instrument will not leave behind any footprint of its use. All sensor systems are fully integrated into the aircraft and no sensors will be deployed outside the aircraft. This remote sensing instrument has been used around the world on various other NASA projects with no environmental impacts ever reported. A more detailed operating description of the instrument is available by request. The airplane will be landing in locations in NWT for refueling and rest for the crew. During this time there may be opportunities for holding informational sessions about the airborne campaign, how the data is collected and its importance. Additionally, the research team anticipate that they will have ABoVe researchers in the region in future years conducting field work. They will be able to discuss results of the airborne campaign and share what was learned. Members of the airborne science team will share all academic reports and articles associated with this campaign, and will put together fact sheets appropriate for a general audience. The research team anticipate scheduling community presentations in 2019, in conjunction with other NASA ABoVE project teams that are conducting field-based research (under other existing permits). The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from August 1, 2018 to September 30, 2018.