Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area
Tags: physical sciences, water quality, stream flow, climate
| Principal Investigator: | Hille, Erika C (13) |
| Licence Number: | 16725 |
| Organization: | Aurora Research Institute |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2020
|
| Issued: | Jul 13, 2020 |
| Project Team: | Steve Kokelj, Scott Lamoureux, Ashley Rudy, Edwin Amos, Greg Elias, Ryan Mcleod, Celtie Ferguson, Erika Hille |
Objective(s): To compare and contrast the water quality of three watersheds with contrasting climatic and landscape characteristics, with the aim of identifying the climatic factors and landscape features that drive the water quality of streams located along the Dempster and Inuvik-to-Tuktoyaktuk Highways in the Beaufort Delta Region of the western Canadian Arctic; and to examine how the water quality of streams varies between seasons.
Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.4743. The objective of this project is to compare and contrast the water quality of three watersheds with contrasting climatic and landscape characteristics, with the aim of identifying the climatic factors and landscape features that drive the water quality of streams located along the Dempster and Inuvik-to-Tuktoyaktuk Highways in the Beaufort Delta Region of the western Canadian Arctic; and to examine how the water quality of streams varies between seasons. In 2018 and 2019, water quality and stream discharge data was obtained from a suite of streams that represent the wide range of terrain conditions along the Dempster and Inuvik-to-Tuktoyaktuk Highway corridor. Water quality and stream discharge data was collected twice a week during the spring snowmelt period and once a month during the summer and fall periods. This sampling protocol will be replicated in 2020. Also in 2020, spatially detailed water quality surveys will be conducted at three stream catchments with contrasting climatic and landscape characteristics. Data will be collected twice per week in spring and once per month in summer, fall, and winter. Each catchment will be characterized by climatic (e.g., latitude) and landscape characteristics (e.g., drainage, vegetation, surficial geology, relief, glacial history, permafrost conditions), using terrain information obtained from detailed satellite imagery and unmanned aerial systems. This work will be accomplished with in-kind support from the Aurora Research Institute, Northwest Territories Geological Survey, and Northwest Territories Centre for Geomatics. Seasonal, climatic, and landscape-level factors will be used to examine trends in the water quality data. Project updates and preliminary results will be made available via the Aurora Research Institute website. The project team is planning a public presentation for Fall 2020 or Winter 2021. This will be delivered in Inuvik, NT. The data collected in this study will be made available via an online information management system that is currently in development. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from July 13, 2020 to December 31, 2020.
