NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region

Tags: physical sciences, ground temperature, climate change, discontinuous permafrost

Objective(s): To create a Temperature at Top of Permafrost (TTOP) model and map for the community of Whatì.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.4945. The goal of this project is to build on previous permafrost work by creating a Temperature at Top of Permafrost (TTOP) model and map for the community of Whatì. This model will allow the research team to calculate how permafrost may change with increasing air temperatures. The data will assist the community of Whatì on making decisions of where to build future infrastructure and ensuring that it is not on an area that is prone to thaw. In summer 2019/2020, temperature sensors were launched. This data when collected in the summer of 2021 will allow for a better understanding of the diversity of ground temperatures and permafrost conditions in the contrasting wetland and forested zones. Surface temperature variability in this environment is generally a product of differential snow accumulation, surface wetness and vegetation type. The collected data will then be used to calculate n-factors (a ratio between soil surface and air temperature) an essential element of the TTOP model. The resulting data will then be used to generate a high-resolution continuous surface of ground surface temperature using the TTOP model to determine permafrost attributes, distribution and vulnerability to climate and environmental change. The TTOP model will then be paired with climate change scenarios to assist with better understanding of the spatial location and type of permafrost in 15 and 50 years. The results of this study will be communicated to the Community Government in a series of documents which includes progress reports that will be sent out each semester to communicate what is being done and update timelines on the completion of the project. This will be done in the form of a simple email or a written report. A Presentation of progress during the 2021 field season to update the community government on the preliminary research that has been done as well as current field work updates. A final document communicating results of the project this will be done using a presentations, maps, and written documents that will be used to communicate the findings. It is crucial that the knowledge, methods, models and data used in this project are available and accessible to interested members of the community. To ensure this takes place members of the community will assist to translate project documents in order to allow it to be properly understood by all interested members of the community. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from June 3, 2021 to September 30, 2021.