Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region
Tags: physical sciences, climate change, glaciology, water balance, snow water equivalence
| Principal Investigator: | Burgess, David O (15) |
| Licence Number: | 17194 |
| Organization: | Geological Survey of Canada |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2023
2022
2021
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
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| Issued: | Jan 23, 2023 |
Objective(s): To provide both a science based knowledge pertaining to the patterns and rates of climate change, and a quantitative basis for estimating Canada’s contributions to global sea-level rise.
Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5450. The objectives of this integrated monitoring and research project is to provide 1) science based knowledge pertaining to the patterns and rates of climate change, and 2) a quantitative basis for estimating Canada’s contributions to global sea-level rise. Glacier mass balance is defined as the difference between the amount of snow accumulated on a glacier (generally termed winter balance) and the amount lost due to melt (summer balance) over the course of a given year. Due to logistical constraints however, measurements of the high Arctic glaciers are limited to one spring visit per year. Hence winter balance is measured directly from mass balance poles drilled into the ice the previous spring, while summer balance is inferred from both pole measurements and meteorological data recorded at 11 automatic weather stations deployed across the high Arctic monitoring network. The mass balance pole arrays at each monitoring site span the full elevation range of the glacier basin or small ice caps being measured. In this project, mass balance is measured at each pole as function of snow depth and density (winter balance) and pole height difference over 2 successive visits, or 1 year (net balance). Observations at each pole are augmented with hourly temperature and snow pack/ ice height measurements collected from the automatic weather stations. Mass balance data is extrapolated across elevation bands in order to quantify the net annual mass balance at the basin- or ice-cap wide scale. The field crews communicate with Polar Continental Shelf Program (PCSP) via two-way radio or Iridium satellite phone two times daily (7.30 and 19.00) to inform of status. Field crews always carry Iridium satellite phones and will call PCSP at regular scheduled times, even if away from main camp. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from March 27, 2023 to March 30, 2023.
