NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

Tags: permafrost, climate change, coastal mapping

Objective(s): 1) To update the assessment of the state of the ISR coastline; 2) To gain a better understanding of coastal permafrost and impacts of change; and, 3) To gain a better understanding of coastal dynamics with respect to unique ecosystems and communities.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No. 5770. Objectives: To update the assessment of the state of the ISR coastline; To gain a better understanding of coastal permafrost and impacts of change; and, To gain a better understanding of coastal dynamics with respect to unique ecosystems and communities. Objective 1: To update the assessment of the state of the ISR coastline 1. Involves visitation of several coastal sites between Shingle Point and Cape Dalhousie and establishment of new coastal monitoring sites in Darnley Bay, along the coast of Banks and Victoria Islands. At each site aerial drones (flying at max 130 ft) will be used to map the coastal region. No more than 1 day will be spent at each location. Helicopters and small boats will be used as the primary means of transportation to and from each site. No more than a few hours will be spent at each site. 2. Flying aerial photography (helicopter based surveys) of Beaufort Sea coastline. The work would encompass continuous flying (just one pass) using a high resolution optical and thermal camera that is able to acquire geo-tagged photo at a rapid interval (every 1-2 seconds). Objective 2: To gain a better understanding of coastal permafrost and impacts of change; 1. Visit and download/maintain several instruments that are located throughout the coastal region. Several ocean moorings will be will be picked up and deployed throughout the TN MPA. For this work (in conjunction with DFO - Lisa Loseto) we will exclusively use ARI and local community members to deploy and recover the instruments. The community-based methodologies used in 2020 and 2021 for this will be used in 2022. This will require the use of 1-2 small boats to deploy the instruments. Instruments are housed on small mooring that either consists of a flat plate or a small tripod (> 90 cm high). Some of the moorings will be able to broadcast live data through a cable or radio telemetry beacon connected to the weather station located at East Whitefish as part of the TN MPA monitoring work. In addition to this, we would like to download, maintain or collect a number of land-based instruments. This varies from weather stations, time-lapse cameras, shallow temperatures stings, accelerometers, and carbon sensors. Most are strategically located at Tuktoyaktuk and the Pingo Canadian Landmark, with other instruments placed at sites are East WhiteFish, Drift Point, Crumbling Point, Kendal Island and Shingle Point. Each site could be visited very briefly by helicopter or boat and the instrument (or camera or weather station) will be downloaded and left in place. In 2023 and 2024 we would like to expand this instrument monitoring capacity to include key regions (picked by the community) in Darnley Bay, banks and Victoria Island. 2. Similar to 2021, the study of impacts (carbon flux, methane, radon, sedimentation, thermal reduction, subsistence) will be paired with all of the sites (mentioned above). The work uses small sampling instruments (push core, grab samples chisels) to sample the seabed and exposed cliff. In total less than 500g of material is required at each site. We hope to sample at 10-12 sites (see map) with priority given to PCL, Pelly and Shingle and Atkinson Point. Access to the sites will be by helicopter or boat. A small zodiac will be used to collect samples in the nearshore (within 500m of shore). Objective 3: To gain a better understanding of coastal dynamics with respect to unique ecosystems and communities. 1. Several visits to the eastern side of Tuktoyaktuk Harbour to help to gain information on baseline science directly related to the long term adaptation needs (or relocation) of the town due to climate change. We would require mobilization of several teams over several days throughout the summer months to this site. Drones will be used to acquire digital elevation models for flooding analysis. Small samples (500g) will be taken for ice content and soil properties throughout the area. We will install long term monitoring devices (shallow thermistors: 1.5 m depth) and air quality sensors in coordination with the Tuktoyaktuk Community Climate Resiliency program. Each thermistor hole will be cased with 2” PVC tubing to allow installation of a temperature cable. Temperature cables will consist of 4-5 thermistors on an electrical cable. A data logger will be installed to capture temperature readings several times per day at depth in the borehole. This work is part of the partnership with the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk. This is a multidisplinary project, portions of this work have been presented through on-site consultation and results reporting to all communities. Project participants consulted in-person with all 6 ISR communities in March 2023, presentations and engagement sessions were conducted with all HTCs, CC and a public meeting was held. Also, Parks Canada, IRC, ILA and IGC were consulted in-person in March 2023. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from: April 02 - September 18, 2024