NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Dehcho Region

Tags: permafrost

Objective(s): To elucidate the change in the atmospheric carbon balance of thawing permafrost regions post-disturbance.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No. 5889. The objective of the research project is to elucidate the change in the atmospheric carbon balance of thawing permafrost regions post-disturbance.The impact of disturbances such as fire, especially in conjunction with permafrost thaw, are still not well understood. By installing a new 15-m eddy covariance tower at Scotty Creek we will be able to monitor photosynthetic activity, respiration, energy exchange, and a host of environmental variables vital for modeling and understanding permafrost regions post-fire. With the existing data at the same site monitoring how these ecosystem functions change as permafrost thaws, we can now inform how fire alters these processes with thaw-induced land cover changes dominated by forest loss and associated wetland expansion. The method used to meet the objective is eddy covariance, a micrometeorological technique to quasi-continuously and non-intrusively measure trace gas net exchanges between the land surface and the atmosphere. The new 15-m eddy covariance tower will be build at the same location as the previous tower. Equipment for instrumenting the new tower is in-hand and comprises a Gill WindMaster Pro (Gill Instruments©) ultrasonic anemometer to measure 3-dimensional wind speeds, an LI-7500RS (LI-COR Biosciences) infrared gas analyzer to measure CO2 and water vapor concentrations, and an LI-7700 (LI-COR Biosciences) infrared gas analyzer to measure CH4 concentrations. These primary flux measurements will be measured at 10 Hz and recorded on a Smartflux3 data acquisition module (LI-COR Biosciences). Additionally, meteorological measurements will be collected at the tower site, including air temperature and humidity (Vaisala HMP 155), incident and reflected photosynthetically active radiation (PAR; LI-190), soil temperature and moisture (Campbell Scientific SoilVUE10), soil heat flux (Vaisala HFP01), and 4-component net radiation including incoming and outgoing short- and long-wave radiation (NR01, Huskeflux) all recorded on Campbell 1000x data loggers (Campbell Scientific). Meteorologic data will be collected as half-hourly values and combined with calculated half-hourly fluxes from the Smartflux3 using EddyPro V7.0.9 (LI-COR Biosciences). The research project is linked with the Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU)-Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) Partnership Agreement. The Partnership's dedicated Community Liaison, Mr. Bruce Hanna, has facilitated communication with various NWT stakeholders and communities. In addition, the research project is in collaboration with Permafrost Pathways based at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. Through this collaboration results from the research project will be directly communicated with the international climate science community and also will find their way to policy- and decision makers. In addition, the Li´i´dli?i? Ku´e´ First Nation is directly involved in the research project through a Future Skills Centre-funded training network, aiming to build local capacity for micrometeorological monitoring across the Northwest Territories. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from: May 09 - September 30, 2024