PERM12 Final Report

Prepared by William Hurst (Technician) and Jolie Gareis (Manager)

Western Arctic Research Centre, Aurora Research Institute, Reporting period: 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 Final report for Cumulative Impacts Monitoring Program (CIMP) project “Monitoring Permafrost for Cumulative Impact Assessment in the Settlement Region”

Figure 1. Donald Ross, an ARI technician, downloading thermistor data at NRC Lake (photo by William Hurst).

The Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program (NWT CIMP), administered by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, provided funding in 2011-12 for a permafrost monitoring project in the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Coastal regions. This project is collaboratively led by Jolie Gareis (Western Arctic Research Centre, Aurora Research

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Institute, Aurora College) and Dr. Christopher Burn (Carleton University). This project, called PERM12 by Aurora Research Institute (ARI) staff, included field work in the , and Illisarvik regions.

Inuvik Region

Staff members from ARI collected data monthly from two sites in the (Figure 2). One site is located on the approximately 20 km southeast of Inuvik (68.35N, 133.68W), and is accessible by truck. The other site is in the central-eastern Mackenzie Delta near NRC Lake (68.31N, 133.84W), and is accessible by snowmobile in the winter and boat in the summer. Unlike the Dempster Highway site, which can be accessed year-round, the Delta site is inaccessible during the fall (when the ice is not thick enough to support the weight of a snowmobile) and the spring (when breakup and moving ice in Delta channels prevent navigation by boat). Both sites have thermistor cables buried in the ground that measure ground temperature to several metres depth. During months when the top soil layers are unfrozen, a frost probe was used to measure the active layer depth at three random locations near the thermistor cables. When the active layer was frozen, snow depth measurements were taken from three random locations near the cables.

Figure 2. Location of the field sites where thermistor cables are buried in the Inuvik Region. Thermistor readings were collected monthly during this project (image courtesy of Google Earth).

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During the first month of data collection at the Inuvik region sites, Dr. Burn accompanied Donald Ross (ARI technician) to demonstrate the data collection process. Sites visits occurred monthly, with the exception of November 2011 when the ice in Delta lakes and channels was not yet thick enough for safe travel to the NRC Lake site. Most months, the ARI technicians (Donald Ross and William Hurst) collected data in the Inuvik region, although other ARI staff assisted as necessary. In October 2011, the field research team observed bear tracks near the NRC Lake permafrost monitoring site in the Mackenzie Delta.

Data gathered at both sites during 2011-12 shows that ground temperatures are more stable throughout the year at greater thermistor depths (Figures 3, 4). Closer to the surface of the ground, temperatures fluctuate more. During the early fall of 2011, temperatures closest to the ground surface rose above 0°C while in the winter, temperatures near the ground surface decreased to well below 0°C due to their proximity to very cold air masses in the region. Please note that temperatures were measured at a greater number of permafrost depths at each site than are shown in the graphs; some depths were eliminated in order to make the graphs less cluttered and easier to read. A full data set can be found in the appendix.

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Ground Temperature ( Temperature Ground 1 m -8.00 2 m -10.00 4 m

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Figure 3. Ground temperature (° Celsius) at the Inuvik airport permafrost monitoring site from fall 2011 into 2012.

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GroundTemperature ( 1.8 m -10.00 5.8 m -12.00 7.8 m

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Figure 4. Ground temperature (° Celsius) at NRC Lake, located in the Mackenzie Delta just to the east of the town of Inuvik, from fall 2011 into 2012.

Paulatuk Region

Permafrost monitoring for this project began in the Paulatuk region in 2003. Since that time, data has been periodically collected by the Paulatuk office. In the last three years, thermistor cables extending to 30 m depth have been installed in the region as part of an International Polar Year project. Data collected in March 2012 will be added to the long-term data record at this site, and used to assess changes in permafrost temperature over time.

From 21-23 March 2012, William Hurst (ARI technician) traveled to Paulatuk to do field work with the assistance of Jody Illasiak, a local resident who acted as William’s field assistant. The field team traveled by snowmobile to all of the monitoring and sample sites. The objectives of this project in the Paulatuk region were twofold; first, to download data from several thermistor cables near the hamlet, and second, to do a snow survey following a transect from the shoreline onto the sea ice.

Thermistor data was read and recorded at three sites; one behind the Paulatuk Visitors Centre Hotel and the other two about 3 km south of Paulatuk (Figure 5). Pictures of the thermistor cables, and the pipes they are housed in, were taken (Figure 6) so that their condition could be monitored and plans could be made to make repairs during the summer of 2012 if necessary; however, all cables and pipes were in good condition.

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Figure 5. Map of the Paulatuk and regions. Thermistor cable locations are indicated by yellow markers, while the snow depth and sampling survey transect into Darnley Bay is indicated by the dots connected by the red track. A total of 25 stations were sampled for this survey, but only a subset of sample sites is shown on the map (image courtesy of Google Earth).

Figure 6. Pictures of the pipe housing (left) and thermistor cables (right) at a site in Paulatuk. These pictures were taken to assess the condition of the permafrost monitoring equipment (photos by William Hurst).

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The snow survey was done later the same day. The survey started at the coastline of Darnley Bay 5 km west of Paulatuk, with sites sampled every 200 m as the field team moved due north (Figure 5). A snow depth measurement and snow sample were taken at each site, for a total of 25 sites.

Snow depth was variable as distance from the shoreline increased (Figure 7). There were bands of deeper snow at some distances, while at others the snow cover was very thin. The snow at some of the sample sites was very icy and densely packed, making snow sampling difficult. The snow samples were dug using a shovel and collected in large plastic bags (Figure 8). These samples were later melted, the water decanted off the top and then the dirt and sand that had been frozen into the snow sample was allowed to dry before being collected into a small sample bag. The purpose of taking these samples was to determine how much sand blows off the hillsides and accumulates on, and in, the snow cover on the bay during the winter. This was the first time snow samples were collected near Paulatuk for this purpose. Because these samples were collected at the end of March, we are still processing them and are unable to report any further data at this time.

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Figure 7. Snow depth (cm) every 200 m along a 4800 m transect northwards into Darnley Bay, 5 km west of the Hamlet of Paulatuk.

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Figure 8. During the snow survey, the field team dug a hole in the snow using a shovel (left) and collected the snow sample in a plastic bag. These samples were brought back to town by snowmobile for post-processing to extract the sand and dirt in the snow (photos by William Hurst).

Illisarvik Region

All 2012 field work in the Illisarvik region (69.50N, 134.53W; Figure 9) occurred too recently to be included in this report, and therefore, we are unable to report on Illisarvik field activities and data at this time. More information, results and a complete data set will be submitted to the CIMP office by mid-May 2012.

Figure 9. Location of the Illisarvik field site, near the coastline of the Mackenzie Delta, NT (image courtesy of Google Earth).

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APPENDIX

Below are full data sets gathered during the 2011-12 CIMP program. Complete data sets for sites in the Inuvik Region (dating back to 2004), Paulatuk Region (dating back to 2003) and Illisarvik (dating back to XXXX) are contained in a Microsoft Excel file that was submitted to CIMP along with this report.

Inuvik Region – Inuvik airport site

ground temperature (°C) snow depth date 0.5 m 1 m 1.5 m 2 m 3 m 4 m 5 m cm 26/09/2011 0.53 -0.30 -0.43 -0.61 -0.87 -1.07 -1.15 0 20/10/2011 -0.08 -0.29 -0.40 -0.57 -0.83 -1.00 -1.12 58.7 08/12/2011 -0.53 -0.60 -0.37 -0.52 -0.77 -0.94 -1.08 23.2 27/01/2012 -2.50 -1.54 -0.58 -0.52 -0.71 -0.88 -1.03 14.7 01/03/2012 -6.84 -5.53 -3.25 -2.40 -1.17 -0.90 -1.01 26.7 27/03/2012 -8.86 -7.80 -5.54 -4.41 -2.27 -1.43 -1.09 42.0

Inuvik Region – NRC Lake site

ground temperature (°C) snow depth date 0.8 1.8 3.8 5.8 7.8 9.8 11.8 13.8 14.8 m m m m m m m m m cm 23/09/2011 0.74 -1.00 -2.21 -2.77 -2.97 -3.04 -2.92 -2.89 -2.73 0 08/12/2011 -0.96 -0.80 -1.73 -2.30 -2.49 -2.65 -2.72 -2.77 -2.65 14.33 27/01/2012 -6.04 -3.21 -1.88 -2.13 -2.49 -2.65 -2.72 -2.77 -2.65 37.33 01/03/2012 -7.48 -4.87 -2.84 -2.36 -2.49 -2.65 -2.72 -2.77 -2.65 41.00 27/03/2012 -9.53 -6.35 -3.52 -2.69 -2.49 -2.65 -2.72 -2.77 -2.65 20.50

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Paulatuk Region – snow survey data

GPS coordinates snow depth distance (m) N (deg min) W (deg min) (cm) 0 69°19.926 124°11.331 18 200 69°20.035 124°11.425 5 400 69°20.143 124°11.533 9 600 69°20.246 124°11.637 12 800 69°20.349 124°11.736 46 1000 69°20.453 124°11.839 29 1200 69°20.549 124°11.972 6 1400 69°20.660 124°11.994 23 1600 69°20.723 124°12.241 9 1800 69°20.825 124°12.355 12 2000 69°20.932 124°12.476 30 2200 69°21.034 124°12.566 28 2400 69°21.140 124°12.671 7 2600 69°21.238 124°12.766 13 2800 69°21.340 124°12.833 24 3000 69°21.441 124°12.885 27 3200 69°21.536 124°12.919 24 3400 69°21.639 124°12.936 23 3600 69°21.748 124°12.947 22 3800 69°21.851 124°12.947 12 4000 69°21.955 124°12.967 36 4200 69°22.063 124°12.967 15 4400 69°22.169 124°12.967 22 4600 69°22.271 124°12.967 14 4800 69°22.378 124°12.985 18

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