10Th Annual Northern Research Day
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Circumpolar Students’ Association 10th Annual Northern Research Day Monday, 19 April 2010 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 3-36 Tory Building Featuring the Documentary Film Arctic Cliffhangers Show Time: 12:30 Followed by a Keynote with Filmakers: Steve Smith and Julia Szucs 1 NORTHERN RESEARCH DAY – SCHEDULE OF SPEAKERS TIME AUTHORS/SPEAKERS TITLE 9:00 Justin F. Beckers, Christian Changes in Satellite Radar Backscatter and the Haas, Benjamin A. Lange, Seasonal Evolution of Snow and Sea Ice Properties on Thomas Busche Miquelon Lake, a Small Saline Lake in Alberta 9:15 Benjamin A. Lange, Christian Sea ice Thickness Measurements Between Canada and Haas, Justin Becker and Stefan the North Pole: Overview and Results from Three Hendricks Campaigns in 2009 (CASIMBO-09, Polar-5 & CATs) 9:30 Hannah Milne, Martin Sharp Recording the Sight and Sound of Iceberg Calving Events on the Belcher Glacier, Devon Island, Nunavut 9:45 Gabrielle Gascon, Martin Sensitivity of Ice-atmosphere Interactions Since the Sharp and Andrew Bush Last Glacial Maximum 10:00 Brad Danielson and Martin Seasonal and Inter-Annual Variations in Ice Flow of a Sharp High Arctic Tidewater Glacier 10:15 Xianmin Hu, Paul G. Myers Numerical Simulation of the Arctic Ocean Freshwater and Qiang Wang Outflow 10:30 Coffee 10:45 Qiang Wang, Paul G. Myers, Numerical Simulation of the Circulation and Sea-Ice Xianmin Hu and Abdrew B.G. in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago Bush 11:00 Porter, L.L. and Rolf D. Impacts of Atmospheric Nitrogen and Phosphorous Vinebrooke. Deposition on the Alpine Ponds of Banff National Park: Effects on the Benthic Communities 11:15 Stephen Mayor The Changing Nature: Human Impacts on Boreal Biodiversity 11:30 Louise Chavarie, Kimberly Diversity of Lake Trout, Salvelinus namaycush, in Howland, and W. (Bill) Tonn Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories: Occurrence of Four Shallow-Water Morphotypes 11:45 A Wynne, Janis Huntington, Helicobacter pylori infection in Aklavik, NWT: Karen J Goodman, R Munday, Describing Demographic Characteristics of S Van Zanten, Aklavik Health Participants in a Community Driven Project Committee, CANHelp Working Group 12:00 Félicité Belisimbi The Impact of Education on Inuit living Conditions. The Case of Nunavik. 12:15 Break 12:30 Lunch + Documentary Arctic Cliffhangers 13:30 KEYNOTE Filmmakers Steve Smith and Julia Szucs 14:15 Break 14:30 Workshop Facilitators: Marianne Douglas, Steve WORKSHOP: How to Interact with Smith, Julia Szucs, and Ken Northern Communities as a Researcher Caine 16:00 RATT Mixer 2 ABSTRACTS FOR ORAL PRESENTATIONS Changes in Satellite Radar Backscatter and the Seasonal Evolution of Snow and Sea Ice Properties on Miquelon Lake, a Small Saline Lake in Alberta Justin F. Beckers,1 Christian Haas,1 Benjamin A. Lange,1 and Thomas Busche2 1Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, 1-26 ESB, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E3, Canada 2 German Space Agency (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- undRaumfahrt; DLR e. V.) Microwaves and Radar Institute. Sea ice coverage in the arctic is changing more rapidly than expected. To better understand these changes, more information on ice and snow thickness is required. However, little is known about their spatial distribution and change. Improved snow thickness information is required for ice thermodynamic models, and ice thickness retrieval from satellite altimetry. In order to refine observations and modeling of the properties of snow on sea ice, and to support satellite radar algorithms for the retrieval of snow properties, we have performed a seasonal study of snow and ice properties on Miquelon Lake, a saline lake in Alberta, which serves as a sea ice analogue. In the winters of 2008/09 and 2009/10, measurements of snow and ice thickness and temperatures were performed at hourly intervals using an autonomous station. Additional snow and ice sampling was conducted every 2-3 weeks to gather data of snow density, stratigraphy, and the spatial variability of snow and ice thickness. Airborne measurements of ice thickness and freeboard were performed by means of electromagnetic sounding and laser altimetry to develop advanced algorithms for snow and ice thickness retrieval. Preliminary results comparing the development of snow and ice thickness and properties to changes in Ku, X, and C-band backscatter imagery from the QuikSCAT, TerraSAR-X and Envisat ASAR sensors will be presented. Sea Ice Thickness Measurements Between Canada and the North Pole: Overview and Results from Three Campaigns in 2009 (CASIMBO-09, Polar-5 & CATs) Benjamin A. Lange,1 Christian Haas,1 Justin Beckers1 and Stefan Hendricks2 1Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E3, Canada 2Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bussestrasse 24. D-27570 Bremerhaven, Germany Satellite observations demonstrate a decreasing summer Arctic sea ice extent over the past ~38 years, as well as a smaller perennial sea ice zone. This has implications for the global climate system as less solar energy is being reflected out of our atmosphere causing further warming of our planet. There is a large disagreement between the modeled and observed Arctic sea ice conditions which is in part due to the lack of sea ice mass balance observations for the Arctic. Here we present an overview and preliminary results of 3 campaigns conducted during the 2009 field season, all are part of a larger project: the Canadian Arctic Sea Ice Mass Balance Observatory (CASIMBO), headed by Dr. Christian Haas here at the University of Alberta, dedicated to maintaining sea ice mass balance observations between Canada and the North Pole. The Polar-5 campaign was conducted during April and was dedicated to measuring sea ice thickness in many regions of the Arctic using an electromagnetic (EM) induction thickness sounding device suspended from a DC-3 airplane. The CASIMBO-09 campaign was conducted in May based out of CFS Alert, Nunavut and the Canadian Arctic Through flow (CATs) campaign was conducted in August based from the CCGS Henry Larsen ice breaker. These 2 campaigns conducted sea ice thickness surveys using the EM device suspended below a helicopter (HEM). The CASIMBO-09 also included ground based surveys of snow and ice properties as well as the deployment of 3 drift buoys as part of the International Arctic Buoy Program (IABP). 3 Recording the Sight and Sound of Iceberg Calving Events on the Belcher Glacier, Devon Island, Nunavut Hannah Milne and Martin Sharp Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E3, Canada Continuous observations of the Belcher Glacier terminus have provided new evidence of the timing, relative magnitude and environmental conditions associated with iceberg calving events on this grounded High Arctic tidewater glacier. The purpose was to test the capability of audio signals and time lapse photography to identify major calving events and spatial variations in glacier flow speed which may precede or lag calving. The precise timing and length of the events was determined from audio data recorded 24 June to 24 July 2009 and validated using time lapse imagery. The audio system was installed on the glacier ~400m from the ice front; the time lapse camera was placed on the valley wall above the ice front. The imagery was also analyzed using optical flow and edge detection techniques to investigation the interactions between calving and glacier motion, particularly spatial variations in flow. The results of this analysis will be presented and the success of this new analysis method will be discussed. Sensitivity of Ice-Atmosphere Interactions Since the Last Glacial Maximum Gabrielle Gascon, Martin Sharp, and Andrew Bush Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E3, Canada The understanding of ice sheet-climate interactions is critical to the simulation of past and future climates using General Circulation Models (GCM). Ice sheet evolution has previously been modeled using prescribed temperature and precipitation fields derived from proxy data, field observations, or GCM experiments. This approach ignores important climate feedbacks involving the changes in ice sheet topography and surface albedo that occur as ice sheets grow and decay. Here, we use a relatively new two-way coupling scheme between climate and ice sheet models that allow surface boundary conditions to be exchanged between these models during simulations and thus simulates ice-atmosphere interactions. This study explores the sensitivity of the deglaciation of the last glacial maximum (LGM, ~20 kyr BP) Laurentide Ice Sheet to the coupling interval between the NCAR Community Atmospheric Model (CAM) and a three-dimensional thermo-mechanically coupled ice sheet model. The effects on the ice sheet deglaciation timescale under constant atmospheric forcing of ice-atmosphere interactions simulated with no coupling, and 500- and 1000-year coupling intervals are investigated. Greenhouse gas concentrations (CO2, CH4, NO2) were fixed to their LGM minimum values, while orbital parameters were set to 10 kyr BP values. Sensitivity experiments lead to the determination of deglaciation timescales associated to each coupling interval. Insights are used to identify and quantify the role of ice- atmosphere feedbacks and their effects on the deglaciation of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. 4 Seasonal and Inter-Annual Variations in Ice Flow of a High Arctic Tidewater Glacier Brad Danielson and Martin Sharp Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E3, Canada The Belcher Glacier is a tidewater glacier that drains the North East quadrant of the Devon Island Ice Cap in Nunavut, Canada. The ~45km long glacier terminates in approximately 300m of water, and the ice cliff rises 20-40m above the water surface. Continuously recording GPS stations have been installed on the ice to measure displacement at several points along the glacier. Continuous observations were collected from 3 stations during the spring and summer of 2008, and from 4 stations during a similar period in 2009.