Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Climate change and permafrost impacts on high arctic watershed fluxes: Cape Bounty, Melville Island experimental watershed observatory  (Cape Bounty High Arctic Watershed Observatory)

Outline
The proposed research builds on a multi-year hydrological research observatory located in the Canadian High Arctic, and draws together multidisciplinary researchers to link hydroclimatology, biogeochemistry, soil processes and integrated sediment, nutrient and carbon flux monitoring in a monitoring and experimental framework. This work will be based at the extant experimental watersheds at Cape Bounty, Melville Island, Nunavut, to document the role of changes to melt season temperature, initial snow water equivalence (SWE), and permafrost stability over watershed fluxes. The project will further integrate watershed process-level monitoring with modelling and highly detailed remote sensing data to link observed processes to larger scale runoff and material fluxes from land to ocean and with productivity of terrestrial vegetation. Finally, a critical long term perspective of the processes will be developed through the use of sedimentary records from lakes that will provide reconstructed fluxes for the past 500+ years with annual resolution. This unique initiative will create an integrated watershed research framework at an existing field location that will become a key site for monitoring environmental change beyond the proposed research period. Through expanded Canadian and new international networks developed during the proposed work, Cape Bounty will be a critical observatory that will contribute to efforts to understand vital interactions between climate change, watershed hydrology and fluxes, and soil and vegetation processes. Through active engagement and dissemination of results to community leaders and residents, along with development of new teaching tools to engage young students, we hope to effectively communicate our advancements to residents and other stakeholders.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Research linking the climate controls over integrated High Arctic watershed processes is lacking, yet understanding the coupling of these systems and their impact on downstream freshwater and marine ecosystems are of considerable interest. This research is innovative in that it will use small-scale catchment experiments to directly examine the influence of snow conditions, slope stability, and vegetation types on the fluxes from terrestrial catchments in the High Arctic. This research initiative will make a significant advances to our understanding of the likely biogeochemical response of arctic environments to climate change, will build links to northern residents, and develop important new national and international scientific collaborations.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
This project will be linked with the Project #197 (The hydrological cycle of the Canadian Polar Regions: processes, parameterization, prediction and change), the Arctic Circum-Polar Coastal Observatory Network (ACCO Net #90) and the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX #188). Close linkages will be made to the SEDIFLUX (EOI #816) and DYNAFLUX (EOI #402) programs, providing a critical link to European research initiatives.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Cape Bounty, Melville Island, Nunavut, Canada 74º54’ N, 109º36’ W

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 05/06 – 08/09            
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Fieldwork will require fixed wing (Twin Otter) and helicopter support. Sharing may be possible in some cases.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The project will significantly expand the existing watershed observatory at the site (beginning in 2003) and we anticipate that meteorological and hydrological monitoring infrastructure will remain after IPY.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Own national polar operator

We will attempt to secure support from the Canadian Polar Continental Shelf Project (PCSP), operated by Natural Resources Canada.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
No

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
No

This project will significantly expand the watershed research activities at the site to integrate: soil biogeochemistry, hydrochemistry, advanced NMR characterization of organic materials, vegetation studies and gas fluxes. Experimental studies utilizing snow fences are a key new element of the proposed work.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project will be managed by the lead investigator. We will work closely to coordinate field and laboratory plans through an annual workshop and other meetings. Community outreach and educational activities will be managed by the lead investigator.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
We plan to carry out frequent meetings with community leaders and residents to discuss the research and share knowledge. We will also bring young residents to our field site and train them in our field collection and research approaches. In collaboration with certified educators, we will develop a program to create age-appropriate teaching units for students in the school to convey our work into the school curriculum.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
We will generate considerable hydrometric and meteorological data that we will contribute to Canadian government archives. We will closely work with Canadian and international groups to archive and manage data related to watershed work and fluxes to meet IPY management standards and to make data accessible in the future. All data management will be coordinated by the lead investigator.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
IPY funding will be sought through Canadian sources including recently announced national research calls. Additional support will be sought through Canadian ArcticNet and NSERC sources.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
None

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Scott Lamoureux
Queen’s University
Department of Geography
Kingston, Ontario
K7L 3N6
Canada

Tel: 1-613-533-6033
Mobile: no
Fax: 1-613-533-6122
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation