Overview
Research in the Baker Creek watershed (mainly by University of Saskatchewan and Carleton University) began in 2004, primarily in support of the Mackenzie GEWEX Study (MAGS II). At its outlet, located ~7 km north of Yellowknife, NWT, the basin drains ~155 km² of the Great Slave Lake watershed. The drainage comprises a series of large lakes, connected by short streams with highly variable flow regimes.
The basin is mainly exposed bedrock (40%), water bodies (23%), with coniferous forest hill slopes and deciduous forest (21%), peatlands and wetlands (16%). The basin overlies discontinuous permafrost. Overburden varies from less than 1 m to over 10 m: peat thickness ranges from a thin layer to ~1.2 m. The region’s climate is subarctic, with short, cool summers and long, cold winters. Mean annual precipitation is 289 mm, with ~41% as snowfall.
The basin hosts a range of instruments to observe hydrometric, meteorological and groundwater conditions, and snow surveys are conducted annually.
Provider contact information
Dr. Chris Spence
Research Scientist
National Hydrology Research Centre, Environment & Climate Change Canada
Saskatoon, SK
chris.spence@canada.ca 306 975 6907
Licensing
Information not provided – likely to be unrestricted (in general)
Variable name and units
Snow surveys: snow depth, density and water equivalent
Groundwater: soil moisture + temperature
Soil moisture: volumetric soil moisture at surface, 25 cm and 40 cm depth
Meteorological: Air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, four-component net radiation, turbulent fluxes, rainfall.
Hydrometric: water level and discharge
Water chemistry (ion suite, physicals, nutrients and dissolved metals), isotope data (d18O and d2H)
Soil temperature: temperatures at surface 25 cm and 40 cm depth
LiDAR-derived 1m DEM
10 m land cover
Spatial coverage and resolution
Basin drainage area 155 km²: site focused around 62.58333°N, 114.43333°W
Snow surveys:
Eight 25 point snow courses over five land cover types conducted each spring in the first week of April.
Meteorological:
Four stations on exposed bedrock, two over lakes, one in a wetland. Additional tipping buckets at some gauging sites. MSC Yellowknife A station is 5 km from the basin.
Hydrometric:
07SB013 Baker Creek at Outlet of Lower Martin Lake (WSC) 62.5133°N, 114.4097°W
Baker Creek at outlet of Landing Lake 62.5499°N, 114.4005°W
Baker Creek at Vital Narrows 62.5792°N, 114.4159°W
Baker Creek above Vital Lake 62.5946°N, 114.4436°W
Moss Creek at the outlet of Lake 690 62.6190°N, 114.4545°W
Baker Creek at outlet of Duckfish Lake 62.6476°N, 114.4477°W
Water chemistry (ion suite, physicals, nutrients and dissolved metals), isotope data (d18O and d2H) measured at five hydrometric gauges, six wells. Wells are in organic and brunisol soils or either clayey or sandy texture.
Soil moisture, temperature:
Volumetric soil moisture at surface, 25 cm and 40 cm depth
Six sites associated with wells, four in organic soil columns, two in brunisol soil columns.
Temperature also at one deep (>10 m) thermistor string and one in exposed bedrock to 50 cm depth
Groundwater:
Ten wells at mean maximum active layer depth: six associated with soil moisture and temperature, four in organic soil columns, two in brunisol soil columns.
Temporal coverage and resolution
(note: data may now be available to more recent dates)
Snow surveys 2004-2013 Annually (early April)
Meteorological: 2005-2013 (+ later?), 30 min
Hydrometric:
07SB013 Baker Creek at Outlet of Lower Martin Lake (WSC) 1983-2019 (No level pre-2002) 30 min
Baker Creek at outlet of Landing Lake 2003-2016 (seasonal) 30 min
Baker Creek at Vital Narrows 2005-2016 (seasonal) 30 min
Baker Creek above Vital Lake 2008-2016 (seasonal) 30 min
Moss Creek at the outlet of Lake 690 2008-2016 (seasonal) 30 min
Baker Creek at outlet of Duckfish Lake 2009-2016 (seasonal) 30 min
Spence & Hedstrom, 2018
Water chemistry 2010-2013 monthly
Isotope data 1995-2013 monthly
Soil moisture 2005-2013 30 min
Soil temperature 2005-2013 30 min
Groundwater 2007-2013 Semi-annually
Information about related datasets
n/a
Limitations and strengths for application
Local spatial focus, geared primarily towards hydrological research (landscape – snow – vegetation – runoff dynamics)
References
Spence C. and Hedstrom N. (2018) Hydrometeorological data from Baker Creek Research Watershed, Northwest Territories, Canada. Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 1753-1767 https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-1753-2018
Spence C. and Hedstrom N. (2018) Baker Creek Research Catchment Hydrometeorological and Hydrological Data [Dataset]. Federated Research Data Repository. https://doi.org/10.20383/101.026
Site metadata from Global Water Futures network
https://gwfnet.net/MetadataEditor/Index/T-2021-02-27-v1pkgcEko90q7enkMmhv1Jog
Older metadata
http://giws.usask.ca/meta/Metadata_BakerCreek.html
Overview from Changing Cold Regions Network
https://ccrnetwork.ca/science-programme/wecc-observatories/baker-creek.php
Details associated with use for MESH community hydrology / land surface model
https://wiki.usask.ca/display/MESH/Baker+Creek
Link to download data (and format)
See ref to published dataset above. Data may be available from Global Water Futures data portal (requires login), or on request from the originator. WSC / MSC data also available from respective archives.