Overview
The Haikpak Creek Basin, located a few km N of Inuvik Airport, covers ~17 km² of northern boreal forest within the continuous permafrost zone. The climate comprises short summers and long, cold winters, with snow lying for ~eight months annually. Mean annual air temperature is ~-10°C, and mean annual precipitation is ~266 mm (66% as snow).
This site has been developed by as a research basin since the early 1990s, with a meteorological station installed in 1992 (Environment Canada - National Water Research Insitute) and a gauge in 1994 (Water Survey of Canada). A single 15 m meteorological tower is installed in a forested location: there is also a Meteorological Service of Canada upper air station, and another MSC station at Inuvik Airport. Research focuses on hydrology-related dynamics involving snow, vegetation, energy balance, active layer depth, thermokarst, soil water storage, and runoff.
Provider contact information
Dr. Phil Marsh
Professor and Canada Research Chair in Cold Regions Water Sciences
Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, ON
philip.marsh@outlook.com 226-868-1941
Licensing
Information not provided – likely to be unrestricted (in general)
Variable name and units
Meteorological: precipitation, air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, incoming + outgoing SW and LW radiation.
Hydrometric: water level, discharge at WSC station 10LC017
Snow surveys: snow depth (SR50 sensor), soil temperature, soil water content (TDR), soil heat flux, barometric pressure.
Spatial coverage and resolution
Focused on 68.33333°N, 133.50000°W: located a few km N of Inuvik Airport. Basin area ~17 km².
Temporal coverage and resolution
Snow surveys: 1991-2013 annual, mid to late April (some years missed)
Snow nipher (manual) data available for 1991-2001
Meteorological: 1991-2013 30 min
Hydrometric: 1996-2013 hourly
Information about related datasets
n/a
Limitations and strengths for application
Local spatial focus, geared primarily towards hydrological research (snow – vegetation – thermokarst –runoff dynamics)
References
Site metadata from Global Water Futures network
https://gwfnet.net/Metadata/Record/T-2020-05-15-d110wOsPs1U65GKhQhc1PsA
Older metadata
http://giws.usask.ca/meta/Metadata_HavikpakCreek.html
Overview from Changing Cold Regions Network
https://ccrnetwork.ca/science-programme/wecc-observatories/havikpak-creek.php
Link to download data (and format)
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.