Overview
Developed as a research basin by Wilfred Laurier University since 1999. In the lower Liard River drainage: Scotty Creek flows into the Liard R. ~50 km south of Fort Simpson (where the Liard joins the Mackenzie).
Basin comprises broad permafrost wetlands: open fen, muskeg with islands of sparse woodland. Two permanent meteorological stations, and near Fort Simpson MSC weather station. Landscape comprises both discontinuous permafrost and peatland complexes, typical of 'continental high boreal' wetland region. Most of the basin comprises ~3 - 4 m of peat over thick clays and silts. Typical of S limits of permafrost, where peat insulates and preserves patches of permafrost in isolated raised plateaus.
Regional climate is dry continental with short, dry summers and long, cold winters: mean annual air temperature ~-3.2 °C, total annual precipitation ~369 mm (46% of which falls as snow).
Research focuses mainly on vegetation and permafrost dynamics, and effects on hydrological cycling.
Provider contact information
Dr. Bill Quinton
Professor, Geography and Environmental Studies; Director, Cold Regions Research Centre
Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, ON
wquinton@wlu.ca 519-884-0710 ext. 3281
Licensing
Information not provided – likely to be unrestricted (in general)
Variable name and units
Snow Surveys: depth, density, SWE
Meteorological: air temperature, relative humidity, IR ground surface temperature, wind speed, wind direction, net radiation, incoming and outgoing shortwave and longwave radiation, snow depth, ground heat flux, snow temperature, soil temperature (0-100 cm), precipitation
Volumetric soil moisture, shallow groundwater (active layer) measurements in different land cover types: frost table surveys (some peat plateaus)
Hydrometric: Water level, discharge, water temperature
High-resolution LiDAR
Spatial coverage and resolution
Basin drainage area 152 km²: site focused around 61.30000°N, 121.30000°W
Three permanent weather stations: Bog Tower, Plateau Tower, Dense Tower (locations not provided)
Temporal coverage and resolution
Annual (usually) snow survey, frost table survey (some peat plateaus), soil moisture survey
Earliest snow surveys from 1995
Volumetric soil moisture: GB3 2000-2001, GB PL 2002-2012 30 min
Meteorological:
First stations established in 2001
Bog Tower, Plateau Tower 2004-17 30 min
Dense Tower 2007-17 30 min
Hydrometric (WSC) from 1993 15 min stage
Information about related datasets
n/a
Limitations and strengths for application
Local spatial focus, geared primarily towards hydrological research (landscape – snow – vegetation – permafrost – runoff dynamics)
References
Haynes, K.M., R.F. Connon, and W.L. Quinton, 2018: Hydrometeorological measurements in peatland-dominated, discontinuous permafrost at Scotty Creek, Northwest Territories, Canada [Dataset]. Scholars Portal Dataverse. https://doi.org/10.5683/SP/OQDRJG
Quinton, W.L., R.F. Connon, E.G.,Devoie, M. Hayashi, and T. Veness, 2018: Micrometeorological and freeze-thaw data at Scotty Creek, NT 2001-2017 [Canada] [Dataset]. Scholars Portal Dataverse. https://doi.org/10.5683/SP/EMDB8K
Site metadata from Global Water Futures network
https://gwfnet.net/Metadata/Record/T-2020-05-15-o1lc5QwDehk28bmpnV1cY5Q
Older metadata
http://giws.usask.ca/meta/Metadata_ScottyCreek.html
Overview from Changing Cold Regions Network
https://ccrnetwork.ca/science-programme/wecc-observatories/scotty-creek.php
Research basin website
http://www.scottycreek.com/
Link to download data (and format)
Two datasets published in Dataverse (see 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.