annex 7.5.5
7.5.5 Trail Valley Creek Research Site, NWT

Overview
This site has been developed by Dr. Phil Marsh (Professor and Canada Research Chair in Cold Regions Water Sciences, Wilfred Laurier University) since 1992, ~55 km NNE of Inuvik, E of Mackenzie River Delta. Basin area ~58 km², with flow generally NW. Undulating terrain, some incised valleys: ~50 to 180m ASL: mean slope ~3°. In continuous permafrost zone: max thickness ~350 - 375 m observed active layer depths ~0.3 - 0.8 m. Soils are organic cryosols with upper peat layer ~0.2 - 0.5 m thick, underlain by mineral (silty clay) soil.

At N edge of boreal forest, in the tundra ecotone: primarily sparse / shrub tundra, tundra ponds. Dominant upland open tundra cover comprises grasses, lichens, mosses: hill slopes, valley bottoms are shrub tundra, ~0.5 - 3m high alder, birch, willow, with sparse pockets of black spruce forest.

Regional climate characterized by short summers and long cold winters, with snow cover for eight months annually. Most annual precipitation (66% at Inuvik) is snow, which melts over a relatively short time during spring.

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
Snow surveys: snow depth (acoustic sensor SR50), soil temperature, soil water content (TDR), soil heat flux, barometric pressure

Meteorological: three permanent weather stations: precipitation, air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, incoming + outgoing SW, incoming + outgoing LW

Hydrometric: two gauges, +WSC gauge 10ND002: hourly water level and streamflow

Spatial coverage and resolution
Focused on 68.742915°N, 133.499625°W: ~55 km NNE of Inuvik, just east of Mackenzie River Delta. Basin area ~58 km².

Three permanent weather stations:
TMM (level open tundra) 68.74633°N, 133.50183°W (UTM 8W 560605 7626818) ~85m ASL
TUP (level open tundra) 68.69367°N, 133.69733°W (UTM 8W 552817 7620762) ~160m ASL
TTS (higher alder, willow shrubs) 68.67050°N, 133.70050°W (UTM 8W 552746 7618179) ~145m ASL

Temporal coverage and resolution
Snow surveys: 1991-2013 annual
Meteorological: 1991-2013 30 min
Hydrometric: 1977-2013 hourly

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
Site metadata from Global Water Futures network
https://gwfnet.net/Metadata/Record/T-2020-05-15-X1lTNlDtLSUapI5Y1o0kqxg

Older metadata
http://giws.usask.ca/meta/Metadata_TrailValleyCreek.html

Overview from Changing Cold Regions Network
https://ccrnetwork.ca/science-programme/wecc-observatories/trail-valley.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.