The Northwest Territories Thermokarst Mapping Collective: A northern-driven mapping collaborative toward understanding the effects of permafrost thaw
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: This paper documents the first comprehensive inventory of thermokarst and thaw-sensitive terrain indicators for a 2 million km2 region of northwestern Canada. This is accomplished through the Thermokarst Mapping Collective (TMC), a research collaborative to systematically inventory indicators of permafrost thaw sensitivity by mapping and aerial assessments across the Northwest Territories (NT), Canada. The increase in NT-based permafrost capacity has fostered science leadership and collaboration with government, academic, and community researchers to enable project implementation. Ongoing communications and outreach have informed study design and strengthened Indigenous and stakeholder relationships. Documentation of theme-based methods supported mapper training, and flexible data infrastructure facilitated progress by Canada-wide researchers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The TMC inventory of thermokarst and thaw-sensitive landforms agree well with fine-scale empirical mapping (69% to 84% accuracy) and aerial inventory (74% to 96% accuracy) datasets. National- and circumpolar-scale modelling of sensitive permafrost terrain contrasts significantly with TMC outputs, highlighting their limitations and the value of empirically-based mapping approaches. We demonstrate that the multi-parameter TMC outputs support a holistic understanding and refined depictions of permafrost terrain sensitivity, provide novel opportunities for syntheses, and inform future modelling approaches, which are urgently required to comprehend better what permafrost thaw means for Canada’s North.
Source: Arctic Science
DOI: 10.1139/as-2023-0009
Authors: S.V. Kokelj, Tristan Gingras-Hill, Seamus V Daly, Peter Morse, Stephen Wolfe, Ashley C.A. Rudy, Jurjen van der Sluijs, Niels Weiss, Brendan O'Neill, Jennifer Baltzer, Trevor C Lantz, Carolyn Gibson, Dieter Cazon, Robert H. Fraser, Duane G Froese, Garfield Giff, Charles Klengenberg, Scott F. Lamoureux, William Quinton, Merritt R Turetsky, Alexandre Chiasson, Celtie Ferguson, Mike Newton, Mike Pope, Jason A Paul, Alice Wilson, Joseph Young
Institutions: Wilfrid Laurier University, Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, University of Victoria, University of Guelph, University of Alberta, Aurora Research Institute, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Queen's University, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,575
OpenAlex ID: W4384498281