Tristan MacLean, Author at PermafrostNet

Seminar – 29 May – Performance of Drilling Waste Sumps, Western Arctic Canada.

Rae Landriau will be presenting Performance of Drilling Waste Sumps, Western Arctic Canada.

Date: 29 May 2024
Time: 13:00-14:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

Petroleum resource exploration and development has occurred in the Northwest Territories since the 1920s. Freezing-point depressants, mainly potassium chloride, were added to drilling fluids to facilitate drilling into permafrost. Disposal of these fluids was typically in large man-made pits (sumps). Sumps were excavated in permafrost, with the intention that frozen ground would contain the fluids indefinitely. Climatic warming in northwest Canada has raised the temperature of near-surface permafrost, increasing the potential for failure of sumps in the region. Using electro-magnetic surveys, ground conductivity on and off sumps can be collected and analyzed to detect the presence of these fluids and determine if they have migrated.

By Tristan MacLean, 1 monthMarch 26, 2024 ago

Seminar – 22 May – Precise Change Detection with Airborne Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) & Optical Photogrammetry Data and its application to Active Permafrost Regions.

Usman Iqbal Ahmed will be presenting Precise Change Detection with Airborne Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) & Optical Photogrammetry Data and its application to Active Permafrost Regions.

Date: 22 May 2024
Time: 13:00-14:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

Permafrost thaw can cause several problems; the ground becomes unstable and can cause damage to infrastructure such as roads, buildings, and pipelines. It can also cause erosion and changes in the landscape, which can have ecological and social impacts and disruption of indigenous ways of life. Monitoring these changes is a key factor in reducing the impact of such disasters as well as timely reaction/adaptation to such changes. I am exploring the option of developing a change detection method using Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Interferometry and Optical Photogrammetry data for precise change detection. I will present the results of our controlled experiment with simulated permafrost related changes to showcase the capability of our method in active permafrost thaw environments.

By Tristan MacLean, 1 monthMarch 25, 2024 ago

Seminar – 15 May – Ice-Wedge Volume, Distribution, and Development in the Barrens of the Hudson Bay Lowlands, Northern Manitoba.

Tabatha Rahman will be presenting Ice-Wedge Volume, Distribution, and Development in the Barrens of the Hudson Bay Lowlands, Northern Manitoba.

Date: 15 May 2024
Time: 13:00-14:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

Extensive ice-wedge polygon networks are found in the ‘Barrens’ of northern Manitoba, a 50,000 km² zone of continuous permafrost tundra that emerged from the Tyrrell Sea less than 5,500 years ago. Tabatha will present empirical results of ice-wedge volume and tri-dimensional distribution, and will focus on the environmental conditions associated with the growth and degradation of ice wedges in this uplifted permafrost peatland. Knowledge of wedge-ice morphology and development is essential for the prediction and mitigation of risks associated with anticipated permafrost thaw in the Barrens.

By Tristan MacLean, 1 monthMarch 22, 2024 ago

Recording and AI summary of the 2023 Canadian Science Policy Conference

A Vision for Permafrost Knowledge in Canada: From Strategy to Action

Both Permafrost Pathways and NSERC PermafrostNet organized separate panel sessions at the Canadian Science Policy Centre’s (CSPC) 2022 Conference. This led to a collaboration to organize a single panel for the 2023 CSPC conference to advance the discussions started in 2022, entitled: A Vision for Permafrost Knowledge in Canada: From Strategy to Action, held on Monday November 13. The panelists included: John Holdren (Arctic Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School); Marc D’Iorio (ADM Science, ECCC); Sara Brown (NWT Association of Communities); and Stephan Gruber (NSERC PermafrostNet), with the Board of Directors Chair Janet King moderating (image below).

To enable more in-depth discussions and strategizing, Jennifer Spence (Carleton University; Arctic Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School) and Janet King organized a workshop that followed the panel titled: Advancing Canada’s role as a leader in permafrost knowledge and policy. The workshop featured representatives of ITK, NWT Association of Communities, ECCC, the federal government’s Working Group on permafrost, Polar Knowledge Canada, the Geological Survey of Canada, the NWT Geological Survey, the Canadian Permafrost Association, NSERC PermafrostNet, Permafrost Pathways, ArcticNet, Woodwell Climate Research Centre, and the Cascade Institute.

You can now read all the details of the panel, get an AI summary of the discussion and hear the audio recording of the symposium on the CSPC webpage for the session.

By Tristan MacLean, 1 monthMarch 21, 2024 ago

Seminar – 8 May – The Effects of Environmental Controls on Epigenetic Ice-Wedge Cracking.

Gabriel Karam will be presenting The Effects of Environmental Controls on Epigenetic Ice-Wedge Cracking.

Date: 8 May 2024
Time: 13:00-14:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

Ice-wedge polygons are a widespread periglacial feature in the continuous permafrost regions. To better understand the mechanical aspects of their formation, the extended finite-element method was employed to simulate the cracking process. Four case studies will be presented, which evaluate the effects different environmental controls and explore the growth of wedges over multiple years.

By Tristan MacLean, 1 monthMarch 21, 2024 ago

Seminar – 1 May – Advancing Arctic coastal erosion measurement and monitoring through UAV-SfM and object-based image analysis.

Andrew Clark will be presenting Advancing Arctic coastal erosion measurement and monitoring through UAV-SfM and object-based image analysis.

Date: 1 May 2024
Time: 13:00-14:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

Arctic coasts are vast and exhibit some of the highest rates of erosion in the World due to the presence of permafrost. Rates of erosion are expected to increase with warming air and water temperatures, reductions in Arctic sea ice extent and duration, sea level rise, and increased storm severity and frequency. This presentation will describe the use of emerging technologies (UAV-SfM and OBIA) to further our understanding of Arctic coastal processes, specifically, volumetric erosion, and broad scale delineation of multiple shoreline proxies for monitoring and quantification of erosion.

By Tristan MacLean, 1 monthMarch 20, 2024 ago

Le secret des tourbières par Radio-Canada

Un reportage à Découverte de Radio-Canada avec Oliver Sonnentag.

Face au réchauffement de la planète, les scientifiques tirent la sonnette d’alarme : il est temps de prendre conscience des pouvoirs de la tourbe. D’un labo de biopharmacie en Irlande à la plus grande tourbière d’Europe, en passant par la cabane d’un piégeur et la plus vaste expérience sur le changement climatique, Le secret des tourbières nous dévoile la beauté et les merveilles des tourbières. Avec Oliver Sonnentag, à la minute 22:45.

Regarder ici: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/tele/decouverte/site/episodes/865999/tourbieres-foret-amazonie-planete

By Tristan MacLean, 1 monthMarch 20, 2024 ago

Ottawa-Carleton Northern Research Symposium

The OCSNRS is an annual student academic conference focusing on Subarctic, Arctic and Antarctic research from natural & physical sciences, social sciences, humanities and applied sciences.

This year the University of Ottawa hosted the meeting which featured a number of permafrost presentations from the network:

Galina Jonat – A proposed Framework for Improved Simulations of Permafrost Change.
Frederic Brieger – Permafrost Terrain Disturbance Mapping and Susceptibility Modeling in the Na-Cho Nyäk Ge (Stewart River) Watershed, Yukon.
Rae Landriau – Performance of Drilling Waste Sumps – Mackenzie Delta NT.
Pia Blake – Effects of Snow and Surface Material on Surface Offset of Intermediate Slopes.

Seminar – 17 April – Climate change induced increases in maintenance costs for Yukon highways, 1994–2022.

Astrid Schetselaar will be presenting Climate change induced increases in maintenance costs for Yukon highways, 1994–2022.

Date: 17 April 2024
Time: 13:00-14:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

Transportation networks in Canada’s North are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Rising ground temperatures and permafrost thaw have been a cause of road damage as the bearing capacity of the ground is significantly reduced. Hydrological changes may further induce hazards, such as landslides, washouts, and icings (aufeis). Astrid’s presentation will outline a retrospective assessment of climate change-induced maintenance expenditures for highways in Yukon. Changes in costs are linked to climate, physiographic, conditions and underlying permafrost.

By Tristan MacLean, 1 monthMarch 19, 2024 ago