Snow and temperature regime of a perennial ice patch, Ward Hunt Island, Nunavut, Canada.

Long-term monitoring of an ice patch at Ward Hunt Island on the northern coast of Ellesmere Island (83°06'N 074°10'W; Nunavut, Canada) provides information on the seasonal and interannual evolution of these cryospheric elements The ice internal temperature was measured since July 2017 by a chain of thermistors (YSI; accuracy ± 0.1 °C; resolution ± 0.001°C) at depths of 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 and 320 cm installed in a borehole 7 cm in diameter in the ice patch IP1 (83°05'38.39''N; 74°11'58.62''). A white perforated plastic pipe (PVC; 3 cm in diameter) was inserted into the borehole in which the cable was inserted. Slush (mix of water and snow) was then poured in and around the pipe to set it and guarantee an optimal thermal contact with the ice body. The deepest thermistor, at 320 cm, was in contact with the ground surface (weathered bedrock). The thermistors were connected to a multichannel data logger (Systems Smart Reader Plus 8™, ACR Systems Inc.). The ice surface temperature (0 cm) was recorded by a HOBO TidbiT (accuracy±0.21°C; resolution ± 0.02°C). Temperatures at all depths were recorded every 4 h. A weather-resistant time-lapse camera (SPYPOINY FORCE-11D,11 Megapixel) was installed on a tripod anchored to the ground 150 m from the frontal edge of the ice patch IP1 to document changes in the seasonal snowpack spatial evolution and of the interannual variability of the ice patch cover. The dataset is for the periods: July to October 2017, June to October 2017, and March to July 2019.

Logistical support by Polar Continental Shelf Program (PCSP), Parks Canada and Northern Studies Center (CEN). Financial support by NSERC-ADAPT and NSERC Discovery.Audrey Veillette (U. Montreal) helped to collect ice cores on the ice patch IP1 and to install the ice temperature monitoring set-up in June 2016.

Nordicana D85 - Données de tomodensitométrie de carottes de glace extraites de deux plaques de glace permanentes sur l’île Ward Hunt, Nunavut, Canada. / Computed tomography (CT) scans of ice cores collected in two perennial ice patches at Ward Hunt Island, Nunavut, Canada.

Published

Version 1.0 (2017-2019) - Updated June 15, 2021

Sketch showing the set up for monitoring ice temperatures in the ice patch IP1