BaySys - Contributions of climate change and hydro-electric regulation to the variability and change of freshwater-marine coupling in the Hudson Bay system

该项目将研究淡水在哈德逊湾海洋和沿海系统中所起的作用。这将为区分气候变化和淡水水电调节对哈德逊湾物理、生物和生物地球化学条件变化的相对影响提供科学依据。这项研究将为马尼托巴省水电公司关于马尼托巴省北部纳尔逊河下游现有基础设施运营和未来发展规划的决策提供信息。该项目包括两个核心实地工作部分。整个海湾的工作将在CCGS Amundsen号上进行，这是一艘研究破冰船，为进行科学研究提供了一个安全的平台。来自阿蒙森的工作将专注于在春季融化季节从大片空间区域收集数据。“河口”的工作重点将是对比丘吉尔(低)和纳尔逊(高)流入河口的情况。这将在冬末利用马尼托巴省吉拉姆的后勤基地和哈德逊湾边缘的野战营地来完成。这两个实地组成部分将得到遥感数据、海洋和大气观测站以及数值模拟研究的支持。马尼托巴省水电公司对气候变化对北方生态系统的影响和适应战略的研究具有既得利益，因为它可能影响系统运作和未来的发电发展。该项目的结果将帮助马尼托巴省水电公司调查如何提高其运营地区的环境科学的质量和能力，对气候变化对水供应的影响进行可靠的评估，并加深我们对气候变化对北部生态系统影响的了解。更广泛地说，努纳武特和加拿大将受益于更好地了解淡水、沉积物和养分输送的季节性变化以及气候变化可能如何影响初级生产力和渔业生产力以及哈德逊湾的运输，以及这种变化在未来气候下可能如何变化。

This project will study the role that freshwater plays in the Hudson Bay marine and coastal systems. It will provide a scientific basis to separate the relative effects of climate change from those of hydroelectric regulation of freshwater on changing physical, biological and biogeochemical conditions in Hudson Bay. This research will inform decision-making by Manitoba Hydro with respect to existing infrastructure operations and planning for future development on the lower Nelson River in Northern Manitoba. The project includes two core fieldwork components. 'Bay-wide' work will be conducted aboard the CCGS Amundsen, a research icebreaker that provides a safe platform from which to conduct scientific studies. Work from the Amundsen will focus on collecting data from a large spatial area during the spring melt season. 'Estuary' work will focus on contrasting the Churchill (low) and Nelson (high) outflows into estuaries. This will be done in late winter using a logistics base in Gillam, Manitoba, and a field camp on the edge of Hudson Bay. Both field components will be supported by remotely-sensed data, ocean and atmospheric observatories and numerical modeling studies. Manitoba Hydro has a vested interest in research on impacts and adaptation strategies for climate change on northern ecosystems as it may affect system operations and future generation developments. Results from this project will help Manitoba Hydro investigate ways to enhance the quality and capacity of environmental science in the regions in which it operates, produce reliable assessments of impacts of climate change on water supply, and increase our understanding of the effects of climate change on northern ecosystems. More broadly, Nunavut and Canada will benefit from a better understanding of how seasonal shifts in freshwater, sediment and nutrient delivery and climate change may affect primary and fisheries productivity, and transportation in Hudson Bay and how this may change under a future climate.