Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) have been awarded US$3m in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the USA to study the changing climate and rivers of Alaska and western Canada.
The five-year project funded through the NSF’s Navigating the New Arctic program will result in improved monitoring and computer modeling of present and future river conditions in northern regions.
“Rivers and ice are crucial to the livelihood, transportation and subsistence of these communities,” said Keith Musselman, a research associate at INSTAAR and the principal investigator on the project. “This interdisciplinary effort will help us learn from those who are being directly impacted by Arctic environmental changes.”
Researchers and scientists from the University of Colorado and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) will conduct computer simulations of weather, streamflow, river ice and water temperature for historical and potential future climate conditions over Alaska and western Canada. The data will then be used to create high-resolution models that can assess potential risks to Arctic river fish species.