Stephanie Nicole Mary Murphy

The High Arctic is predominantly covered by snow for the majority of the year and has been of interest to many individuals due to its unique ecosystem. The snow in the Arctic tends to get re-distributed to river valleys and slope depressions creating large perennial snowpacks. These types of snowpacks are known to contribute to the diversity of the ecosystem mainly during the snowmelt season. As a result, this research paper identifies and quantifies the change in perennial snowpack at Cape Bounty and Sabine Peninsula, Melville Island, Nunavut, Canada. These snowpacks are examined through remote sensing and GIS technologies that enable analyses to be conducted on the physical landscape characteristics of both study areas.
IKONOS and Landsat 4-5 TM satellite images were collected for the sites of Cape Bounty and Sabine Peninsula along with meteorological data pertaining to annual mean snowfall precipitation and mean July temperature. Results show that there has been a. overall percentage decrease in the areal extent of the selected perennial snowpacks. The meteorological data has shown an overall trend within the past three decades an overall percentage decrease in snowfall precipitation and an overall percentage increase in temperature.
This study intends to expand our knowledge on the physical properties of perennial snowpacks and their sensitivity to precipitation and temperature changes in the Canadian High Arctic. By quantifying these changes to the perennial snowpacks it will potentially provide a better understanding of the Canadian High Arctic and its environment.