Measuring of Coastal Erosion at Baillie Islands (Cape Bathurst)

 

Location
Baillie Island is located at the northern tip of Cape Bathurst, the most northern portion of mainland NWT.

This area is of importance due to the occurrence the rare hairy rockcress or hairy braya (Braya pilosa, genus Braya of family Brassicaceae) that is observed at five locations on the Baillie Islands and Cape Bathurst.

Methodology
Two different methods were used to measure coastal erosion on Braille Islands. Both methods use an early and later (most recent satellite image). The measure distance between the coastline of earlier and coastline of the later satellite image is inferred to be the amount of coastal erosion between the date of the earlier image and the date of the later image. The difference between Method-1, and Method-2 is the time span between the earlier and later image, and the resolution of the satellite imagery. Method-1 uses the earliest available moderate resolution (30m) Landsat satellite imagery 1985-2021, where as Method-2 users the higher resolution Sentinel-2 (20m) using available dates (2017-2021). Five (A-G) cross sections were used for measuring the distance between the earlier and later satellite image. This was done in ArcGIS Pro. The process of measuring involves subjective interpretation in respect to measuring a smooth surface (thick blue line) of a raster (pixelated) image (see image below).

As Sentinel-2 imagery has a finer resolution than Landsat (20m vs 30m) the pixels are smaller, and thus assumed to be closer to the smooth surface representing the actual coastline.

Measured distances between the earlier and later satellite images were divided by the time interval between the earlier and the later images, and shown in red in the following Figures.

Method-1
This method uses Landsat (1985-2021) imagery for measuring of coastal erosion.

Method-2
This method uses available Sentinel-2 imagery.

Summary
Noting that the date range for Method-1 spans 36 years and 4 years in Method-2, the measured distances at the five cross sections differ significantly. There may be a number of reasons, including the coarser pixel size of the Landsat imagery, and corresponding errors in the subjective interpretation of the measurement between the earlier and later images. There is the possibility that there has been an increase in coastal erosion during the later time interval, thus shewing the averaged erosion rate when divided by the time interval between the earlier and later images.

 

Ice roads on Great Slave Lake

Easter long weekend cruise on the ice roads on Great Slave Lake (Yellowknife, Northwest Territories).
This 110km long and 1.1m thick ice road heads from Yellowknife to the Vital Metals Ltd. Nechalacho rare earths project at Thor Lake near the Hearne Channel of Great Slave Lake. All heavy equipment for the mine was transported on this road.

On Saturday (May 8th) the light was poor and road conditions made road difficult to drive. Actually quite difficult to see the road. On Sunday (May 9th) the road was freshly plowed and sunny sky. We drove the Yellowknife – Devils Channel (Gros Cap) section (75km) and skied 11km in Devil’s Channel that separates Gros Cap from the mainland. No other traffic on the road. On the return, due to the warm temperatures in the afternoon and cooling evening temperatures the large and deep puddles on the crystal clear ice were partially frozen – peppering the hood and windshield with chunks of ice. The ice road was closed 12hours after we got home.

Anticipating that things can go wrong on a remote ice road, we brought safety and survival gear, including the rooftop tent, -30C sleeping bags, warm clothes, food, stove, inreach, extra fuel, winch, ice screws, towing strap, and Maxtracks. 

Pictures from Saturday:

Pictures from (sunny) Sunday:

Climate Trends

The past couple of months I have been writing code in Google Earth Engine (GEE).  For those that don’t know what GEE is – in brief is a database of satellite imagery and a code window to create a run scripts. Data can be uploaded to the GEE platform, and exported (downloaded).  The database of satellite imagery includes recent (today) and historical data (as far back as 1972) depending to the type of satellite. Landsat data is continuous from 1972 – current, Sentinel 1 (2014- current), Sentinel-2 (2016-current), and other satellites have shorter time periods (2000-current). In essence, the availability of historical data provides a means to “move back” in time, where as the current and yet-to be collected data provides a means to move forward in time.

Air temperature Trend (2000-2020)

Air temperature Trend (2000-2020)

In this post I will demonstrate a couple of GEE Mapping Tools that I created in GEE to illustrate 20 year Trends (2000-2020) in Air Temperature, Snowfall/snow depth/density/temperature,  and Lake ice-temperatures across the NWT.

NWT Snowfall Trend (2000-2020)

Click on the links below to view the Mapping Tool

NWT Climate Trends Mapping Tool

NWT Snow Trends Mapping Tool

NWT Lake Trends Mapping Tool

 

Zion, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Arches National Park (Color)

A typical photospread. No need to add much text, as there are are plenty of more wordy places to learn about Zion, Canyonlands and Arches National Park.  I didn’t even include a map (seems odd for a guy that makes maps for a living).

Cameras used; Leica M240 with Leica-R 19mm, and Fuji X-Ti with Fujinon 14mm

 

Zion National Park

Capitol Reef National Park

Canyonlands National Park

Arches National Park

1991 Toyota Landcruiser FJ80

One of the youngest trucks in my fleet – Only 31 years old !.

It is a US truck, in miles – slightly confusing when the speed limits in Canada are in Km.  Compared to most trucks of its age (e.g. old battered Ford pickups), there is no rust and a few small dents and scratches.   It does have a crack in the windshield, though where I live that is considered normal.  The combination of extreme cold and gravel roads makes cracked windshields inevitable.

It has a ARB front bumper, Warn Zeon 12 winch, ARB airlocker on rear differential, 2.5″ Old Man Emu heavy lift, rocker guards and a 23Zero rooftop tent on a DIY roof rack with Smittybuilt + 8020 rails.

Needs minor things like a new windshield, mudflaps, and flares. Mechanically very solid.

Maintained properly for the past 4 years for sure, can’t speak past that as no records.

I count the emission delete as an upgrade lol.

 

For winter use, the is a liner for the 23Zero tent and a Propex2000 heater.

Really tempted to have a Campteq poptop tent installed for additional headroom. 

Got any questions or comments – Drop me a line.

 

Check out my Instagram feed…

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No feed with the ID 1 found.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.

Canoe Trip: Trough Lake Loop (June 24, 25 and 26)

Trough Lake loop – sounds so much better than Goop Lake loop !.  I’d paddled a nearby river many, many times during the past 20 or so years, to the point that I was learn of going back to that area yet again. Oh – I was so pleasantly surprised how beautiful this route actually was – and why had I not been on it before.  Maybe, it was the name – Goop Lake loop that had deterred me. It sounds and looks much better called Trough Lake loop.

We left town on Friday June 24th. It is about an hour drive down the Ingraham Trail to Tibbet Lake where the loop starts. We went counter clockwise and camped a couple of km from the start. Next day, under clear sky and no wind, we had two short and then one long portage from the Ross River into Trough Lake through a 2014 forest fire.  No obvious route, just find your way over fallen trees and bare rock.  A quick lunch and swim at Trough Lake – then the weather changed.  It down poured for 90 minutes, and us still wet from swimming huddled into one tent.  After the rain ended, we decided to return back the same way as the wind was still quite strong and we would be in for a headwind paddle on a long lake.  Miraculous ? – as soon as we turned around and re-did the 1km portage though the burned area, the sun returned and the wind stopped. 

We took the northern route through Upper Thierry Lake and aptly named Goop Lake back to Tibbet Lake to the vehicles. All pictures taken with either a GoPro2 or Nikon D700.

Canoe trip: Boundary Creek (June 4 & 5, 2022)

A couple of pictures from a canoe down and up Boundary Creek June 4 and 5th, 2022.  Boundary Creek is approximately 30km west of Yellowknife and flows into Great Slave Lake. It river meanders, a couple of easy portages, and a couple of places it is easy to take the wrong turn.

All pictures with a GoPro2 or Fuji X-E1 (14mm lens).

Flashback 16 Years – 1981 BJ60

I admit

I am a Landcruiser Nerd.  I don’t tape on my glasses, or wear a shirt pocket pen holder…

But – I do live and dream about landcruisers, and have a few in my yard.  For the number of times that people have asked – “How many landcruisers do you have ?”, had they given me 1$ – I could have bought another one. !

Yes, I do have a few, and am still looking at landcruisers for sale.  One day a few weeks ago one caught my eye.  It is a 1984 BJ60 that had been converted to a pickup (Australian ‘Ute’). Although in much better condition that mine, it looked very similar.  Could the same person have done the conversion from SUV to pickup ?

I contacted the owner so determine if he had any information. Interesting enough, he had also been contacted a few months ago asking if he had seen a similar truck with a custom deck, a vehicle that he had modified 16 years previously.

Well, that truck is the one I have now !.  Strange coincidence !

16 Years ago (2006)

And Now (2021)

It hasn’t changed much. The paint is more dull, a bit more dirty, door corners are rusty. It even had the same roof rack (which I have since removed). 

During that time it was in Lytton BC and Salmo BC with two different owners.

Last Friday in April !

Its a Friday !. 

The last Friday in April…

For those of us in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (Canada) it is one of the last opportunities to enjoy winter activities. We have had winter since mid November, but most of that time is has been too friggin cold to actually enjoy being outside.  My cold weather cut off is -25C. Below that temperature, there is no glide on skis, and hands get too cold too easily.

Today, it is +1C. For most of the season, we don’t use the + or -, it is simply understood to be below zero.

The things I’d rather be doing !!

Kite skiing on Yellowknife Bay

Fat Biking on a northern runway. The ice is at least 4′ thick.