Lead: Philip Marsh, Wilfrid Laurier University
With potential development in the Beaufort Sea offshore, there is a need to implement an operational ocean-ice-atmosphere model that includes the Beaufort Sea in order to plan and carry out development in this area in a sustainable fashion. Consideration of the complex interactions between the Mackenzie Delta and the Beaufort Sea is necessary in the development and implementation of a robust ocean-ice-atmosphere model (CONCEPTS OIA). This study is building on activities funded under the International Polar Year and the Program for Energy Research and Development and is developing a hydraulic model of the Mackenzie Delta and link this model to the CONCEPTS OIA model under development by Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. These linked models will be used to consider the interactions between the Mackenzie Delta and the Beaufort Sea under both open water and ice covered conditions.