Author(s): Shawn P. Clark; Alexander Wall
Linked Author(s): Shawn Clark
Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: The Dauphin River is located in central Manitoba, Canada and drains Lake St. Martin into Lake Winnipeg. This 52 km long river is characterized by a long and mild section, followed by a steeper 11.2 km section prior to discharging into Lake Winnipeg. Many river ice processes can be observed on this river, which make it an ideal site for an extensive monitoring program. The upstream reach is characterized by border ice growth and thermal ice thickening, while the steep section of the river promotes a significant amount of frazil ice formation. This frazil becomes entrained beneath the downstream thermal lake ice and typically develops a hanging dam. Freeze-up ice jams within the steeper section caused water level increases in excess of 6m in the winter of 2014/2015, and similarly significant freeze-up jamming in 2015/2016. This paper outlines previous work done on the Dauphin River, presents data from preliminary monitoring during the freeze-up of 2014, as well as outlines the extensive monitoring program that began in the winter of 2015/2016. This program includes the installation of 10 water level loggers, 9 trail cameras and 6 high precision water temperature loggers, as well as aerial drone observations.
Year: 2016