Arctic Great Rivers Observatory Data

The project is sequel to the NSF-ARCSS PARTNERS project which established and implemented standard protocols (including seasonally representative sampling) for use on all the rivers. Samples for the Arctic-GRO project are from the same sampling locations as for the PARTNERS project, at downstream stations on the six largest rivers within the pan-arctic watershed: the Yenisey, Ob, Lena, and Kolyma Rivers in Siberia and the Yukon and Mackenzie Rivers in North America.

The Arctic-GRO protocol contains two collection schemes. First, using the PARTNERS collection protocols, samples for a comprehensive suite of constituents are taken at 5 key timepoints that were specifically chosen to capture conditions during peak flow, base flow, and flows during maximum yearly permafrost melt. Depth/width integrated samples are collected just after ice clears from each of the rivers and twice at weekly intervals thereafter, and in late August-early September.