Arctic River Delta Experiment (ARDEX) water quality, 2004.

The Arctic River Delta EXperiment (ARDEX) was a 2004 satellite program of the CASES (Canada Arctic Shelf Exchange Study) program designed to extend offshore measurements of CASES into the freshwater-saltwater transition zone of the Mackenzie River estuary and delta. The objectives of ARDEX were to evaluate the properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the river and coastal waters, and the photochemical, geochemical and biological processes regulating DOM dynamics. This dataset was a portion of the ARDEX project investigating how general water quality, DOM, and nutrients changed across the freshwater-saltwater transition zone. We demonstrated that DOM character, nutrients, and general water quality changed considerably across the transition zone with implications for marine ecosystem health. Water sampling occurred during the 2004 summer from a coast guard vessel travelling north from Inuvik to the Beaufort Sea. This research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, with support from the Canada Research Chair Program, Polar Continental Shelf Project, and the Northern Scientific Training Program. We appreciate technical and logistical support from the Inuvik Research Center/Aurora Research Institute, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, and Water Survey of Canada.