SHORELINE CHANGE ANALYSIS ON VICTORIA ISLAND, CANADA

Since 1979, the Arctic has experienced a rate of warming four times faster than other areas around the globe. Increased atmospheric and sea-surface temperatures facilitate sea-ice reduction and increased fetch, resulting in elevated rates of erosion in many Arctic coastal communities. Previous research, conducted over the Fall 2023 semester, from a neighboring coastal community (Sachs Harbour –approximately 1100 km NW of Victoria Island) returned elevated rates of coastal erosion over a 38 year period. This investigation enumerated rates of change along an approximately 12 km segment of Victoria Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Eighteen years of shoreline position data (2005 – 2023) was acquired from high-resolution Earth observation imagery (Planet and USGS Landsat). The data was integrated into ArcGIS and the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) was used to evaluate rates of change over the period under review.