Initiating a Permafrost Survey for Northern Alaska Parks
Project ID: J8W07110020
Federal Agency: National Park Service
Partner Institution: Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota
Fiscal Year: 2011
Initial Funding: $70,000
Total Funding: $70,000
Project Type: Technical Assistance
Project Disciplines: Physical
National Park: Alaska Region I-M multi networks
Principal Investigator: Drazkowski, Barry
Agreement Technical Representative: Wesser, Sara
Abstract: This project is a collaborative effort between the Alaska Regional Inventory and Monitoring Program office, Arctic Network (ARCN), and Central Alaska Network (CAKN) of the National Park Service (NPS) and Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota (SMUMN) to initiate a permafrost survey for national parks in northern Alaska. This Task Agreement will support the initial project work, including, but not limited to: a literature survey and summary report on the status of permafrost in Alaska parks, collaborative discussions with resource managers within the surveyed parks and subject matter experts within and external to NPS to develop a dataset of where various types of permafrost and unique permafrost features exist, and conducting surveys of park-identified permafrost landscapes and features. Field surveys will follow a structured investigative approach designed in collaboration with NPS subject matter experts and other individuals identified by the NPS. The objective of the field surveys is to create replicable, quantitative observations that describe the site size and character, as well as the depth, temperature, and character of active permafrost to serve as a baseline for future monitoring and communication of current conditions. NPS involvement is critical to the project because they have a thorough understanding of park geomorphology and observed trends in landscape feature dynamics. Their expertise will be the primary factor driving field site selection and identification of important field attributes to document. This project is directly targeted at increasing the overall understanding of existing permafrost conditions and features in northern Alaska Parks for the public and for resource managers. This project will document and communicate existing conditions and landscape features which have developed, in many cases, as a direct result of climate change.
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