Brooks Range Perennial Snowfields

Brooks Range Perennial Snowfields PDF Author: Molly E. Tedesche
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cryosphere
Languages : en
Pages : 462

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Book Description
Perennial snowfields, such as those found in the Brooks Range of Alaska, are a critical component of the cryosphere. They serve as habitat for an array of wildlife, some of which are crucial for rural subsistence hunters. Snowfields also influence hydrology, vegetation, permafrost, and have the potential to preserve valuable archaeological artifacts. In this study, perennial snowfield extents in the Brooks Range are derived from satellite remote sensing, field acquired data, and snowmelt modeling. The remote sensing data are used to map and quantify snow cover area changes across multiple temporal scales, spatial resolutions, and geographic sub-domains. Perennial snowfield classification techniques were developed using optical multi-spectral imagery from NASA Landsat and European Space Agency Sentinel-2 satellites. A Synthetic Aperture Radar change detection algorithm was also developed to quantify snow cover area using Sentinel-1 data. Results of the remote sensing analyses were compared to helicopter and manually collected field data. Also, a snowfield melt model was developed using an adaptation of the temperature index method to determine probability of melt via binary logistic regression in two dimensions. The logistic temperature melt model considers summer season snow cover area changes per pixel in remotely sensed products and relationships to several independent variables, including elevation-lapse-adjusted air temperature and terrain-adjusted solar radiation. Evaluations of the Synthetic Aperture Radar change detection algorithm via comparison with results from optical imagery analysis, as well as via comparison with field acquired data, indicate that the radar algorithm performs best in small, focused geographic sub-domains. The multi-spectral approach appears to perform similarly well within multiple geographic domain sizes. This may be the result of synthetic aperture radar algorithm dependency on backscatter thresholding techniques and slope corrections in mountainous complex topography. Results indicate that perennial snowfield extents in the Brooks Range are decreasing over decadal time scales, with short-lived, interannual and seasonal increases. Results also show that perennial snowfields are more persistent at higher elevations over time with notable consistency in at least one of the Brooks Range sub-domains of this study, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Climate change may be altering the distribution, elevation, melt behavior, and overall extents of the Brooks Range perennial snowfields. Such changes could have significant implications for hydrology, wildlife, vegetation, and subsistence hunting in rural Alaska.

Habitats

Habitats PDF Author: DK
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0593845862
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 442

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Book Description
Celebrates and explains the astonishing range of habitats on Earth and the intricate balance of their animal and plant communities This book is a beautiful visual reference to the world's natural habitats and the plants and animals that live there. It explores global habitat types, including desert, Arctic tundra, and tropical forest - and distinctive regional habitats, such as the windswept puna grasslands of the Andes or the dripping, fern-clad rainforests of New Zealand. Packed with fascinating illustrations, the book analyzes how each habitat works and examines its unique combination of plants and animals, along with the features that suit them to live there. It then goes deeper, telling stories about how the inhabitants relate to one another and interact. Stories are told using images and graphics, showing what is going on in the natural ecosystem. The stories include survival strategies and life cycles, how pollinators fertilize plants, and how animals distribute the seeds, how similar species divide up food or living space to avoid competition, and how some species cooperate in intimate partnerships. Earth's pristine wildernesses are dwindling, so the book includes national parks, wildlife reserves, and other protected areas, and the conservation efforts needed to preserve our precious biological diversity.

Remote Sensing

Remote Sensing PDF Author: Floyd F. Sabins
Publisher: Waveland Press
ISBN: 1478610085
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 539

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Book Description
Designed for an introductory course in remote sensing, this highly regarded text offers 28 pages with color photos, Sabins trademark clarity, and comprehensive coverage. The first chapter vividly introduces the major remote sensing systems and the interactions between electromagnetic energy and materials that are the basis for remote sensing. Six following chapters describe the major imaging systems. After a digital image-processing chapter, Sabins devotes the rest of the text to descriptions of practical applications of remote sensing to environmental monitoring, oil and mineral exploration, land-use and geographic information systems, and natural hazards.

Brooks Range Passage

Brooks Range Passage PDF Author: David J. Cooper
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780898860610
Category : Brooks Range (Alaska)
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Atlas of United States Trees: Alaska trees and common shrubs, by L.A. Viereck and E.L. Little, Jr

Atlas of United States Trees: Alaska trees and common shrubs, by L.A. Viereck and E.L. Little, Jr PDF Author: United States. Forest Service
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Trees
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description


Alaska National Interest Lands Workshops

Alaska National Interest Lands Workshops PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 678

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The Mount McKinley Region, Alaska

The Mount McKinley Region, Alaska PDF Author: Alfred Hulse Brooks
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Alaska
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
Report of 1902 exploratory journey from Pacific seaboard through Alaska Range along northwest base of Mount McKinley to Tanana and Yukon rivers. Includes concise summary of mineral wealth of region and description of stratigraphy, structure, and geologic history of area. Also contains information about climate, vegetation and wildlife, agricultural lands, and means of communication and transportation.

U.S. Geological Survey Water-supply Paper

U.S. Geological Survey Water-supply Paper PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Water-supply
Languages : en
Pages : 654

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Geological Survey Professional Paper

Geological Survey Professional Paper PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Geology
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description


U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Geology
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description