Changes in the Toolik Lake Ecosystem of Alaska in the Past Decades ...

• Main Authors: HAO, LINA, Hao, Xianjun
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Journal of Student-Scientists' Research 2022
• Subjects: Arctic; Climate change; permafrost; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.13021/jssr2020.2922; https://journals.gmu.edu/index.php/jssr/article/view/2922

Arctic regions are experiencing faster climate change than any other region in the world. Since the Arctic plays a critical role in the carbon cycle and strongly affects the thermal state of the surrounding permafrost, it is important to understand the impact of Arctic climate changes. This study investigates the climate and ecosystem changes of the Toolik Lake area in Alaska. Satellite remote sensing measurements and long-term baseline environmental and biological data from the Environmental Data Center (EDC) of the Toolik Field Station (TFS) were used to analyze this climate change and its impact on ecosystems. Land surface temperature (LST) data from the Terra/MODIS satellite remote sensing measurements show significant warming of the Toolik lake area in the past two decades, with an increasing trend of 1.049K/decade and 1.186K/decade for daytime and nighttime LST respectively. MODIS NDVI data during the summer season also shows a significant greening trend. EDC field observations show that air ... : Journal of Student-Scientists' Research, Vol. 2 (2020) ...