Stream discharge and temperature records for the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (2009-2019)

• Main Authors: Arp, Christopher, Whitman, Matthew
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: NSF Arctic Data Center 2021
• Subjects: streams; discharge; water temperature; Arctic; Alaska; hydrology; permafrost
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.18739/a2nc5sd4k; https://arcticdata.io/catalog/view/doi:10.18739/A2NC5SD4K

Understanding aquatic habitat and water resource responses to rapid and ongoing changes in both climate and land-use provide the basis for monitoring physical processes in ten streams and their watersheds in the northeastern portion of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). Streams selected for monitoring were originally based on planned development in their upstream catchments and to represent reference (undeveloped) conditions. Monitoring periods for each station (up to 12 years) vary according to adaptive management of water resources in response to broader NPR-A management planning as well as alignment with proposed and ongoing monitoring efforts in Arctic Alaska. Stream discharge and water temperature data provide basic information to characterize physical regimes and variability among drainage units with respect to flood hazards, responses to land and permafrost dynamics, and connectivity and suitability of habitat for fish and other aquatic organism. Evaluating potential impacts of petroleum development primarily in the from lake water extraction, roads, and oil drilling and transport infrastructure are also an intended use of the data and reason for maintaining these monitoring stations. These data also support basic scientific studies of several National Science Foundation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife funded projects to characterize and understand the Arctic system. Data collection was primarily supported by the Bureau of Land Management.