Extent Changes in the Perennial Snowfields of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Perennial snowfields in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (GAAR) in the central Brooks Range of Alaska are a critical component of the cryosphere. They serve as habitat for an array of wildlife, including caribou, a species that is crucial as a food and cultural resource for rural subsi...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:548bbaf7807845aab5154066a7e293f4 2023-05-15T14:53:41+02:00 Extent Changes in the Perennial Snowfields of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska Molly E. Tedesche Erin D. Trochim Steven R. Fassnacht Gabriel J. Wolken 2019-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology6020053 https://doaj.org/article/548bbaf7807845aab5154066a7e293f4 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/6/2/53 https://doaj.org/toc/2306-5338 2306-5338 doi:10.3390/hydrology6020053 https://doaj.org/article/548bbaf7807845aab5154066a7e293f4 Hydrology, Vol 6, Iss 2, p 53 (2019) snow hydrology remote sensing perennial snowfields Brooks Range Landsat supervised classification climate change Arctic alpine hydrology Google Earth Engine Science Q article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology6020053 2022-12-31T02:18:15Z Perennial snowfields in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (GAAR) in the central Brooks Range of Alaska are a critical component of the cryosphere. They serve as habitat for an array of wildlife, including caribou, a species that is crucial as a food and cultural resource for rural subsistence hunters and Native Alaskans. Snowfields also influence hydrology, vegetation, permafrost, and have the potential to preserve valuable archaeological artifacts. By deriving time series maps using cloud computing and supervised classification of Landsat satellite imagery, we calculated areas and evaluated extent changes. We also derived changes in elevations of the perennial snowfields that remained stable for at least four years. For the study period of 1985 to 2017, we found that total areas of perennial snowfields in GAAR are decreasing, with most of the notable changes in the latter half of the study period. Equilibrium areas, or bright areas, of the snowfields are shrinking, while ablation, or dark areas, are growing. We also found that the snowfields occur at higher elevations over time. Climate change may be altering the distribution, elevation, and extent of perennial snowfields in GAAR, which could affect caribou populations and subsistence lifestyles in rural Alaska. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Brooks Range Climate change permafrost Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Hydrology 6 2 53 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
snow hydrology remote sensing perennial snowfields Brooks Range Landsat supervised classification climate change Arctic alpine hydrology Google Earth Engine Science Q |
spellingShingle |
snow hydrology remote sensing perennial snowfields Brooks Range Landsat supervised classification climate change Arctic alpine hydrology Google Earth Engine Science Q Molly E. Tedesche Erin D. Trochim Steven R. Fassnacht Gabriel J. Wolken Extent Changes in the Perennial Snowfields of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska |
topic_facet |
snow hydrology remote sensing perennial snowfields Brooks Range Landsat supervised classification climate change Arctic alpine hydrology Google Earth Engine Science Q |
description |
Perennial snowfields in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (GAAR) in the central Brooks Range of Alaska are a critical component of the cryosphere. They serve as habitat for an array of wildlife, including caribou, a species that is crucial as a food and cultural resource for rural subsistence hunters and Native Alaskans. Snowfields also influence hydrology, vegetation, permafrost, and have the potential to preserve valuable archaeological artifacts. By deriving time series maps using cloud computing and supervised classification of Landsat satellite imagery, we calculated areas and evaluated extent changes. We also derived changes in elevations of the perennial snowfields that remained stable for at least four years. For the study period of 1985 to 2017, we found that total areas of perennial snowfields in GAAR are decreasing, with most of the notable changes in the latter half of the study period. Equilibrium areas, or bright areas, of the snowfields are shrinking, while ablation, or dark areas, are growing. We also found that the snowfields occur at higher elevations over time. Climate change may be altering the distribution, elevation, and extent of perennial snowfields in GAAR, which could affect caribou populations and subsistence lifestyles in rural Alaska. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Molly E. Tedesche Erin D. Trochim Steven R. Fassnacht Gabriel J. Wolken |
author_facet |
Molly E. Tedesche Erin D. Trochim Steven R. Fassnacht Gabriel J. Wolken |
author_sort |
Molly E. Tedesche |
title |
Extent Changes in the Perennial Snowfields of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska |
title_short |
Extent Changes in the Perennial Snowfields of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska |
title_full |
Extent Changes in the Perennial Snowfields of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Extent Changes in the Perennial Snowfields of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Extent Changes in the Perennial Snowfields of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska |
title_sort |
extent changes in the perennial snowfields of gates of the arctic national park and preserve, alaska |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology6020053 https://doaj.org/article/548bbaf7807845aab5154066a7e293f4 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Brooks Range Climate change permafrost Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Brooks Range Climate change permafrost Alaska |
op_source |
Hydrology, Vol 6, Iss 2, p 53 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/6/2/53 https://doaj.org/toc/2306-5338 2306-5338 doi:10.3390/hydrology6020053 https://doaj.org/article/548bbaf7807845aab5154066a7e293f4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology6020053 |
container_title |
Hydrology |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
53 |
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1766325268925906944 |