MACRO- AND MICROCLIMATOLOGY OF THE ARCTIC SLOPE OF ALASKA

• Main Author: CONOVER, JOHN H.
• Other Authors: QUARTERMASTER RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING COMMAND NATICK MA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1960
• Subjects: *MICROMETEOROLOGY; METEOROLOGY; PERMAFROST; RECORDING SYSTEMS; Arctic; Brooks Range; permafrost; Tundra; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0250549; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0250549

THE TUNDRA OF THE ARCTIC SLOPE IS CHARACTERIZED IN SUMMER BY COOL MARITIME WINDS, MUCH CLOUDINESS, LIGHT PRECIPITATION, AND FREQUENT DRIZZLE. IN WINTER, CLOUDINESS DECREASES AND VERY COLD KATABATIC WINDS PREVAIL INLAND WHILE EASTERLIES CONTINUE ALONG THE COAST. BY MID-SEPTEMBER A SNOW COVER IS GENERALLY ESTABLISHED; THIS BUILDS UP TO DEPTHS OF 14 TO 28 INCHES IN MARCH AND APRIL AND FINALLY MELTS IN JUNE OR JULY. MICROCLIMATIC MEASUREMENTS, INCLUDING WIND SPEEDS, TEMPERATURES ABOVE AND BELOW THE GROUND SURFACE, AND DEPTH OF THAW PROFILES, WERE MADE NEAR THE COAST, IN THE COLVILLE VALLEY AND ON NEARBY SLOPES, AND IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE BROOKS RANGE. SUMMER GROUNDSURFACE TEMPERATURES INLAND AVERAGED IN THE LOW 50'S WHILE SOIL WAS FROZEN 10-15 INCHES BELOW THE SURFACE. MOST OF THE LAND WAS WET IN THE SUMMER DUE TO THE SHALLOW LAYER OF THAWED GROUND. THE FREQUENCY OF SURFACE THAWS AND FREEZES WAS LOW. TABLES OF TEMPERATURE, INSOLATION, WIND, AND VAPOR PRESSURE DEFICIT ARE GIVEN