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Directory entires that have specified Alaska as one of the geographic regions for the project/activity and are included in the AMAP, ENVINET, SAON and SEARCH directories. Note that the list of regions is not hierarchical, and there is no relation between regions (e.g. a record tagged with Nunavut may not be tagged with Canada). To see the full list of regions, see the regions list. To browse the catalog based on the originating country (leady party), see the list of countries.
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Understanding the physical oceanography of the northeast Chukchi Sea through the collection of real time High Frequency Radar (HFR) surface current measurements from shore-based systems, deployment of sub-surface Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP), and the use of Automated Underwater Vehicles (AUV). Providing oceanographic data sets for guiding the development and evaluation of ocean circulation, wave and oil spill trajectory models.
1. Produce a geospatial surface meteorological database for the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas and the adjacent coastal areas by collecting available conventional and unconventional surface and atmospheric data and conducting field work; 2. Establish a well-tuned Beaufort/Chukchi seas mesoscale meteorology model through further modeling studies for the optimization and improvement of the model physics and configuration; 3. Conduct a long-term hindcast simulation with the optimized data-modeling system and produce a high resolution meteorological dataset for the Beaufort and Chukchi regions; and 4. Document the high-resolution climatological features of the Beaufort/Chukchi seas’ surface winds, including an analysis of the interannual variability and long-term
To determine status and trend in the condition of selected natural resources in national park units in Alaska. There are four networks, each encompassing activities in a set of national parks, preserves and other park lands: • Arctic Network (ARCN): Gates of the Arctic, Noatak, Kobuk Valley, Cape Krusenstern, Bering Land Bridge. • Central Alaska Network (CAKN): Yukon-Charley Rivers, Denali, Wrangell-St. Elias. • Southwest Alaska Network (SWAN): Kenai Fjords, Lake Clark, Katmai, Alagnak Wild River, Aniakchak. • Southeast Alaska Network (SEAN): Glacier Bay, Klondike Gold Rush, Sitka. Main gaps: Not all data are currently available but we are working toward that goal. Funding limitations do not allow monitoring at detailed levels.
To collect contemporary data on the distribution, abundance and trends in abundance of Arctic-breeding shorebirds. Main gaps: No long term funding available to continue to conduct these surveys.
Place seabird/marine mammal observers on ships of opportunity – focusing on research vessels and programs such as NOAA stock assessment surveys and NFS-funded programs. To obtain data on seabird/marine mammal distribution and abundance throughout Alaska waters, with corresponding oceanographic and biological data from other projects on the same cruises. Data to be included in syntheses as part of Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (BSIERP, NPRB), and will be added to the N. Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database (NPPSD).
Protect wildlife and habitat for future generations; fulfill international treaty obligations related to fish and waterfowl; provide opportunity for subsistence use by residents Main gaps: Few data prior to 1981.
1) Annual monitoring of molting Greater White-fronted Geese (Interior refuges) 2) Waterfowl (primarily) breeding pair survey (MBM- done 1997, 2008-09) 3) Breeding Bird Survey (2 routes; annual, though not in 2009) 4) Alaska Landbird Monitoring Survey (2 plots; biennial) 5) Refuge moose population survey (annual) 6) Refuge wolf survey (annual as conditions allow; minimum census) 7) Henshaw Creek fish weir (annual; TCC = operator) 8) Stream gages (operational Oct 2009; will operate at least 6 years) 9) Snow markers (6 on refuge; checked monthly in winter; statewide??)
To inventory and monitor resources of the Yukon Flats Basin to achieve refuge purposes.
(1) Monitor the subsistence and handicraft harvest of polar bears, sea otters and walrus; (2) Obtain essential biological data needed to manage; and (3) Help prevent the illegal take, trade and transport of specified raw marine mammal parts. The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 allows Alaska Natives to harvest marine mammals for subsistence uses. The Marine Mammal Protection Act (pdf) requires that all sea otter and polar bear hides and skulls, and all walrus tusks be tagged by a representative of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This program is implemented through resident MTRP taggers located in coastal villages and communities throughout Alaska. There are more than 150 taggers located in about 100 villages. The information collected by the MTRP will help ensure the long-term survival of these species by monitoring the Native harvest and controlling the illegal take, trade, and transport of marine mammal parts. To find out how to contact taggers, call John Trent at 1-907-786-3815 or 1-800-362-5148. Main gaps: The MTRP harvest data are for 3 stocks of northern sea otter and, with data provided by Russian authorities, for the one stock of Pacific walrus. Polar bear harvest for the Chukchi Sea and southern Beaufort Sea polar bear stocks are for US communities only. Additional harvest occurs in Canada but is accounted for by the Inuvialuit-Inupiat Agreement of 1988. In the largest Alaska walrus harvesting communities, MTRP data are supplemented and independently assessed by a Walrus Harvest Monitoring Program (WHMP) that has existed, more or less continuously since 1960. This program also collects biological specimens. The contact for WHMP is Jonathan_Snyder@atfws.gov. Mr. Snyder is also in the Office of Marine Mammals Management, Region 7, USFWS MS 341 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage AK, 99503. Network type: Subsistence harvest data on polar bears and northern sea otters are collected from hunters in Alaska coastal communities.
Support wildland fire management and protect life and property through the accurate measurement, recording and distribution of fire weather environmental data.
Connect public health laboratories and institutes throughout the circumpolar north for the purposes of monitor infectious diseases of concern. Main gaps: russia
The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility (ACRF) is a multi-platform national scientific user facility, with instruments at fixed and varying locations around the globe for obtaining continuous field measurements of climate data. Each ACRF site uses a leading edge array of cloud- and aerosol-observing instruments to record long-term continuous atmospheric and surface properties that affect cloud formation and radiation transport through the atmosphere. The ARCF also provides shorter-term (months rather than years) measurements with its two mobile facilities (AMFs) and its aerial measurements. Network type: - Atmosphere, with a focus on the impact of clouds and aerosol on the Earth’s radiation budget. - Location: Primary site: Barrow, Alaska, 71° 19' 23.73" N, 156° 36' 56.70" W Secondary site: Atqasuk, Alaska, 70° 28' 19.11" N, 157° 24' 28.99" W - Community-based: No.
More information about the following long-term observing activity will be available in due course. • Soil survey program description: http://www.ak.nrcs.usda.gov/soils/index.html • Soil climate survey program description: http://www.ak.nrcs.usda.gov/soils/SoilClimateSites/SoilClimateSites.html • For information and data, contact: Rick McClure, richard.mcclure@ak.usda.gov
Collect snow data and related environmental parameters for streamflow forecasting. Locations: Sixty one (61), see http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snotel/Alaska/alaska. Main gaps: Lack of resources for equipment and staff. Access to potential observing sites is limited, and disallowed in some cases, due to land status or their location in public lands designated and/or proposed as wilderness areas.
The purpose of the project is to combine the Danish Meteorological Institute’ HIRHAM climate model and permafrost research. This collaboration between the two fields is expected to result in a prognosis of changes in the permafrost distribution in Western Greenland (maritime Arctic climate) and Alaska (continental Arctic climate) to the year 2050. Network type: permafrost
This project's goal is to experimentally study strict monogamy in a panarctic seagull, the black-legged kittiwake, in Alaska. It studies mate choice (which is crucial because no mixed strategy is used) in relation to indivdual quality, fitness and sexual conflict in strictly monogamous species. It is rooted in a detailed knowledge of the species’ biology and the merging of three teams (French, Austiran and Alaskan) with long-term experience researching kittiwakes. It uses the unique experimental Alaskan setting for wild populations.
The aim of this research program is to examine the response of animal populations to environmental variability at different spatial scales. We attempt to determine how individuals respond to the spatial heterogeneity of their environment, and what are the consequences of this response for the dynamics of subdivided populations. Specifically, we consider an ecological system involving biotic interactions at three levels: seabirds, their tick _Ixodes uriae_, and the microparasite _Borrelia burgdorferi_ sensu lato (Lyme disease agent). Colonies of seabirds represent discrete entities, within and among which parasites can circulate. Our previous work on this system in the norwegian arctic has enable us to show that (1) host dispersal can be affected by local conditions, (2) seabird tick populations are specialised among different host species, namely between sympatric kittiwakes _Rissa tridactyla_ and puffins _Fratercula arctica_, (3) in the kittiwake, females transmit antibodies against _Borrelia burgdorferi_ when their chicks have a high probability to be exposed to the tick vector. We propose to combine different approaches, incorporating field surveys and experiments and population genetic studies (of hosts and parasites), in order to better understand the role of local interactions and dispersal in the dynamics of such a system. The research program implies collaborations with researchers from other french groups, as well as with Canadian (Queen’s University) and Norwegian colleagues (from NINA and the University of Tromsø).
A proposal has been submitted to the National Science Foundation titled: For Support of the Arctic Social Science Data Center at NSIDC, OPP-0119836.
Contaminants were examined for trends over time, spatial variation based on disparate breeding areas, and relationships with measures of productivity. Most organochlorines and metals declined over time. Mercury was the only contaminant with possibly increasing concentrations in eggs. Egg and feather samples collected in 2000 will provide more information on mercury trends and effects. This study embodies 20 years of data on environmental contaminants in peregrine falcons nesting in Alaska.
Persistent organic pollution is a global problem. This fact is especially apparent in the Arctic where pesticides currently used in distant environments accumulate, in some cases to higher levels than those observed in the source region. This pollution threatens the well-being of the aboriginal inhabitants of these regions. Most of the traditionally harvested animals in the Arctic are long-lived and from the higher trophic levels of the food chain, thereby providing an opportunity for considerable bioaccumulation and biomagnification of persistent contaminants. This has prompted a growing concern by the Alaska Inupiat that pollutants in the environment might be contributing to their unique morbidity and mortality rates, especially of their children. Our studies are currently focused on two specific organic pollutants found in the Arctic environment; 1}hexachlorobenzene (HCB), a byproduct during manufacture of several different chlorinated compounds and consistently detected in the Arctic and, 2} dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene (p,p’-DDE), a chlorinated environmental breakdown product measured in the Arctic population at significantly higher concentrations than the parent pesticide, DDT. We hypothesize that mammalian embryonic cell exposure to these chemicals, individually or as mixtures at environmentally relevant concentrations and ratios, will alter the cell cycle and/or cause death by apoptosis, rather than by necrosis. We also predict synergistic cytotoxicity of the chemical mixture because of an accumulation of deleterious effects at different cellular target sites by each chemical. We further hypothesize that while some chemicals target non-genetic cellular components (such as a cell membrane or cytosolic component), other chemical effects will occur primarily at the genetic level, directly or indirectly. Our experiments have been designed as a set of sensitive cellular and molecular assays to compare levels and types of cytotoxic and genotoxic activity of the above chemicals (individual and mixture), at environmentally relevant concentrations, upon embryonic cells in culture. Our experimental evidence thus far is that these chemicals, separately or as a mixture at concentrations and molar ratios relevant to that measured in the Arctic environment, do have cytotoxic and/or genotoxic effects that could result in profound consequences to exposed tissues of a developing embryo or fetus. We have further experimental evidence that exposure to both chemicals at environmentally relevant concentrations is more toxic to the cell than the sum of effects by exposure to the individual chemicals. Experimental results indicate this is due to different cellular target sites for each chemical (Appendix A: Preliminary Results).