• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • University of Alaska Fairbanks
    • UAF Graduate School
    • Natural Resources
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • University of Alaska Fairbanks
    • UAF Graduate School
    • Natural Resources
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of Scholarworks@UACommunitiesPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsTypeThis CollectionPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsType

    My Account

    Login

    First Time Submitters, Register Here

    Register

    Statistics

    Display statistics

    Using remote sensing to examine changes of closed-basin surface water area in Interior Alaska from 1950-2002

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    Riordan_B_05.pdf
    Size:
    121.5Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    Download
    Author
    Riordan, Brian Alan
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6898
    Abstract
    Over the past fifty years Alaska has experienced an increase in mean annual temperature. This warming may be causing significant changes in hydrology and permafrost dynamics. In recent decades, Native Americans and land managers have reported losses of water bodies and surface water area in interior Alaska. We conducted a study to determine the degree to which these informal observations were representative of a regional trend in surface water area loss. This study examines closed-basin water bodies in nine regions across Alaska: 1) Copper River Basin, 2) Talkeetna, 3) Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, 4) Denali National Park, 5) Innoko Flats National Wildlife Refuge, 6) Minto Flats State Game Refuge, 7) Stevens Village, 8) Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, and 9) Prudhoe Bay/Arctic Coastal Plain. The study included approximately 850,000 hectares and over 40,000 water bodies. To conduct such a large-scale study, GIS and Remote Sensing techniques were applied. Water body change detection was conducted over a fifty-year time period. A minimum of three time periods were used for each area. Imagery included black and white aerial photography (1950 -1957), color infrared aerial photography (1978 -1982), Landsat TM (1986 - 1995), and Landsat ETM+ (1999 - 2002). Based on these images, water body polygons were digitized for each time period. Area was calculated for each polygon and compared to corresponding ponds from images at later times. Of the nine regions, six showed substantial reductions in surface water area: Copper River Basin, Minto Flats, Innoko Flats, Yukon Flats, Stevens Village, and Denali National Park. The Innoko Flats and Copper River Basin regions showed the most loss at 31% and 28% respectively. There are several mechanisms possible for reductions of surface water in a warming climate including increased formation of taliks, increased soil water holding capacity, increased evapotranspiration, and terrestrialization.
    Description
    Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2005
    Table of Contents
    1. Introduction and review -- 1.1. Climatic history -- 1.2. Permafrost -- 1.3. Potential surface water changes due to climate warming -- 1.4. Objectives -- 2. Study regions and weather station locations -- 2.1. Study regions -- 2.1.1. Study regions and weather station locations -- 2.1.3. Copper River basin region and Gulkana Airport weather station -- 2.1.4. Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge Region and Bettles Airport Weather Station -- 2.1.5. Minto Flats State Game Refuge, Stevens Village, Denali National Park, and Fairbanks Weather Station -- 2.1.6. Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge and Northway Weather Station -- 2.1.7. Innoko Flats National Wildlife Refuge Region and McGrath Airport Weather Station -- 2.1.8. Talkeetna region and Talkeetna Airport Weather Station -- 2.1.9. Prudhoe Bay/Arctic Coastal Plain Region and Barrow Weather Station -- 3. Methods -- 4. Results & discussion -- 5. Literature cited. -- 6. Appendices.
    Date
    2005-05
    Type
    Thesis
    Collections
    Natural Resources

    entitlement

     
    ABOUT US|HELP|BROWSE|ADVANCED SEARCH

    The University of Alaska is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer, educational institution and provider and prohibits illegal discrimination against any individual.

    Learn more about UA’s notice of nondiscrimination.

    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.