Vegetation and Site Characterization, 1998-99 ATLAS Grid Transect, Northern Alaska

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data set Externally Distributed Data Set
NSIDC does not archive this data set. Please contact the investigator or data compiler to acquire these data.

Data Contributors

WALKER, DONALD (SKIP) A.
EDWARDS, ERIKA J.
MOODY, AMBER

Parameters

ALPINE/TUNDRA
INDIGENOUS VEGETATION
LANDFORMS
SOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENT
TOPOGRAPHIC EFFECTS
VEGETATION COVER
VEGETATION SPECIES

Instruments

AVHRR : ADVANCED VERY HIGH RESOLUTION RADIOMETER
CAMERAS
LICOR PLANT CANOPY ANALYZER

This data set comprises the text and data presented in the data report 'A western Alaskan transect to examine interactions of climate, substrate, vegetation, and spectral reflectance: ATLAS grids and transects, 1998-1999.' The report is a compilation of data from two projects conducted on the North Slope of Alaska during the summers of 1998 and 1999. The first project involves environmental, climate, soil, vegetation, and remote-sensing data collected from 8 ATLAS (Arctic Transitions in the Land-Atmosphere System) grids established along a North-South transect from Barrow to Ivotuk, Alaska. The original purposes of the study were (1) to characterize the major zonal vegetation types found along the North Slope climate gradient, (2) to quantify differences between acidic and non-acidic tundra along the same gradient, and (3) to investigate relationships between plant biomass, Leaf Area Index (LAI), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). This part also includes a brief analysis of interactions between plant functional type composition, LAI, NDVI, and summer temperature. This analysis is limited to moist acidic tundra (MAT) and moist non-acidic tundra (MNT) comparisons using data from six of the eight grids that best represent acidic and non-acidic mesic vegetation.

The second project is an accuracy assessment of a Landsat MSS-derived landcover map of northern Alaska, which involved creating several large transects over northwest Alaska. Included here is a table of LAI measurements from eight random points along these transects, as well as the accompanying releve and site factor data sheets. No analysis of these data is presented.

Data Citation

Walker, D.A., Edwards, E.J. and A. Moody. 2000. A western Alaskan transect to examine interactions of climate, substrate, vegetation, and spectral reflectance: ATLAS grids and transects, 1998-1999. Data report, Northern Ecosystem Analysis and Mapping Laboratory, Fairbanks, AK. Digital version available from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Boulder, CO. Identifier no. ARCSS084.

Data Location Maps:

Location of sample sites:

Sample site locations, polar perspective