Alaska Site Visits Overview
In early July, Peter Griffith, Elizabeth Hoy, Dan Hodkinson, and Leanne Kendig (all Code 618 / Sigma Space Corporation) of the Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Office (CCEO) traveled to Fairbanks, Alaska, to provide leadership, scientific, and logistical support for a meeting of the Science Definition Team (SDT) for NASA's Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE). The SDT is currently preparing a concise experiment plan, which will guide the future scientific direction of this field research program focusing on carbon cycling, arctic warming, and a host of other important questions.
After the SDT meeting, CCEO staff visited long-term field sites around Fairbanks and Barrow, including the Permafrost Tunnel, the Toolik Lake Research Station and the Barrow Environmental Observatory. Joining the CCEO on the field site visits was Eric Kasischke, University of Maryland, and Libby Larson, AAAS Fellow at NASA Headquarters. These field visits contributed to the preparation of an inventory of existing data sets and GIS products. Additionally, valuable infrastructure and logistical support capabilities were analyzed , helping the SDT and CCEO to create an implementation strategy for the experiment plan.
Visiting the potential sites is an important step in the advancement of the ABoVE field campaign. It provides the CCEO with the first hand experience of the logistical obstacles that can arise in the unique ecosystems of the Arctic, as well as gives the CCEO a face to face introduction to the people that could potentially play a major role in ABoVE. The group was able to meet with the camp managers, logistical coordinators, government land managers, researchers, and support staff from a wide array of research and government organizations, thereby laying a stronger foundation for the work ahead.
In late August, the next phase of site visits will take place in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada. The group will visit a series of research stations and have a wide range of meetings with local government, native tribal leadership, and research entities. In addition to the scientific outreach, the CCEO will be gathering logistical information about future use of the research sites, allowing the development of the Experiment Plan to include up-to-date information on the real on-the-ground conditions, access issues, scientific data gaps, and willing research partners.
Photo albums:
- Fairbanks
- Dalton Highway
- Toolik Lake
- Barrow
• Check out the NGEE Blog featuring our visit to Barrow.
