Abstract
Arctic tundra landscapes are composed of a complex mosaic of patterned ground features, varying in soil moisture, vegetation composition, and surface hydrology over small spatial scales (10–100 m). The importance of microtopography and associated geomorphic landforms in influencing ecosystem structure and function is well founded, however, spatial data products describing local to regional scale distribution of patterned ground or polygonal tundra geomorphology are largely unavailable. Thus, our understanding of local impacts on regional scale processes (e.g., carbon dynamics) may be limited. We produced two key spatiotemporal datasets spanning the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska (~60,000 km2) to evaluate climate-geomorphological controls on arctic tundra productivity change, using (1) a novel 30 m classification of polygonal tundra geomorphology and (2) decadal-trends in surface greenness using the Landsat archive (1999–2014). These datasets can be easily integrated and adapted in an array of local to regional applications such as (1) upscaling plot-level measurements (e.g., carbon/energy fluxes), (2) mapping of soils, vegetation, or permafrost, and/or (3) initializing ecosystem biogeochemistry, hydrology, and/or habitat modeling.
Highlights
Background & SummaryArctic polygonal tundra landscapes are highly heterogeneous, disproportionately distributed across mesotopographic gradients, varying in surficial geology, ground ice content, and soil thermal regimes[1,2]
We present two geospatial data products, (1) a 30 m resolution tundra geomorphology map, and (2) a decadal scale Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) trend map (1999–2014), developed to represent the landform heterogeneity and associated productivity change across the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) of northern Alaska (~60,000 km2)
We focused this mapping initiative on the Arctic Coastal tundra region of northern Alaska, which stretches from the western coast along the Chukchi sea to the Beaufort coastal plains at the AlaskanCanadian border
Summary
Arctic polygonal tundra landscapes are highly heterogeneous, disproportionately distributed across mesotopographic gradients, varying in surficial geology, ground ice content, and soil thermal regimes[1,2]. Fine-scale differences in microtopography have been shown to control a variety of key ecosystem attributes and processes that influence ecosystem function, such as snow distribution and depth[13], surface and subsurface hydrology[13,14], vegetation composition[2,11,12], carbon dioxide and methane fluxes[5,6,15,16], soil carbon and nitrogen content[17,18,19], and an array of soil characteristics[18,20]. We present two geospatial data products, (1) a 30 m resolution tundra geomorphology map, and (2) a decadal scale NDVI trend map (1999–2014), developed to represent the landform heterogeneity and associated productivity change across the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) of northern Alaska (~60,000 km[2]). Produced geospatial datasets will be useful for an array of applications, some of which may include the (1) upscaling of plot-level measurements (e.g., carbon and energy fluxes), (2) mapping of soils, vegetation, or permafrost, and/or (3) initializing ecosystem biogeochemistry, hydrology, and/or habitat modeling
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