Simultaneous aircraft and land-based measurements of the near surface soil and meteorological conditions within the coastal plain of the alaskan north slope are combined to produce an overall energy balance during the early summer growing season (May 30-July 1). The pertinent aircraft measurements consisted of surface temperatures, Normalized Difference Vegetation Indices, and surface/atmosphere fluxes of total radiation, sensible heat, and latent heat. The land-based measurements consisted of continuous probe soil temperature distributions within the first meter (approx. 20 cm thawed soil and approx. 80 cm frozen soil) and twice weekly measurements of thawed and water-logged layer thicknesses.
The measurements were combined to define the thermal properties and to develop an energy transfer model of the near surface soil. The thermal properties and model were used with aircraft data from other regions of the coastal plain to estimate near surface soil conditions for a section of the coastal plain running from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska (Lat. = 70.3o) south to the foothills of the Brooks Range (Lat. = 69.4o).
The model was also used for one-dimensional simulations over time with current environmental conditions and possible regional environmental change scenarios. Regional changes investigated with the simulation included changes in vegetation cover, precipitation, and average annual temperature.
Steven B. Brooks National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division 456 South Illinois Avenue P. O. Box 2456 Oak Ridge, TN 37831-2456 Tel: (423) 576-9148 FAX: (423) 576-1327 email: brooks@atdd.noaa.gov