Map of orange stream observations across Arctic Inventory and Monitoring Network (ARCN) parks in northern Alaska.
Carson A Baughman
Landscape modeling via GIS; Restoration Ecology; Great Basin, Boreal, and Arctic ecosystems; Terrestrial plant ecology; Population/community ecology; Wildlife management; Species/habitat conservation
Professional Experience
2014 - Present Geographer, USGS, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage
2010 - 2014 Graduate Research Assistant with Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
2009 - 2010 Research Technician with Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
2008 - 2009 Research Technician for Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana
2004 - 2008 Research Technician, Bureau of Land Management and The Nature Conservancy - Ely, NV
Education and Certifications
M.S. 2013 University of Alaska Fairbanks Natural Resource Management
B.A. 2008 University of Montana, Missoula Biology/Ecology
Affiliations and Memberships*
American Geophysical Union
Honors and Awards
2012 - Otto William Geist Research Fellowship
2011 - Dave and Rachel Hopkins Fellowship
2008 - University of Montana Golden Key
2008 - University of Montana President’s Outstanding Senior Award - Most outstanding graduate in Ecology
2008 - University of Montana Honors Graduate
Science and Products
The Rusting of Arctic Rivers: Freshwater Ecosystems Respond to Rapidly Uptaking Metals
Q&A: Arctic Rivers Project
Compilation of Historical Water Temperature Data for Large Rivers in Alaska using the Landsat Satellite Archive
Ecosystems on the Edge: Landscape and Fire Ecology of Forests, Deserts, and Tundra
Historical Landsat-Derived Water Surface Temperature for Three Large Alaska Rivers 1984-2022
Estimates of Iron Mineralization in Select Reaches of Three Alaska Arctic Rivers Derived from Historical Landsat Imagery
Rasters of Observed Aufeis Deposits Within Rivers of the 1002 Area Based on Historical Landsat Imagery, 1985-2022
Land Cover Estimates for the Kenai Peninsula Lowlands; 1973, 2002, and 2017
LIDAR Point Cloud Data of Nogohabara Sand Dunes, Alaska; September 2015
Map of orange stream observations across Arctic Inventory and Monitoring Network (ARCN) parks in northern Alaska.
A stony islet in one of the many ponds of Icy Point.
A stony islet in one of the many ponds of Icy Point.
A true ice worm (Mesenchytraeus solifugus) on the La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park.
A true ice worm (Mesenchytraeus solifugus) on the La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park.
A comparison of contemporary and historical hydrology and water quality in the foothills and coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Arctic Slope, northern Alaska
Unrecorded tundra fires of the Arctic Slope, Alaska USA
Comparison of historical water temperature measurements with landsat analysis ready data provisional surface temperature estimates for the Yukon River in Alaska
Four decades of land-cover change on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska: Detecting disturbance-influenced vegetation shifts using landsat legacy data
A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic
Remotely sensing the morphometrics and dynamics of a cold region dune field using historical aerial photography and airborne LiDAR data
Younger-Dryas cooling and sea-ice feedbacks were prominent features of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Arctic Alaska
Presence of rapidly degrading permafrost plateaus in south-central Alaska
Reconstructing turbidity in a glacially influenced lake using the Landsat TM and ETM+ surface reflectance climate data record archive, Lake Clark, Alaska
Soil surface organic layers in Arctic Alaska: spatial distribution, rates of formation, and microclimatic effects
Science and Products
- Science
The Rusting of Arctic Rivers: Freshwater Ecosystems Respond to Rapidly Uptaking Metals
The water quality of streams and rivers in the Arctic is sensitive to rapid climate change and altered disturbance regimes.Q&A: Arctic Rivers Project
Alaska is home to numerous cultural and linguistic Indigenous groups and the largest number of Federally Recognized Tribes in the United States. Indigenous Alaskans, often living in rural remote communities, are facing multiple impacts due to climate change. As infrastructure, landscapes, and subsistence resources continue to be impacted by warming temperatures, the safety, well-being, and...Compilation of Historical Water Temperature Data for Large Rivers in Alaska using the Landsat Satellite Archive
Water temperature plays a large role in freshwater ecosystems in the Arctic and sub-Arctic. It affects the physical and biological features of rivers, like how the water interacts with the landscape and the life cycles of organisms that live in the river. For example, unseasonably warm water temperatures in Alaska’s large rivers in 2019 caused large numbers of salmon to die before they could reachEcosystems on the Edge: Landscape and Fire Ecology of Forests, Deserts, and Tundra
Climate changes and interacting disturbances such as wildfires, insect and disease outbreaks, and erosion and flooding can perturb and reorganize ecosystems. - Data
Historical Landsat-Derived Water Surface Temperature for Three Large Alaska Rivers 1984-2022
This data package includes 17,014 pairs of raster geotiffs. Each pair is made up of two geotiff rasters derived from historical observations from Landsat satellites (04-09) over the Yukon, Kuskokwim, and Tanana rivers in Alaska. One raster reports estimated mid-day water surface temperature (ST) in degrees Celsius (deg_Cc). The second raster reports the surface temperature quality assessment (sST_Estimates of Iron Mineralization in Select Reaches of Three Alaska Arctic Rivers Derived from Historical Landsat Imagery
These data are in three tables each reporting estimated iron mineralization within stream reaches from three arctic rivers in northwestern Alaska on select days between July-August, 1985-2022. The relative magnitude of iron mineralization was measured using a remotely sensed iron index calculated from available Level 2, Collection 2, Tier 1 Landsat Surface Reflectance products derived by the USGSRasters of Observed Aufeis Deposits Within Rivers of the 1002 Area Based on Historical Landsat Imagery, 1985-2022
These data comprise 505 unique geospatial raster datasets which describe persistent river ice (aufeis) occurrence within floodplains of select rivers and creeks in the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northern Alaska. Each raster is derived from a historical observation made by one of five Landsat satellites. Surface reflectance in the green and shortwave infrared wavelengths arLand Cover Estimates for the Kenai Peninsula Lowlands; 1973, 2002, and 2017
These raster images represent continuous surfaces of estimated land cover types and probabilities for the western Kenai Peninsula circa 1973, circa 2002, and circa 2017.LIDAR Point Cloud Data of Nogohabara Sand Dunes, Alaska; September 2015
This dataset provides information needed to reproduce a digital model of the Nogahabara Dune Field located in interior Alaska. The Nogahabara Dunes represent one of three active inland dune fields found in Alaska today. In an effort to update geospatial coverage of the dunes lidar data was collected over Nogahabara Sand Dunes in September 2015 using a 1955 Cessna 180 aircraft equipped with a Riegl - Multimedia
Map of orange stream observations across ARCN parks in northern AlaskaMap of orange stream observations across ARCN parks in northern Alaska
Map of orange stream observations across Arctic Inventory and Monitoring Network (ARCN) parks in northern Alaska.
Map of orange stream observations across Arctic Inventory and Monitoring Network (ARCN) parks in northern Alaska.
A stony islet in one of the many ponds of Icy PointA stony islet in one of the many ponds of Icy PointA stony islet in one of the many ponds of Icy Point.
A stony islet in one of the many ponds of Icy Point.
A True Ice Worm on La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National ParkA True Ice Worm on La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National ParkA true ice worm (Mesenchytraeus solifugus) on the La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park.
A true ice worm (Mesenchytraeus solifugus) on the La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park.
- Publications
A comparison of contemporary and historical hydrology and water quality in the foothills and coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Arctic Slope, northern Alaska
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a unique landscape in northern Alaska with limited water resources, substantial biodiversity of rare and threatened species, as well as oil and gas resources. The region has unique hydrology related to perennial springs, and the formation of large aufeis fields—sheets of ice that grow in the river channels where water reaches the surface in the winter and freAuthorsJoshua C. Koch, Heather Best, Carson Baughman, Charles Couvillion, Michael P. Carey, Jeff ConawayUnrecorded tundra fires of the Arctic Slope, Alaska USA
Few fires are known to have burned the tundra of the Arctic Slope north of the Brooks Range in Alaska, USA. A total of 90 fires between 1969 and 2022 are known. Because fire has been rare, old burns can be detected by the traces of thermokarst and distinct vegetation they leave in otherwise uniform tundra, which are visible in aerial photograph archives. Several prehistoric tundra burns have beenAuthorsEric A. Miller, Benjamin M. Jones, Carson Baughman, Randi R. Jandt, Jennifer L. Jenkins, David A. YokelComparison of historical water temperature measurements with landsat analysis ready data provisional surface temperature estimates for the Yukon River in Alaska
Water temperature is a key element of freshwater ecological systems and a critical element within natural resource monitoring programs. In the absence of in situ measurements, remote sensing platforms can indirectly measure water temperature over time and space. The Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center has processed archived Landsat imagery into analysis ready data (ARD), includinAuthorsCarson Baughman, Jeff ConawayFour decades of land-cover change on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska: Detecting disturbance-influenced vegetation shifts using landsat legacy data
Across Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, disturbance events have removed large areas of forest over the last half century. Simultaneously, succession and landscape evolution have facilitated forest regrowth and expansion. Detecting forest loss within known pulse disturbance events is often straightforward given that reduction in tree cover is a readily detectable and measurable land-cover change. Land-covAuthorsCarson Baughman, Rachel A. Loehman, Dawn R. Magness, Lisa Saperstein, Rosemary L. SherriffA decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic
Eroding permafrost coasts are indicators and integrators of changes in the Arctic System as they are susceptible to the combined effects of declining sea ice extent, increases in open water duration, more frequent and impactful storms, sea-level rise, and warming permafrost. However, few observation sites in the Arctic have yet to link decadal-scale erosion rates with changing environmental conditAuthorsBenjamin M. Jones, Louise M. Farquharson, Carson Baughman, Richard M. Buzard, Christopher D. Arp, Guido Grosse, Diana L. Bull, Frank Günther, Ingmar Nitze, Frank Urban, Jeremy L. Kasper, Jennifer M. Frederick, Matthew A. Thomas, Craig Jones, Alejandro Mota, Scott Dallimore, Craig E. Tweedie, Christopher V. Maio, Daniel H. Mann, Bruce M. Richmond, Ann E. Gibbs, Ming Xiao, Torsten Sachs, Go Iwahana, Mikhail Z. Kanevskiy, Vladimir E. RomanovskyRemotely sensing the morphometrics and dynamics of a cold region dune field using historical aerial photography and airborne LiDAR data
This study uses an airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) survey, historical aerial photography and historical climate data to describe the character and dynamics of the Nogahabara Sand Dunes, a sub-Arctic dune field in interior Alaska’s discontinuous permafrost zone. The Nogahabara Sand Dunes consist of a 43-km2 area of active transverse and barchanoid dunes within a 3200-km2 area of vegetaAuthorsCarson Baughman, Benjamin M. Jones, Karin L. Bodony, Daniel H. Mann, Christopher F. Larsen, Emily A. Himmelstoss, Jeremy SmithYounger-Dryas cooling and sea-ice feedbacks were prominent features of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Arctic Alaska
Declining sea-ice extent is currently amplifying climate warming in the Arctic. Instrumental records at high latitudes are too short-term to provide sufficient historical context for these trends, so paleoclimate archives are needed to better understand the functioning of the sea ice-albedo feedback. Here we use the oxygen isotope values of wood cellulose in living and sub-fossil willow shrubs (δ1AuthorsBenjamin V. Gaglioti, Daniel H. Mann, Matthew J. Wooller, Benjamin M. Jones, Gregory C. Wiles, Pamela Groves, Michael L. Kunz, Carson Baughman, Richard E. ReanierPresence of rapidly degrading permafrost plateaus in south-central Alaska
Permafrost presence is determined by a complex interaction of climatic, topographic, and ecological conditions operating over long time scales. In particular, vegetation and organic layer characteristics may act to protect permafrost in regions with a mean annual air temperature (MAAT) above 0 °C. In this study, we document the presence of residual permafrost plateaus in the western Kenai PeninsulAuthorsBenjamin M. Jones, Carson Baughman, Vladimir E. Romanovsky, Andrew D. Parsekian, Esther Babcock, Eva Stephani, Miriam C. Jones, Guido Grosse, Edward E BergReconstructing turbidity in a glacially influenced lake using the Landsat TM and ETM+ surface reflectance climate data record archive, Lake Clark, Alaska
Lake Clark is an important nursery lake for sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska, the most productive wild salmon fishery in the world. Reductions in water clarity within Alaska lake systems as a result of increased glacial runoff have been shown to reduce salmon production via reduced abundance of zooplankton and macroinvertebrates. In this study, we reconsAuthorsCarson Baughman, Benjamin M. Jones, Krista K. Bartz, Daniel B. Young, Christian E. ZimmermanSoil surface organic layers in Arctic Alaska: spatial distribution, rates of formation, and microclimatic effects
Organic layers of living and dead vegetation cover the ground surface in many permafrost landscapes and play important roles in ecosystem processes. These soil surface organic layers (SSOLs) store large amounts of carbon and buffer the underlying permafrost and its contained carbon from changes in aboveground climate. Understanding the dynamics of SSOLs is a prerequisite for predicting how permafrAuthorsCarson Baughman, Daniel H. Mann, David L. Verbyla, Michael L. Kunz
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government