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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

Orange colored water flowing into Kugororuk River, Alaska. Brown ground with vegetation, snow patches with mountains sky.

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.
By
Alaska Science Center
The Rusting of Arctic Rivers: Freshwater Ecosystems Respond to Rapidly Uptaking Metals

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.
Learn More
Flames consume woody fuels in a managed wildfire, New Mexico

Ecosystems 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.
By
Land Change Science Program, Land Management Research Program, Alaska Science Center, Wildland Fire Science
Ecosystems on the Edge: Landscape and Fire Ecology of Forests, Deserts, and Tundra

Ecosystems 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.
Learn More
Yukon River near Eagle, Alaska

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...
By
Alaska Science Center
Q&A: Arctic Rivers Project

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...
Learn More
Fish River on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska

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...
By
Climate Adaptation Science Centers
Compilation of Historical Water Temperature Data for Large Rivers in Alaska using the Landsat Satellite Archive

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 reach
Learn More

Historical Extent of Metal Mobilization Within Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) Spawning Habitat of the Noatak River Drainage Based on Landsat and Sentinel Data, 1986-2024 Historical Extent of Metal Mobilization Within Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) Spawning Habitat of the Noatak River Drainage Based on Landsat and Sentinel Data, 1986-2024

This data release provides a vector geospatial shapefile of river and creek segments within Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) habitat in the Noatak River drainage (DeCicco 1985) classified for metal impairment between 1986 and 2024. The impairment classifications were based on visual inspection of Landsat and Sentinel satellite imagery. Also provided are the satellite images (as raster...
By
Alaska Science Center

Corrected Fire Perimeters of Alaska's National Wildlife Refuges Corrected Fire Perimeters of Alaska's National Wildlife Refuges

This data package includes 481 geospatial vector polygons of historic fire perimeters associated with National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska. These polygons, originally held within the Alaska Large Fire Database (ALFD), were reviewed and found to have geospatial inaccuracies with respect to the fire they represent. They were corrected and updated based on a variety of remote sensing...
By
Alaska Science Center

Historical Landsat-Derived Water Surface Temperature for Three Large Alaska Rivers 1984-2022 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...
By
Alaska Science Center

Estimates of Iron Mineralization in Select Reaches of Three Alaska Arctic Rivers Derived from Historical Landsat Imagery 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...
By
Alaska Science Center

Rasters of Observed Aufeis Deposits Within Rivers of the 1002 Area Based on Historical Landsat Imagery, 1985-2022 Rasters 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...
By
Alaska Science Center

Land Cover Estimates for the Kenai Peninsula Lowlands, 1973, 2002, and 2017 Land Cover Estimates for the Kenai Peninsula Lowlands, 1973, 2002, and 2017

These raster images represent continuous surfaces of estimated land cover types for the western Kenai Peninsula circa 1973, circa 2002, and circa 2017. The estimated land cover types (Needleleaf Forest, Mixed Forest, Broadleaf Forest, Herbaceous, Wetland, Alpine, Barren, Shrub, Water) were derived from a random forest classifier executed in R (version 3.5.0). Predictor variables from...
By
Alaska Science Center

Lidar Point Cloud Data of Nogahabara Sand Dunes, Alaska, September 2015 Lidar Point Cloud Data of Nogahabara 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...
By
Alaska Science Center
Map of Arctic rivers study sites with six stars marking sites. Three aerial images with orange streams below map.
Map of orange stream observations across ARCN parks in northern Alaska
Map of orange stream observations across ARCN parks in northern Alaska
Map of Arctic rivers study sites with six stars marking sites. Three aerial images with orange streams below map.

Map of orange stream observations across ARCN parks in northern Alaska

Map 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.

By
Alaska Science Center
Map of Arctic rivers study sites with six stars marking sites. Three aerial images with orange streams below map.

Map of orange stream observations across ARCN parks in northern Alaska

Map 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.

By
Alaska Science Center
two photos of ice coring work on a frozen lake: a hand holds a filled coring tube upright and another core laid horizontally
Lake sediment coring
Lake sediment coring
two photos of ice coring work on a frozen lake: a hand holds a filled coring tube upright and another core laid horizontally

Lake sediment coring

Lake sediment coring

Manual piston coring is used for lakes <20-m water depth and can obtain up to 15-20m sediment core.

By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Quaternary Research Facility
two photos of ice coring work on a frozen lake: a hand holds a filled coring tube upright and another core laid horizontally

Lake sediment coring

Lake sediment coring

Manual piston coring is used for lakes <20-m water depth and can obtain up to 15-20m sediment core.

By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Quaternary Research Facility
A stony islet in an Icy Point pond
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 stony islet in an Icy Point pond

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 stony islet in one of the many ponds of Icy Point.

By
Alaska Science Center
A stony islet in an Icy Point pond

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 stony islet in one of the many ponds of Icy Point.

By
Alaska Science Center
An ice worm on the tip of a finger
A True Ice Worm on La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park
A True Ice Worm on La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park
An ice worm on the tip of a finger

A True Ice Worm on La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park

A True Ice Worm on La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park

A true ice worm (Mesenchytraeus solifugus) on the La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park. 

By
Alaska Science Center
An ice worm on the tip of a finger

A True Ice Worm on La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park

A True Ice Worm on La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park

A true ice worm (Mesenchytraeus solifugus) on the La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park. 

By
Alaska Science Center

The dominance and growth of shallow groundwater resources in continuous permafrost environments The dominance and growth of shallow groundwater resources in continuous permafrost environments

Water is a limited resource in Arctic watersheds with continuous permafrost because freezing conditions in winter and the impermeability of permafrost limit storage and connectivity between surface water and deep groundwater. However, groundwater can still be an important source of surface water in such settings, feeding springs and large aufeis fields that are abundant in cold regions...
Authors
Joshua Koch, Craig Connolly, Carson Baughman, Marisa Repasch, Heather Best, Andrew G. Hunt
By
Alaska Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Metal mobilization from thawing permafrost to aquatic ecosystems is driving rusting of Arctic streams Metal mobilization from thawing permafrost to aquatic ecosystems is driving rusting of Arctic streams

Climate change in the Arctic is altering watershed hydrologic processes and biogeochemistry. Here, we present an emergent threat to Arctic watersheds based on observations from 75 streams in Alaska’s Brooks Range that recently turned orange, reflecting increased loading of iron and toxic metals. Using remote sensing, we constrain the timing of stream discoloration to the last 10 years, a...
Authors
Jonathan O’Donnell, Michael Carey, Joshua Koch, Carson Baughman, Kenneth Hill, Christian Zimmerman, Patrick F. Sullivan, Roman Dial, Timothy J. Lyons, David Cooper, Brett A. Poulin
By
Alaska Science Center

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 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...
Authors
Joshua Koch, Heather Best, Carson Baughman, Charles Couvillion, Michael Carey, Jeff Conaway
By
Alaska Science Center

Unrecorded tundra fires of the Arctic Slope, Alaska USA Unrecorded 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...
Authors
Eric Miller, Benjamin M. Jones, Carson Baughman, Randi Jandt, Jennifer Jenkins, David Yokel
By
Alaska Science Center

Comparison of historical water temperature measurements with landsat analysis ready data provisional surface temperature estimates for the Yukon River in Alaska Comparison 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)...
Authors
Carson Baughman, Jeff Conaway
By
Alaska Science Center

Four decades of land-cover change on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska: Detecting disturbance-influenced vegetation shifts using landsat legacy data Four 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...
Authors
Carson Baughman, Rachel Loehman, Dawn Magness, Lisa Saperstein, Rosemary L. Sherriff
By
Alaska Science Center

A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic A 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...
Authors
Benjamin M. Jones, Louise Farquharson, Carson Baughman, Richard M. Buzard, Christopher Arp, Guido Grosse, Diana Bull, Frank Gunther, Ingmar Nitze, Frank Urban, Jeremy L. Kasper, Jennifer Frederick, Matthew Thomas, Craig Jones, Alejandro Mota, Scott Dallimore, Craig Tweedie, Christopher Maio, Daniel Mann, Bruce Richmond, Ann Gibbs, Ming Xiao, Torsten Sachs, Go Iwahana, Mikhail Kanevskiy, Vladimir Romanovsky
By
Alaska Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Remotely sensing the morphometrics and dynamics of a cold region dune field using historical aerial photography and airborne LiDAR data Remotely 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...
Authors
Carson Baughman, Benjamin Jones, Karin Bodony, Daniel Mann, Christopher Larsen, Emily A. Himmelstoss, Jeremy Smith
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Alaska Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Younger-Dryas cooling and sea-ice feedbacks were prominent features of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Arctic Alaska Younger-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...
Authors
Benjamin Gaglioti, Daniel Mann, Matthew Wooller, Benjamin Jones, Gregory Wiles, Pamela Groves, Michael Kunz, Carson Baughman, Richard Reanier
By
Alaska Science Center

Presence of rapidly degrading permafrost plateaus in south-central Alaska Presence 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...
Authors
Benjamin Jones, Carson Baughman, Vladimir Romanovsky, Andrew Parsekian, Esther Babcock, Eva Stephani, Miriam Jones, Guido Grosse, Edward Berg
By
Alaska Science Center

Reconstructing turbidity in a glacially influenced lake using the Landsat TM and ETM+ surface reflectance climate data record archive, Lake Clark, Alaska Reconstructing 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...
Authors
Carson Baughman, Benjamin Jones, Krista Bartz, Daniel Young, Christian Zimmerman
By
Alaska Science Center

Soil surface organic layers in Arctic Alaska: spatial distribution, rates of formation, and microclimatic effects Soil 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...
Authors
Carson Baughman, Daniel H. Mann, David Verbyla, Michael Kunz
By
Alaska Science Center

Science and Products

Orange colored water flowing into Kugororuk River, Alaska. Brown ground with vegetation, snow patches with mountains sky.

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.
By
Alaska Science Center
The Rusting of Arctic Rivers: Freshwater Ecosystems Respond to Rapidly Uptaking Metals

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.
Learn More
Flames consume woody fuels in a managed wildfire, New Mexico

Ecosystems 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.
By
Land Change Science Program, Land Management Research Program, Alaska Science Center, Wildland Fire Science
Ecosystems on the Edge: Landscape and Fire Ecology of Forests, Deserts, and Tundra

Ecosystems 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.
Learn More
Yukon River near Eagle, Alaska

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...
By
Alaska Science Center
Q&A: Arctic Rivers Project

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...
Learn More
Fish River on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska

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...
By
Climate Adaptation Science Centers
Compilation of Historical Water Temperature Data for Large Rivers in Alaska using the Landsat Satellite Archive

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 reach
Learn More

Historical Extent of Metal Mobilization Within Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) Spawning Habitat of the Noatak River Drainage Based on Landsat and Sentinel Data, 1986-2024 Historical Extent of Metal Mobilization Within Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) Spawning Habitat of the Noatak River Drainage Based on Landsat and Sentinel Data, 1986-2024

This data release provides a vector geospatial shapefile of river and creek segments within Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) habitat in the Noatak River drainage (DeCicco 1985) classified for metal impairment between 1986 and 2024. The impairment classifications were based on visual inspection of Landsat and Sentinel satellite imagery. Also provided are the satellite images (as raster...
By
Alaska Science Center

Corrected Fire Perimeters of Alaska's National Wildlife Refuges Corrected Fire Perimeters of Alaska's National Wildlife Refuges

This data package includes 481 geospatial vector polygons of historic fire perimeters associated with National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska. These polygons, originally held within the Alaska Large Fire Database (ALFD), were reviewed and found to have geospatial inaccuracies with respect to the fire they represent. They were corrected and updated based on a variety of remote sensing...
By
Alaska Science Center

Historical Landsat-Derived Water Surface Temperature for Three Large Alaska Rivers 1984-2022 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...
By
Alaska Science Center

Estimates of Iron Mineralization in Select Reaches of Three Alaska Arctic Rivers Derived from Historical Landsat Imagery 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...
By
Alaska Science Center

Rasters of Observed Aufeis Deposits Within Rivers of the 1002 Area Based on Historical Landsat Imagery, 1985-2022 Rasters 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...
By
Alaska Science Center

Land Cover Estimates for the Kenai Peninsula Lowlands, 1973, 2002, and 2017 Land Cover Estimates for the Kenai Peninsula Lowlands, 1973, 2002, and 2017

These raster images represent continuous surfaces of estimated land cover types for the western Kenai Peninsula circa 1973, circa 2002, and circa 2017. The estimated land cover types (Needleleaf Forest, Mixed Forest, Broadleaf Forest, Herbaceous, Wetland, Alpine, Barren, Shrub, Water) were derived from a random forest classifier executed in R (version 3.5.0). Predictor variables from...
By
Alaska Science Center

Lidar Point Cloud Data of Nogahabara Sand Dunes, Alaska, September 2015 Lidar Point Cloud Data of Nogahabara 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...
By
Alaska Science Center
Map of Arctic rivers study sites with six stars marking sites. Three aerial images with orange streams below map.
Map of orange stream observations across ARCN parks in northern Alaska
Map of orange stream observations across ARCN parks in northern Alaska
Map of Arctic rivers study sites with six stars marking sites. Three aerial images with orange streams below map.

Map of orange stream observations across ARCN parks in northern Alaska

Map 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.

By
Alaska Science Center
Map of Arctic rivers study sites with six stars marking sites. Three aerial images with orange streams below map.

Map of orange stream observations across ARCN parks in northern Alaska

Map 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.

By
Alaska Science Center
two photos of ice coring work on a frozen lake: a hand holds a filled coring tube upright and another core laid horizontally
Lake sediment coring
Lake sediment coring
two photos of ice coring work on a frozen lake: a hand holds a filled coring tube upright and another core laid horizontally

Lake sediment coring

Lake sediment coring

Manual piston coring is used for lakes <20-m water depth and can obtain up to 15-20m sediment core.

By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Quaternary Research Facility
two photos of ice coring work on a frozen lake: a hand holds a filled coring tube upright and another core laid horizontally

Lake sediment coring

Lake sediment coring

Manual piston coring is used for lakes <20-m water depth and can obtain up to 15-20m sediment core.

By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Quaternary Research Facility
A stony islet in an Icy Point pond
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 stony islet in an Icy Point pond

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 stony islet in one of the many ponds of Icy Point.

By
Alaska Science Center
A stony islet in an Icy Point pond

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 stony islet in one of the many ponds of Icy Point.

By
Alaska Science Center
An ice worm on the tip of a finger
A True Ice Worm on La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park
A True Ice Worm on La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park
An ice worm on the tip of a finger

A True Ice Worm on La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park

A True Ice Worm on La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park

A true ice worm (Mesenchytraeus solifugus) on the La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park. 

By
Alaska Science Center
An ice worm on the tip of a finger

A True Ice Worm on La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park

A True Ice Worm on La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park

A true ice worm (Mesenchytraeus solifugus) on the La Perouse Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park. 

By
Alaska Science Center

The dominance and growth of shallow groundwater resources in continuous permafrost environments The dominance and growth of shallow groundwater resources in continuous permafrost environments

Water is a limited resource in Arctic watersheds with continuous permafrost because freezing conditions in winter and the impermeability of permafrost limit storage and connectivity between surface water and deep groundwater. However, groundwater can still be an important source of surface water in such settings, feeding springs and large aufeis fields that are abundant in cold regions...
Authors
Joshua Koch, Craig Connolly, Carson Baughman, Marisa Repasch, Heather Best, Andrew G. Hunt
By
Alaska Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Metal mobilization from thawing permafrost to aquatic ecosystems is driving rusting of Arctic streams Metal mobilization from thawing permafrost to aquatic ecosystems is driving rusting of Arctic streams

Climate change in the Arctic is altering watershed hydrologic processes and biogeochemistry. Here, we present an emergent threat to Arctic watersheds based on observations from 75 streams in Alaska’s Brooks Range that recently turned orange, reflecting increased loading of iron and toxic metals. Using remote sensing, we constrain the timing of stream discoloration to the last 10 years, a...
Authors
Jonathan O’Donnell, Michael Carey, Joshua Koch, Carson Baughman, Kenneth Hill, Christian Zimmerman, Patrick F. Sullivan, Roman Dial, Timothy J. Lyons, David Cooper, Brett A. Poulin
By
Alaska Science Center

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 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...
Authors
Joshua Koch, Heather Best, Carson Baughman, Charles Couvillion, Michael Carey, Jeff Conaway
By
Alaska Science Center

Unrecorded tundra fires of the Arctic Slope, Alaska USA Unrecorded 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...
Authors
Eric Miller, Benjamin M. Jones, Carson Baughman, Randi Jandt, Jennifer Jenkins, David Yokel
By
Alaska Science Center

Comparison of historical water temperature measurements with landsat analysis ready data provisional surface temperature estimates for the Yukon River in Alaska Comparison 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)...
Authors
Carson Baughman, Jeff Conaway
By
Alaska Science Center

Four decades of land-cover change on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska: Detecting disturbance-influenced vegetation shifts using landsat legacy data Four 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...
Authors
Carson Baughman, Rachel Loehman, Dawn Magness, Lisa Saperstein, Rosemary L. Sherriff
By
Alaska Science Center

A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic A 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...
Authors
Benjamin M. Jones, Louise Farquharson, Carson Baughman, Richard M. Buzard, Christopher Arp, Guido Grosse, Diana Bull, Frank Gunther, Ingmar Nitze, Frank Urban, Jeremy L. Kasper, Jennifer Frederick, Matthew Thomas, Craig Jones, Alejandro Mota, Scott Dallimore, Craig Tweedie, Christopher Maio, Daniel Mann, Bruce Richmond, Ann Gibbs, Ming Xiao, Torsten Sachs, Go Iwahana, Mikhail Kanevskiy, Vladimir Romanovsky
By
Alaska Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Remotely sensing the morphometrics and dynamics of a cold region dune field using historical aerial photography and airborne LiDAR data Remotely 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...
Authors
Carson Baughman, Benjamin Jones, Karin Bodony, Daniel Mann, Christopher Larsen, Emily A. Himmelstoss, Jeremy Smith
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Alaska Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Younger-Dryas cooling and sea-ice feedbacks were prominent features of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Arctic Alaska Younger-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...
Authors
Benjamin Gaglioti, Daniel Mann, Matthew Wooller, Benjamin Jones, Gregory Wiles, Pamela Groves, Michael Kunz, Carson Baughman, Richard Reanier
By
Alaska Science Center

Presence of rapidly degrading permafrost plateaus in south-central Alaska Presence 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...
Authors
Benjamin Jones, Carson Baughman, Vladimir Romanovsky, Andrew Parsekian, Esther Babcock, Eva Stephani, Miriam Jones, Guido Grosse, Edward Berg
By
Alaska Science Center

Reconstructing turbidity in a glacially influenced lake using the Landsat TM and ETM+ surface reflectance climate data record archive, Lake Clark, Alaska Reconstructing 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...
Authors
Carson Baughman, Benjamin Jones, Krista Bartz, Daniel Young, Christian Zimmerman
By
Alaska Science Center

Soil surface organic layers in Arctic Alaska: spatial distribution, rates of formation, and microclimatic effects Soil 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...
Authors
Carson Baughman, Daniel H. Mann, David Verbyla, Michael Kunz
By
Alaska Science Center

*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

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