Broad-scale lake and permafrost dynamics in the Western Alaska LCC region

In this project we focus on the dynamics of lake habitat change in major lake districts of the Western Alaska LCC (WA LCC) region in relation to permafrost change. Land, resource, and wildlife managers as well as local communities in Western Alaska need spatially explicit information to (1) quantify past lake habitat change due to drying, drainage, infilling, or formation; (2) identify overarching spatial patterns that could be correlated to climate, permafrost, or hydrological change; and (3) project future habitat changes, implement habitat conservation plans, and assess the stability of freshwater and traditional water resources for communities. We will focus on three tasks:

1. Determine historical lake loss or gain in key lake districts in the WA LCC region from 1950-2010 using medium and fine resolution remote sensing;
2. Investigate causes of lake loss such as catastrophic drainage or drying using remote sensing and field surveys;
3. Expand the knowledge on permafrost and its impact on lake stability in a broad variety of landscape types of the WA LCC using ground data and predictive one-dimensional permafrost modeling for specific landscape types and driven by climate predictions from the Scenario Network for Alaska Planning (SNAP).