Road Effects at Airport Study Site, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, Summer 2015

This data report contains methods and data from transects, permanent vegetation plots, and permafrost boreholes sampled in summer-fall 2015 at the Airport Site at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, for the Arctic Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (ArcSEES). The project, "Cumulative effects of Arctic oil development—planning and designing for sustainability," was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF Grant Nr. 1233854). The study site consists of three transects located near the Deadhorse Airport. This builds on data collected in 2014 at a site near Lake Colleen. A forthcoming data report will contain additional data from both sites collected from fall 2015 to summer 2016. The main objectives of the 2014 field program were to document the extent and effects of road dust and road-related flooding to the topography, landforms, permafrost, soils and vegetation near the Spine Road—the oldest, most heavily traveled road in the Prudhoe Bay region. A full description of the project goals, methods, data and conclusions from the 2014 field season is in Alaska Geobotany Center Data Report AGC 15-01 (Walker et al., 2015).
Objectives of the Summer 2015 field program were similar to those in 2014, except the focus of the study was three new transects established near the Deadhorse Airport and the northern terminus of the Dalton Highway at Milepost 414. This site offers some contrasts to Colleen Site A, including extensive dry thermokarst terrain with well-developed high-centered polygons along Transect 3, located southeast of the Dalton High‐way between the road and the Sagavanirktok River, and terrain in a heavily disturbed area northwest of the road where Transect 4 was established, that is mostly continuously flooded due to drainage being blocked by the road berm. Transect 5 was established to provide better options for permafrost coring on the west side of the road, since deep flooding and gravel deposits from previous flood events prevented coring on Transect 4. Transect 5 also provides an approximate local analog of the conditions that existed prior to road construction. Data were collected on all three transects during 1-10 August and 16-23 September 2015. Another coring site, Sagavanirktok River Site 1 (SR-1), was established south of the Airport Site along the Sagavanirktok River, where local destruction of the highway caused by flooding from the Sagavanirktok River in spring 2015 created a major disturbance (Shur et al., 2016). More info: http://www.geobotany.uaf.edu/arcsees/

本数据报告包含2015年夏秋季在阿拉斯加普拉德霍湾机场站点采集的样带（transects）、永久植被样方（permanent vegetation plots）及多年冻土钻孔（permafrost boreholes）的方法与数据，这些数据为北极科学、工程与可持续发展教育项目（Arctic Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability, ArcSEES）所用。该项目“北极石油开发的累积效应——可持续发展的规划与设计”由美国国家科学基金会资助（NSF Grant Nr. 1233854）。研究站点包括位于Deadhorse机场附近的三条样带，其数据基于2014年在Colleen湖附近站点采集的资料。即将发布的数据报告将包含2015年秋季至2016年夏季从上述两个站点采集的补充数据。

2014年野外项目的主要目标是记录Spine Road（普拉德霍湾地区最古老、交通最繁忙的道路）附近道路扬尘及道路相关洪水对地形、地貌、多年冻土、土壤及植被的影响范围与程度。2014年野外季的项目目标、方法、数据及结论详见阿拉斯加植物地理学中心数据报告AGC 15-01（Walker等，2015）。

2015年夏季野外项目的目标与2014年相似，但研究重点为Deadhorse机场附近及道尔顿公路414英里处北端点设立的三条新样带。该站点与Colleen A站点存在若干差异，包括：3号样带位于道尔顿公路东南侧、公路与萨加瓦尼克托克河之间，沿线分布着广泛的干旱热融喀斯特地貌（thermokarst terrain）及发育良好的高中心多边形（high-centered polygons）；4号样带位于公路西北侧受严重干扰区域，因路堤（road berm）阻断排水而长期持续积水。由于4号样带受前期洪水导致的深积水及砾石沉积影响无法进行钻孔，故设立5号样带以提供公路西侧多年冻土钻孔的更佳选择；5号样带还可近似模拟道路建设前的本地原始条件。2015年8月1-10日及9月16-23日采集了三条样带的全部数据。

另一个钻孔站点——萨加瓦尼克托克河1号站点（SR-1）设立于机场站点南侧沿河区域，2015年春季该河洪水导致公路局部损毁，造成严重干扰（Shur等，2016）。更多信息：http://www.geobotany.uaf.edu/arcsees/