Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee Staff 152 Anchorage, Alaska Walter B

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VOLUME 12 SPRING/SUMMER 1998 A R C T I C R E S E A R C H O F T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S

1 I N T E R A G E N C Y A R C T I C R E S E A R C H P O L I C Y C O M M I T T E E About The journal Arctic Research of the United normal editorial process, manuscripts are not ref- States is for people and organizations interested in ereed for scientific content or merit since the jour- the learning about U.S. Government-financed Arctic nal is not intended as a means of reporting scien- research activities. It is published semi-annually tific research. Articles are generally invited and Journal (spring and fall) by the National Science Founda- are reviewed by agency staffs and others as appro- tion on behalf of the Interagency Arctic Research priate. Policy Committee and the Arctic Research Com- As indicated in the U.S. Arctic Research Plan, mission. Both the Interagency Committee and the research is defined differently by different agen- Commission were authorized under the Arctic cies. It may include basic and applied research, Research and Policy Act of 1984 (PL 98-373) and monitoring efforts, and other information-gathering established by Executive Order 12501 (January activities. The definition of Arctic according to the 28, 1985). Publication of the journal has been ARPA is “all United States and foreign territory approved by the Office of Management and north of the Arctic Circle and all United States ter- Budget. ritory north and west of the boundary formed by Arctic Research contains the Porcupine, Yukon, and Kuskokwim Rivers; all • Reports on current and planned U.S. Govern- contiguous seas, including the Arctic Ocean and ment-sponsored research in the Arctic; the Beaufort, Bering, and Chukchi Seas; and the • Reports of ARC and IARPC meetings; and Aleutian chain.” Areas outside of the boundary are • Summaries of other current and planned discussed in the journal when considered relevant Arctic research, including that of the State of to the broader scope of Arctic research. Alaska, local governments, the private sector Issues of the journal will report on Arctic topics and other nations; and and activities. Included will be reports of confer- Arctic Research is aimed at national and inter- ences and workshops, university-based research national audiences of government officials, scien- and activities of state and local governments and tists, engineers, educators, private and public public, private and resident organizations. Unsolic- groups, and residents of the Arctic. The emphasis ited nontechnical reports on research and related is on summary and survey articles covering U.S. activities are welcome. Government-sponsored or -funded research rather Address correspondence to Editor, Arctic Re- than on technical reports, and the articles are in- search, Arctic Research and Policy Staff, Office tended to be comprehensible to a nontechnical of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, audience. Although the articles go through the 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington VA 22203.

Cover Brown bear catching sockeye salmon (also known as red salmon) at Brooks Falls, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

2 VOLUME 12 SPRING/SUMMER 1998 A R C T I C R E S E A R C H O F T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S

Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee This issue of Arctic Research of the United States presents highlights Department of Agriculture and results of major fiscal year 1996 and 1997 Arctic research programs and selected projects of the Federal agenies. For more information, you Department of Commerce may contact the agency staff representatives listed on page 152. Department of Defense Department of Energy Department of Health and Human Services National Science Foundation 2 Department of the Interior Department of the Interior 10 Department of State Minerals Management Service 10 Department of Transportation Fish and Wildlife Service 22 Environmental Protection Agency National Park Service 28 Bureau of Land Management 39 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Geological Survey 44 National Science Foundation Department of Defense 57 Smithsonian Institution National Aeronautics and Space Administration 62 Office of Management and Budget Department of Commerce 72 Office of Science and Technology Policy Department of Agriculture 89 Department of Energy 92 Arctic Research Commission Department of Health and Human Services 98 George B. Newton, Jr., Chairman Smithsonian Institution 116 Arlington, Virginia Environmental Protection Agency 122 Richard K. Glenn Department of Transportation 127 Barrow, Alaska Department of State 133 E. Lee Gorsuch Anchorage, Alaska Seventh Biennial Report of the Interagency Arctic Research John E. Hobbie Policy Committee to the Congress 136 Woods Hole, Massachusetts Report of Meeting: Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee 147 James A. Palmer Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee Staff 152 Anchorage, Alaska Walter B. Parker Anchorage, Alaska John R. Roderick Anchorage, Alaska Neal F. Lane, Ex Officio Arlington, Virginia

Managing Editorial Committee Charles E. Myers, National Science Foundation—Editor John Haugh, Bureau of Land Management—Associate Editor David W. Cate, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory—Consulting Editor Editing and production: Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire Donna R. Valliere, Production Assistant

3 National Science Foundation National Science Foundation research is concerned with the entire Arctic region, including Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Svalbard, the Arctic Ocean, and adjacent seas, the upper atmosphere and near space. Research falls principally within eight major scientific disciplines: atmosphere, ocean, biology, earth science, glaciology, social science, engineering and science education.

National Science Foundation research is con- Funding (thousands) cerned with the entire Arctic region, including FY 96 FY 97 Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Svalbard, the Arctic Arctic Natural Science 10,382 10,316 Ocean and adjacent seas, the upper atmosphere Arctic System Science Prog 15,539 13,564 Arctic Social Sciences Prog 1,861 1,408 and near space. Research falls principally within Arctic Research Support 639 415 eight major scientific research areas: atmospheric Arctic Data/Info/Coord 339 364 science, ocean science, biology, earth science, Arctic Research Commission 500 500 glaciology, social science, engineering and science Arctic Logistics/Instrumentation 0* 4,148 Other NSF Science Programs 16,959 18,674 education. Total 46,219 49,389 The NSF supports a formal Arctic research program within the Office of Polar Programs (OPP). * Included with other programs in FY 96. Other Divisions and programs throughout NSF, primarily in the Directorate for Geosciences and the Arctic System Science Division of Environmental Biology in the Direc- torate for Biological Sciences, support research in The National Science Foundation established and on the Arctic as part of their overall funding. the Arctic System Science (ARCSS) program in Most research grants are awarded on the basis of 1989. ARCSS is structured to be a regional compo- unsolicited proposals and are merit reviewed. nent within the U.S. Global Change Research Pro- In FY 97, NSF awarded funds for 358 Arctic gram. Administration of the program uses review research projects at 130 institutions in 38 states and expertise and financial support from the Office of the District of Columbia. NSF’s support of Arctic Polar Programs, the Divisions of the Geosciences research, including facilities support and field oper- Directorate and other components of NSF as ations, over the past several years is shown below appropriate. ARCSS is coordinated and managed (in thousands of dollars). by the Office of Polar Programs. Through a series of workshops and interactions with a broad scientific community, ARCSS has developed goals and FY 92 FY 93 FY 94 FY 95 FY 96 FY 97 priorities aimed at understanding the role of the OPP 20,638 22,072 24,205 25,809 29,118 30,715 Arctic in global change and how the Arctic will Other 14,308 13,779 16,279 19,386 16,959 18,674 Total 34,946 35,851 40,484 45,195 46,219 49,389 respond to global change. ARCSS is an interdisciplinary program that examines the interactions within and between the climatic, geologic, bio- The following sections present highlights of sev- logic and socio-economic subsystems of the Arc- eral major programs and selected projects. A com- tic. ARCSS is predicated on the knowledge that Current information about plete listing of NSF Arctic funded projects can be the Arctic system is sensitive to and important in the research supported by found in the publication Arctic Science, Engineer- global change. ARCSS can be found on the ARCSS home page: ing, and Education Awards: FY 1997, available ARCSS has six linked components. The origi- http://nsidc.colorado. from the Office of Polar Programs, National Sci- nal ARCSS program included the Greenland Ice edu/ARCSS/ ence Foundation, Arlington, VA 22230. Sheet Project (GISP2), Paleoclimates from Lakes

4 and Estuaries (PALE), Ocean/Atmosphere/Ice change. PALE is complementary to GISP2 and Interactions (OAII) and Land/Atmosphere/Ice provides information on local, regional and global Interactions (LAII). Two new programs, Synthesis, changes. An Arctic circumpolar network of sam- Integration and Modeling Studies (SIMS) and pled sites has been established to describe the Human Dimensions of the Arctic System (HARC), regional variation of climate over the past 18,000 were established in 1994 and 1996, respectively. years. PALE has joined an international program, Science steering committees (SSCs) for each Circumpolar Arctic Paleoclimate Experiment component facilitate and enhance the ARCSS pro- (CAPE), to produce a reconstruction of the cir- gram and provide a focal point for communication cumarctic environment for three time slices: with the scientific community. Recommendations 2,000 years before the present (ybp), 6,000 ybp for overall coordination and integration of the and 20,000 ybp. PALE has been accepted by ARCSS components and individual projects are PAGES (PAst Global changES) of the Interna- provided by the ARCSS committee. The commit- tional Geological Biological Project (IGBP) as tee includes representatives from each SSC, as a core project. well as an investigator not supported by ARCSS with disciplinary interest in that component of Contemporary and Process Studies ARCSS to enhance the scientific breadth and OAII and LAII are process oriented and rely experience of the group. more on experiment and less on description than NSF/ARCSS has been particularly successful GISP2 and PALE. An important goal of OAII is to at establishing partnerships with other Federal investigate the effects of energy exchange on the agencies. In 1996 and 1997 significant cost shar- structure of the Arctic Ocean and the interactions ing on Arctic ocean science for ARCSS projects within the overlying atmosphere. Carbon seques- came from the Office of Naval Research (ONR). tration, ecosystem dynamics, sedimentation and Considerable cost sharing with NASA, DOE, ONR carbon deposition in the Arctic Ocean and its inter- and NOAA on current projects has occurred for actions with the surrounding land and river systems projects dealing with Arctic climate and ocean are also important topics of investigation. OAII processes and modeling research. currently is conducting the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) project from a ship Paleoenvironmental Studies frozen into the drifting ice pack in the Beaufort Current information on GISP2 and PALE both contribute to understand- Sea. SHEBA is measuring the impact of clouds scientific contributions from ing the past climate, atmosphere and ecology of and albedo on sea ice for a full annual cycle. GISP2 may be found on the the Arctic. This historical information gives valu- An objective of the LAII-Flux study is to inves- GISP2 home page: http:// nsidc.colorado.edu/ARCSS/ able insight into understanding system interac- tigate feedback processes within the Arctic terres- index.html tions. Starting in FY 98 the paleoenvironmental trial system that modify global climate change, cli- components of ARCSS were incorporated into the mate variability and fluxes of ice, fresh water, NSF program called Earth System History. water-borne materials and greenhouse gases. LAII The overall goal of GISP2 was to obtain a his- also assesses the effect of changing temperature tory of global climate and atmospheric chemistry and snow regimes on critical terrestrial organisms from the Greenland Ice Cap. This very successful and their communities. LAII-Flux has discovered program began in FY 86, completed its field phase that the Alaskan tundra has shifted in the last 20 in FY 93 and completed most of the laboratory years from being a net sink of carbon dioxide to analyses of the ice core in FY 97. GISP2 results being a net source in winter. If this change is long provided evidence of global changes in atmo- term, it could lead to major positive reinforcing of spheric circulation, chemistry and temperature that global warming via the greenhouse effect. LAII- have changed our perceptions of the intensity and Flux has been accepted as a core project of IGBP. rapidity of climate change during the most recent LAII has joined ITEX (International Tundra Experi- glacial–interglacial cycle. ment) of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere The overall goal of PALE is to construct paleo- (MAB) program, which is a study of the effects of climatic history from the sediments of Arctic and climate warming on circumpolar plant species and sub-Arctic bogs, lakes and seas. A variety of proxy community dynamics. indicators (such as pollen, diatoms, sediment LAII-Flux is testing, among other things, the Current information on OAII chemistry and grain size) in the sediments yield following three questions: research may be found on the OAII home page: http:// vital information on the responses of terrestrial • Whether greenhouse-gas-induced changes in arcss-oaii.ccpo.odu.edu/ and marine ecosystems to climate and land use temperature and moisture are large enough to

5 trigger changes in trace gas fluxes from Arctic The program is unique in NSF in the variety of dis- land areas; ciplines supported. ANS supports research in space • Whether climate change and the related sciences, atmospheric sciences, geology, biology, oxidation of soil organic matter will increase glaciology and oceanography in the Arctic. Arctic the nutrient flux to streams, lakes and the Natural Sciences uses review expertise from the Arctic Ocean; and Office of Polar Programs, the Divisions of the Geo- • Whether Arctic trace gas feedbacks will be sciences Directorate and other components of NSF sufficient to affect climate beyond the Arctic. as appropriate. The Office of Polar Programs coordinates ANS. A few science highlights follow. Synthesis, Integration, and Modeling Studies SIMS is an integrative program that links all of Glaciology the ARCSS components to provide a suite of model Research in glaciology includes the study of all simulations for understanding the behavior, feed- forms of naturally occurring ice and its history. backs, dynamics and function of the interactive Some examples are studies of past climates and Arctic system. Models are at all scales appropriate atmospheric paleochemistry from ice cores, ice to building connections between LAII, OAII, PALE, stream and valley glacier dynamics, glacial geol- GISP2 and HARC research, but those that provide a ogy, glacial hydrology and the mass balance of regional synthesis are emphasized. These models mountain glaciers and ice sheets. The research takes are essential to the ARCSS goal of developing a place primarily in Alaska, Greenland, Arctic Can- model that will predict the natural responses to ada, Svalbard, Arctic Russia and Sweden. In addi- global changes that affect the human condition. tion, some limited funding goes to support research in high-altitude and mid- and low-latitude regions Human Dimensions of the Arctic System of the Northern Hemisphere. Human Dimensions of the Arctic System The program also supports research on new (HARC), the ARCSS component of the NSF Human methods of studying glaciers and ice sheets, includ- Dimensions of Global Change program, is a col- ing the development of improved remote sensing laborative effort with the Arctic Social Sciences capabilities, drilling methods and methods for anal- Program to integrate natural and social sciences yzing ice cores. In addition a variety of theoretical, research that will demonstrate the interactions of laboratory and data analysis projects are funded. climate and human development with the use of The U.S. National Ice Core Laboratory (NICL), natural resources. Arctic Native peoples have sus- located on the grounds of the Denver Federal Cen- tained themselves through hunting, fishing, whal- ter in the same building as the U.S. Geological Sur- ing and wage employment derived from petroleum vey’s Core Research Center, is operated jointly by revenues. The continued sustainability of that cul- the University of Colorado and the U.S. Geological ture and regional development could be affected by Survey. The NSF funding is from both the Arctic global environmental changes that may affect vege- and Antarctic science programs. tation and marine productivity, year-round sea ice The purpose of Arctic Glacier Studies projects maintenance, and construction/land use practices. is to increase understanding of the mechanisms In the next five years, interdisciplinary groups will responsible for the surge behavior of glaciers and focus on developing models that predict natural re- the seasonal fluctuations of glacier flow. Work has sponses to global changes. Research at the natural focused on the role of subglacial water and basal sciences–human dimension interface will increase water pressure, ice temperature, internal deforma- policy makers’ understanding of regional natural tion, electrical conductivity and turbidity of melt- and social systems and build linkages between water. These parameters can be measured in bore- communities in the Arctic. Those linkages will holes in the ice at various places on the glacier. A enhance the knowledge base necessary for examin- multi-year study of the Greenland ice cover has ing policy choices and risk assessments within the shown that the ice-covered area around the Green- context of global and regional climate changes. land periphery has decreased over the past decade.

Glacial Geological Studies Arctic Natural Sciences Among the largest uncertainties in ice volume changes during the late Quaternary are the areal and The National Science Foundation established the vertical extent of ice sheets over Franz Josef Land, Arctic Natural Sciences (ANS) program in 1995. Novaya Zemlya and the adjacent seas (Barents/

6 Kara). Deglaciation of Franz Josef Land and the Conditions in the magnetosphere, ionosphere northern Barents Sea occurred surprisingly early, and thermosphere can influence the performance according to glacial geologists funded by the Arctic and reliability of both space-borne and ground- Glaciology program. Deglaciation of the Barents/ based technological systems. Arctic observations Kara Sea ice sheet may have been initiated by a are essential to understanding the physical pro- rapid global sea-level rise 13 thousand years ago. cesses that govern space weather. NSF’s program This sea-level rise would have destabilized this focuses on high-latitude observations aimed at marine-based ice sheet, particularly in the deep understanding the coupling between the magneto- troughs bordering the Russian Arctic seas. sphere, ionosphere and upper atmosphere and pre- Studies on natural climate signals in ice cores dicting the weather in space. A specific emphasis have relied on the information preserved in the ice of NSF programs is to understand Arctic and Ant- caps about past atmospheric conditions. Over 50 arctic conjugate phenomena. Conjugate studies chemical species and physical properties have been provide a unique tool to trace time-varying mag- measured in ice cores and are used to reveal past netic field lines and determine large-scale current climatic conditions. Significant progress has also configurations in the magnetosphere. been made in characterizing the atmosphere-to-ice “transfer function.” For example, it has been shown Ocean Sciences that the transfer function is nonlinear and depends From 1995 through 1999 U.S. Navy submar- on temperature, water accumulation and the abun- ines were and will be deployed to the Arctic Ocean dance of other species. (the SCICEX submarine cruises) for unprecedented American scientists have been invited by Euro- missions to support unclassified oceanographic re- pean researchers to participate in NGRIP, a Green- search conducted by and for researchers from aca- land ice sheet coring project that is being conducted demic institutions in the U.S., Canada and the from a site several kilometers north of where the United Kingdom. These missions are dedicated to two previous deep ice cores (GISP2 and GRIP) providing an improved understanding of the Arctic were recovered. The U.S. teams will measure stable Ocean and the nature of its seasonal variations. isotope ratios of snow and ice to infer climate The Arctic Ocean is the last frontier in ocean- change in the last millennium and will analyze the ography. Important issues are related to the global dust recovered from the ice cores to infer the domi- carbon cycle and the distribution of biota, fresh- nant wind regimes associated with paleoclimates. water balance, circulation, heating, transport of sediments and pollutants, and spreading of the sea- Atmospheric Sciences floor, as well as the volume, flow and properties of Several investigators studied climate change, sea ice. Present emphasis is given to using Navy how it is characterized, and its consequences for the nuclear submarines as a platform. Future emphasis Arctic. The program supports research aimed at the will involve the USCGC Healy research vessel physical understanding of the processes responsible under construction. for climate change as well as the processes affected The SCICEX submarine cruises have provided by climate change. a unique synoptic snapshot of the configuration of The past four winters have seen the largest the Arctic Ocean. They have revealed changes in ozone depletions ever recorded in the Arctic, and ice thickness distribution (which plays a major each year has seen more ozone depletion than the role in determining the overall heat and mass bal- preceding one. Arctic ozone depletions have been ance at the surface of the ocean). The front that far more dramatic than had been anticipated by separates Atlantic and Pacific waters appears to most scientists. The program goals were to measure have moved from a position close to the Lomon- stratospheric constituents and understand the pro- osov Ridge to the Mendeleev and Alpha Ridges. cesses involved in ozone depletion and to study the This translates into a 20% increase of the area effect of the increased UV radiation on biological dominated by the Atlantic waters. In parallel the systems. Ozone is depleted during extremely cold upper ocean temperature has increased greatly, by conditions, and ozone concentrations reach their 1°C in some regions. These observed changes in minima in the late winter and early spring. Strato- Arctic Ocean circulation and temperature may be spheric measurements of ozone and studies of the due to an increase in the temperature and volume ozone depletion processes have revealed the impor- of the incoming North Atlantic water. tance of natural effects such as volcanic eruptions Gakkel Ridge, the active spreading center in in ozone depletion processes. the Arctic Ocean, is the slowest spreading portion

7 of the mid-ocean ridge system. Gravity surveys developed a multidisciplinary team approach to carried out by the SCICEX program have revealed ecosystem studies. that the crust is very thin, probably less than 4 km. Four other ecosystem projects were supported Researchers have confirmed that a hot mud during FY 96 and 97. One of these ecosystem volcano on the seafloor between Greenland and projects was designed to test the importance of Norway is oozing mud, seeping gas and spewing geomorphology in determining food web (trophic) a gas-laden plume of warm water into the North structure. This research, termed the geomorphic– Atlantic. Frozen methane hydrate caps the vol- trophic hypothesis, postulates that landscape char- cano, whose slopes are inhabited by a species of acteristics, including lake outflow gradient, lake tubeworm most closely related to a group found in depth and lake area, determine the distribution of Antarctica. fish species, which in turn controls the benthic and Construction of a side-scan swath bathymetric pelagic trophic structure. This proposed work has sonar and a high-resolution sub-bottom profiler four major components: has started. This instrument, the Seafloor Charac- • Assembling and interpreting a geographic terization and Mapping Pod (SCAMP), will pro- information system database of lake area, lake vide an unprecedented opportunity to map the depth and outflow gradient for lakes in the deep Arctic Ocean. SCAMP will provide the data vicinity of the Toolik Lake LTER site; sets necessary for the accurate digital terrain map- • Sampling a subset of these lakes in an experi- ping required for modeling ocean circulation. It ment designed to evaluate landscape control of will also provide detailed mapping of the Arctic fish distributions and their impact on benthic Mid-Ocean Ridge and of periglacial features (such and plankton food webs; as iceberg plow marks on the continental shelves), • Sampling a group of experimental lakes, also which are needed to understand the Holocene his- in the context of the geomorphic–trophic tory of the Arctic. hypothesis; and • Constructing food web models to test whether Biological Sciences the geomorphic–trophic hypothesis governs Research topics span a broad range of biologi- food web characteristics. cal disciplines, with several projects multidisciplin- A second project was designed to improve the ary and interdisciplinary in design. The biological understanding of how carbon–nutrient interactions sciences component of the Arctic Natural Sciences in soils might affect the responses of Arctic tundra Program supports research in all aspects of Arctic ecosystems to global environmental change. This biology, including topics in biological oceanogra- research was conceived in a global warming con- phy and marine ecology as well as terrestrial and text that predicts that a global temperature increase freshwater ecology. would affect carbon–nutrient interactions at the The two largest projects are the ongoing Long- ecosystem level. The central idea is that the pri- Term Ecological Research (LTER) projects on mary production in Arctic ecosystems is often tundra, freshwater and taiga ecosystems in Alaska. strongly nutrient limited, with virtually all of the The Arctic (Toolik Lake) and Bonanza Creek nitrogen made available to vascular plants in tun- LTER projects continue the successful pursuit of dra ecosystems coming from microbial mineraliza- their individual project objectives and their parti- tion of soil organic matter. cipation in the national network of LTER sites. A third project, a Terrestrial Ecology and Global The LTER network and individual LTER projects Change (TECO) research award, elucidated the are actively developing research collaborations short- and long-term responses of Arctic tundra eco- with scientists supported by other agencies and systems to climate change and associated changes in scientists in other countries who share research soil water content and active layer depth. Physical interests. changes associated with an increase in average The Arctic LTER is a major interdisciplinary annual temperature in the northern latitudes (an project located in the foothills of the Brooks increase in growing season length, a decrease in Range on the North Slope of Alaska. Funding has surface soil water content, and a decrease in the supported a large group of biologists, ecologists, extent and distribution in snow and ice cover) limnologists and hydrologists from major univer- have altered Arctic ecosystem function. This could sities and research centers in the U.S. to study result in a significant positive or negative feed- terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. In conjunc- back to global atmospheric carbon dioxide con- tion with the LTER program, this project has centrations. This project will conduct net carbon

8 Beringia and the Arctic coastal regions, the microbial processes responsible for mineralization cycles such as carbon and nitrogen fluxes, biological adaptation to the Arctic environment, and the hydrography of freshwater drainages. Climatic data obtained by Arctic Natural Sci- ences researchers studying changes in the permafrost indicate that Alaska is currently warming at a rate of about 2.4°C per century. Some of the discontinuous permafrost south of the Yukon River in Alaska has warmed by as much as 1.5°C. The continental shelf break of the Bering Sea, which extends diagonally across the Bering Sea basin, is the site of some of the most productive water in the North Pacific. During the 1997 field season, researchers detected very anomalous con- TECO water table manipula- dioxide exchange measurements over the annual ditions that included sea surface temperatures 3°C tion experiment at the cycle to determine both the warm- and cold- above normal, the first-ever-described phytoplank- Prudhoe Bay oilfield. season contributions to annual net carbon dioxide ton blooms in the Bering Sea, unusually large exchange in Arctic tundra ecosystems. numbers of whales and an unusually large die-off A fourth project, another TECO award, was of short-tailed shearwaters ranging between hun- designed to develop a predictive understanding dreds of thousands to millions of birds. Research- of the major classes of feedbacks from boreal fire ers are now investigating the probable causes of to climate as a basis for improved understanding these changes in the Bering Sea. of the changing role of the boreal forests in the The flora and fauna of tundra soils are among Earth’s climate system. The goal of this project is the least known components of Arctic biodiversity. to understand certain processes that remain outside Tundra soils are unique because of the presence of of current general circulation models (GCMs). permafrost, highly acid or alkaline conditions, and These processes reflect “surprises” that reduce the repeated cycles of freezing and thawing. The soil reliability of GCMs for predicting climate change biota are generally small and difficult to identify or because of limited understanding of the role of bio- even detect, but recent evidence suggests that the tic and ecosystem feedbacks to regional and global bulk of the biological activity in the Arctic is due dynamics. In addition to studies of paleoecological to these organisms. Researchers have developed a dynamics and fire and climate modeling, this pro- rapid and innovative molecular-based technique ject involves an integrative, large-scale field exper- that promises to characterize bacteria and viruses iment in the boreal forest. Measurements of forest by probing unique sequences of their DNA. Spe- dynamics following burning, soil processes, trace cial probes are bonded to a microchip and buried gas fluxes and paleoecological reconstruction of in the soil for a short time; subsequent laboratory vegetation and climate will be integrated in the analysis enables comparisons between known project. This research will be conducted in associa- microbial DNA and that of microbes that live in the tion with the Bonanza Creek LTER program in tundra. Alaska. This project represents one of the few extensive and integrative assessments of the feed- Earth Sciences backs between fire in boreal forest and global cli- The Earth Sciences Program supports research mate dynamics. in a wide range of fields of geology, including paleoclimatology, glaciomarine sedimentology, Environmental research surficial processes, paleontology, petrology, tec- The purpose is to understand the relationship tonics and solid earth geophysics. These projects between physical and chemical processes as they focus on unraveling the history of Arctic glaciation relate to the unique character of the Arctic environ- and understanding the past Arctic environments by ment. Research projects in this area include the examining the sedimentary and paleontological history, biology and dynamics of Arctic fauna and record of terrestrial coastal plain, continental shelf flora, the physical and biological geography of and deep marine sediments.

9 Arctic Social Sciences established the connection between new knowledge and its service to society. In FY 96 and 97 the Arctic Social Sciences Pro- gram supported traditional social science fields such as anthropology, archaeology, linguistics and Education sociology, in addition to less traditional interdisciplinary studies. The Chronicle of Higher Educa- NSF has linked research and education through tion highlighted a project documenting the history curriculum development, research experiences for and contemporary practices of Greenlandic sealing undergraduates (REU) and teacher preparation and and whaling in its November 8, 1996, issue. This enhancement. In FY 97 NSF reached out to mil- research shows the importance of local knowledge lions of students and teachers in preparation for and resource use in the international context of National Science and Technology Week, April conservation concerns. It also demonstrates the 1998, which focused on polar regions. Undergrad- trend of establishing interdisciplinary linkages uates at several REU sites have conducted remote- between social scientists and natural scientists to sensing studies of glaciers and ice sheets and envi- produce policy-relevant research results. ronmental and ecological studies specific to high In another project the investigator accompanied latitudes. An Arctic Research Consortium of the Yup’ik elders to a Berlin museum to investigate United States (ARCUS) workshop held in 1997 and record the elders’ comments on the Yup’ik assembled 60 educators, curriculum specialists artifacts collected from southwestern Alaska in and scientists to integrate education and research 1882-83 by Johan Adrian Jacobsen. Transcripts of and develop collaborative projects. Projects such the elders’ commentary will add immeasurably not as the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, Partners in only to the documentation of this extensive collec- Science, and Polaris integrate science and education of artifacts but also to a broad understanding tion by building partnerships among students, of Yup’ik knowledge and oral tradition. teachers and individual researchers. Finally the The economic, political and spiritual ways of Alaska Native Science Commission (ANSC) has the Attuans, peoples who once inhabited the west- provided the primary link between the scientific ern Aleutian Islands, formed the subject of another community and Alaska Natives. In its first year the study. This project combined oral histories of the ANSC has organized and participated in work- last Attuans and their descendants with findings shops on traditional knowledge, science education from archaeological excavations. During 1997, and community involvement in science. These archaeologists on Buldir Island uncovered and workshops have helped educate scientists about excavated the only scientifically reported “house” the needs and desires of Alaska Native communi- built of whalebones found in the Aleutian chain. ties and educated Native groups about the needs Radiocarbon dates suggest that the house was built and conduct of science. in the mid-fifteenth century. The Arctic Social Sciences Program has also Arctic Research Coordination cooperated with the ARCSS program to support social science components of multidisciplinary NSF supported a program of polar information projects such as the study of changes in caribou and advisory services, provided support for the populations and movements and the associated Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee, social changes in Alaskan and Canadian villages provided funds for the Arctic Research Commis- whose members depend on caribou harvests. An sion, and supported conferences, workshops and important aspect of this project is the exchange of studies to further develop and implement Arctic knowledge between community experts and uni- research planning and policy. versity-trained researchers. Indeed, a special fea- As required by the Arctic Research and Policy ture of the Arctic Social Sciences Program has Act of 1984, a comprehensive Arctic Research been the partnership between research and local Plan was prepared by the Interagency Arctic Re- communities established, for example, through the search Policy Committee and submitted to the Alaska Native Science Commission. Additionally President, who transmitted it to Congress in July Arctic social scientists have fostered community 1997. The fifth revision to the United States Arctic involvement through educational activities and Research Plan included two major sections. The joint research efforts. These partnerships have not first of these presented the Integrated Interagency only strengthened the quality of research but also Research Plans:

10 • Assessment of risks to environments and and coordinating activities. Coordination with people in the Arctic; global change programs is an integral part of Arc- • Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean; tic program development and implementation. • Beringian systems studies; and Improved communication at all levels is encour- • Arctic data and information. aged through newsletters and journals. The second major section was Agency Pro- grams, which represents the objectives of Federal agencies, focusing on the period covered by this Engineering and Technology revision (1998–2002). They were presented in seven major categories: The Engineering, Geosciences, and Mathemati- • Arctic Ocean and Marginal Seas cal and Physical Sciences Directorates support • Atmosphere and Climate research in engineering, material sciences and • Land and Offshore Resources permafrost. Research includes studies of the • Land–Atmosphere–Water Interactions mechanical properties of ice, the hydraulic con- • Engineering and Technology ductivity of frozen soils, metamorphism of dry • Social Sciences snowpacks, three-dimensional analyses of ice, and • Health. permafrost. The Interagency Committee also addressed NSF also sponsors a program for science-based issues related to logistics support for Arctic and high-technology small business firms, the research. The biennial revision of the U.S. Arctic Small Business Innovative Research Program Research Plan serves as guidance for planning by (SBIR) in the Engineering Directorate. SBIR is individual agencies and for coordinating and interested in research on advanced concepts in implementing mutually beneficial national and scientific or engineering areas, particularly where international research programs. the research may serve as a base for technological NSF supports many other interagency planning innovation.

11 Department of the Interior The Department of the Interior performs biological and physical research; conducts mapping, monitoring and assessment programs throughout Alaska and its offshore regions; and manages Department lands in Alaska. These activities are performed by services or bureaus, each with administrative and technical offices located in Alaska.

Funding (thousands) Minerals Management FY 96 FY 97

Service Technology Assessment/Research 3,320 3,270 Environmental Studies 1,810 3,700 The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has Total 4,130 6,970 the statutory responsibilities to manage the mineral resources located on the U.S. Outer Continen- The TA&R program, which includes both Safety tal Shelf (OCS) in an environmentally sound and and Pollution Prevention Research, and Oil Spill safe manner and to collect, verify and distribute Response Research, continues as an essential and mineral revenues from Federal and Indian lands. integral element of the MMS regulatory program. In support of these responsibilities, MMS con- The TA&R program does not address the econom- ducts two major programs of research that are ics of operations, which are in the purview of relevant to activities in the Arctic. One, the Tech- industry. On the contrary, it specifically addresses nology Assessment and Research (TA&R) pro- the functional needs of the MMS to provide for a gram, focuses on engineering and technology sound technology base for regulatory decisions to issues. The other, the Environmental Studies (ES) ensure safe and pollution-free operations. program, focuses on issues related to assessing In the past the program was motivated by the and predicting potential environmental and socio- need to acquire basic engineering information nec- economic impacts. essary to oversee the general development of offshore operations. As a direct result of research funded by the TA&R program, regulatory changes Technology Assessment and were initiated on the design and operation of Research Program diverter systems, well control procedures and training requirements, the need for periodic platform The MMS supports an active research program inspections, methodologies for assessing the integ- to understand the engineering constraints for rity of older or damaged platforms, the reduction of offshore operations, especially as related to the exhaust pollution offshore, and the development of structural integrity of structures and pipelines, oil pollution plans to ensure that the proper equip- the prevention of pollution, and the technologies ment, personnel and procedures were available to necessary to clean up an oil spill should one occur. respond to an offshore oil spill, should one occur. In essence, the program provides an independent However, the future has provided new goals and assessment of the status of OCS technologies and, directions for offshore oil and gas research initia- where deemed necessary, investigates technology tives. This new emphasis is a result of past technol- gaps and provides leadership in reaching solu- ogy developments, economic constraints within the tions. The program also facilitates a dialogue industry and a continuing need to ensure that off- among engineers in the industry, the research com- shore oil and gas operations can be conducted in a munity and MMS in dealing with the many com- safe manner without harm to the environment. plex issues associated with offshore oil and gas With a sound appreciation for the current state operations. of offshore technology, the TA&R program will

12 continue to focus its research efforts in the follow- The TA&R program has funded a variety of ing four areas: projects and major international workshops to • Frontier areas of operations (both deep water develop a better understanding of the engineering and the Arctic), including safety issues as well constraints for operating in the harsh Arctic envi- as the integrity of structures and pipelines; ronment: • Human and organization factors and how they • International Workshop on Ice Scour and Arc- can be addressed to mitigate accidents; tic Marine Pipelines; • The aging offshore infrastructure, including • International Workshop on Human Factors in platforms and pipelines; and Offshore Operations; • Spill mitigation measures, including cleanup • International Workshop on Composite Materi- and containment technologies for an oil spill, als for Offshore Operations; should one occur. • Pressure Ridge Ice Scour Experiment; The TA&R program is a contract research pro- • Risk Assessment for Ice Damage to Seabed gram; that is, the research is not performed within Facilities; the agency but is conducted by academic institutions, • Methodology for Risk-Based Optimization of private industry and government laboratories. Stud- Pipeline Integrity Maintenance Activities; and ies are performed in cooperation with the offshore • Safety and Integrity of Arctic Marine Pipe- industry or with other agencies or governments. lines. This aspect of the program provided an important The International Workshop on Ice Scour and multiplier of funding support, but probably of equal Arctic Marine Pipelines was held in February importance is the discourse it provides with the in- 1998 in Mombetsu, Hokkaido, Japan, in associa- dustry. tion with the 13th International Symposium on The ability to work together to assess a particu- Okhotsk Sea and Sea Ice. It was a joint project lar technology or the rationale for future technical between the MMS, the Centre for Cold Ocean developments helps both industry and government. Resources Engineering (C-CORE) from Memorial Such cooperation and dialogue allow us to under- University of Newfoundland, and Sakhalin Oil stand each other’s needs and eliminate possible con- and Gas from Okha, Russia. The general aim of flicts or misunderstandings concerning the engi- the workshop was to review the current under- neering feasibility of an operational decision. As a standing of the mechanics of ice keel scour, the result of this dialogue, a valuable exchange of infor- ability to model the scouring process, and the mation is provided between MMS and the industry. application of models to the issue of pipeline burial and protection. The workshop attracted scien- Safety and Pollution Prevention Research tists and engineers from Canada, Russia, the U.S., Arctic offshore operations have been hampered Japan, the U.K. and Norway. more by the lack of commercially economic dis- Most attendees agreed that the 1996 Interna- coveries than by technology. The industry has tend- tional Workshop on Human Factors in Offshore ed to develop onshore resources in the Arctic with Operations held in New Orleans, Louisiana, was just minimal exploration and development off- long overdue. They felt it was time for profession- shore. However, recently there has been an als representing industry, government and aca- increased interest by the oil and gas industry in demic institutions to discuss the status of human Arctic offshore resources. factors offshore. The need was to review what was Sea ice is still the most severe environmental done in the past, what we are doing now, and what hazard posed by the Arctic relative to future off- we can do in the future to lower the risk and the shore development. Such hazards include forces number of human factors related to possible inci- that moving sea ice may exert against offshore dents in offshore operations. The supportive structures, icing of structures resulting from freez- remarks, keynote addresses and theme papers pre- ing spray, gouging of the sea floor by sea ice sented by government leaders, representatives (which could interfere with buried pipelines), and from regulatory and certification agencies, and interference with locating or cleaning up a potential management of several international oil compa- oil spill. Engineering data for these hazards will be- nies clearly demonstrated the importance of come increasingly important as operations move human factors issues to both industry and govern- from an exploration mode to a production mode ment. Six topics were selected to establish the sta- and as structures are considered for deeper water, tus of human factors spanning the life cycle of an especially within the shear zone or pack ice. offshore facility: design, fabrication and installa

13 tion, field operations, management system, stan- evaluation and sensor technology, and standards dards and regulations, and science and application. and codes for offshore composite components. Each group was successful in capturing the state The important regulatory and certification con- of the art utilized in offshore facilities from pre- cerns were discussed on the third day, followed by liminary design to decommissioning. The issues summaries and reports from the individual session discussed by each working group during the chairmen before the conclusion of the conference. course of the workshop brought out the use and The Pressure Ridge Ice Scour Experiment benefits of human factors established in other (PRISE) is also being conducted by C-CORE and industries, advances in human factors offshore, addresses the most likely transportation mode for and barriers blocking further progress. commercial development of oil and gas prospects In the First International Workshop on Com- in the Arctic—a product pipeline laid on or under posite Materials for Offshore Operations held in the seabed. Marine pipelines in areas frequented 1993 in Houston, Texas, important recommenda- by ice will be threatened by grounded or scouring tions were made by the participants. As a result of ice masses, which occur periodically throughout these recommendations and with the strong sup- the ice season. Pipelines must therefore be pro- port of the MMS and Department of Energy, U.S. tected by trenching or burial to a safe, yet man- petroleum companies formed an alliance with the ageable and economical depth below the seabed. domestic manufacturing industry, material suppli- The major question facing industry planners and ers, engineering service companies, and the Uni- regulatory and design engineers concerns the versity of Houston to develop major technological depth of burial required or trenching and trench initiatives to accelerate the utilization and deploy- backfill requirements. This question arises due ment of advanced composite materials and struc- to an incomplete understanding of the ice below tures for future deep-water offshore developments. the incision scour depth. PRISE is designed to One of the initiatives was the establishment of the increase knowledge of the scouring process and Composites Engineering and Applications Center specifically of subscour deformation processes. (CEAC) for Petroleum Exploration and Produc- This integrated, multidisciplinary approach tion at the University of Houston. progresses from the selection and development of In view of the recent and current composite theoretical and numerical models to corroboration activities, and their potential impact and implica- of these models with results of small-scale, high- tions for future offshore exploration, construction gravity centrifuge modeling and validation of and production operations, especially in the Gulf model results with full-scale observations. The of Mexico and the North Sea, CEAC and the MMS result of the program will be an industry-accepted organized the Second International Conference on design tool (a field-verified finite-element model) Composite Materials for Offshore Operations, complete with a set of specific design guidelines. which was held in October 1997 in Houston, In offshore environments where ice is present, Texas. damage to subsea facilities from icebergs or pres- Several critical topics were covered in the con- sure ridge keels may limit the application of these ference, including various state-of-the-art develop- emerging technologies. Ice damage of seabed ments and applications as well as recent advances facilities typically does not present a direct threat in the fundamental science and engineering of off- to human health and safety, but it can have severe shore composites. A series of opening and keynote environmental consequences, as well as economic lectures were given by internationally recognized consequences in terms of both repair costs and experts to review the current state of develop- downtime. To determine the feasibility of pipelines, ments and to assess the future opportunities of wellheads and other structures on the seabed, risk composites offshore. On the first day of the meet- assessment for ice damage must be performed. ing, major current industrial developments were Unlike risk assessments for waves, winds and discussed, ranging from composite production and other relatively well understood environmental drilling risers, mooring systems, platform struc- parameters, approaches to assessing risk for ice tures, drill pipe and equipment for extended reach loading are not well established. There can also be and deviated drilling, tanks and high-pressure ves- severe data limitations. With such limited informa- sels, and other advanced applications. On the section, risk itself is a random variable. The variance ond day, critical issues addressed included new of this random variable (expressing the degree of materials, jet-fire resistance, composite durability, uncertainty of assessed risk) strongly affects the advanced design and reliability, nondestructive results of risk analysis and therefore can have

14 important economic impacts. This variance can be Integrity maintenance decisions have traditionally reduced by increasing the amount and quality of been based on subjective assessments of pipeline information, for example, new field investigations, inspection data. More recently, engineering analy- data from other sites with similar conditions, or sis of the data has provided a more rational basis improved numerical models. Both the proponents for technical decisions. of offshore hydrocarbon developments and the Risk analysis can transform inspection data into regulatory agencies have a vested interest in maxi- information that is directly related to the opera- mizing the accuracy of risk estimates and under- tor’s objective, namely to reduce the probability of standing and quantifying the uncertainty in risk failure of individual segments within a pipeline assessments. system in a balanced manner that acknowledges Uncertainty in risk assessment has two main the potential difference in the consequences of sources. First, there is uncertainty in environmen- failure associated with different line segments. tal data. Some environmental parameters such as The potential economic benefits to pipeline soil type may be well known or easily quantified operators of using a risk-based approach are signifi- through a sampling program. Other parameters, cant. On one hand, any small reduction in failure such as pressure ridge keel depths, may be poorly rates resulting from better maintenance planning known. Because these types of parameters vary would reduce the potentially high cost of failure. seasonally and annually, short-term sampling pro- On the other hand, if excessive conservatism in grams cannot completely define the phenomenon. repair strategies can be identified and eliminated, Other information such as ice scour frequency costly premature maintenance activities may be may be unknown and not easily measured. Data of avoided. this type must be estimated. Each parameter has a Post-scour examination of the Phase 3 PRISE different level of importance in a risk analysis and centrifuge model tests show that surface and sub- a different degree of uncertainty associated with it. surface scour-induced deformation structures Knowing the existence of these uncertainties, MMS observed from the Phase 2 full-size scour marks in initiated a research project to establish a frame- the field could be reliably modeled in the centri- work for assessing risks associated with ice dam- fuge. Sub-scour soil deformation empirical relation- age to Arctic seabed facilities. Phases 1 and 2 of ships for the ice–soil interaction at steady state the PRISE project included phenomenological were developed from examination of the physical (field) studies, theoretical studies and physical centrifuge model test data. The observed extent experiments. and magnitude of sub-scour deformations for Continuing industry interest, partly because of mean scour events were much larger than previ- the potential offshore hydrocarbon developments ously anticipated. around Sakhalin Island, Russia, prompted Phase 3 These PRISE tests provided data for scour of PRISE to extend the database of physical exper- depths and widths as large as 1.49 and 30 m, imentation and to adapt an existing commercially respectively, in clay and 2.14 and 30 m in sand. available engineering model to the design of pipe- However, extreme events on the order of a 5-m lines. depth and/or a 100-m width might be expected in The MMS is part of a joint industry program areas with development potential. The current (JIP), through the Center for Engineering Research Phase 3 program is determining the forces and soil in Canada, directed at optimizing pipeline integ- deformation effects of extreme full-scale ice keel rity maintenance activities using a risk-based scour events in medium-dense sand and stiff clay approach. The goal of the JIP is to develop models through the use of centrifuge modeling. These new and software tools for estimating the risk levels experimental data are being used to expand the associated with individual pipelines or individual empirical relationship to include extreme scour segments within a pipeline system. The models events. However, the Phase 3 tests have also indi- and tools developed will allow risk reductions cated large and extensive normalized sub-scour associated with various inspection and mainte- deformations for extreme ice scour events. This nance activities to be quantified, providing a basis test series has been extended to simulate both the for comparing alternatives. The overall framework ice-scour conditions expected for the pipeline will include an approach to evaluate potential risk- development for Northstar, Alaska, in silt, and reduction benefits against the associated costs, for Sakhalin I, Russia, in sand. The new tests con- allowing optimal decisions to be made regarding ducted in a dilatant silt have also shown large and the choice of an integrity maintenance strategy. extensive normalized sub-scour deformations.

15 These normalized deformations are apparently Oil Spill Response Research larger than those observed in compressible materi- For the last several years the MMS has been the als. It is this observation from centrifuge model principal U.S. agency sponsoring offshore oil spill tests that needs confirmation from further field evi- response research. Since the late 1970s the MMS dence and numerical simulations. In this regard the has managed a comprehensive international Oil TA&R program funded an effort to conduct a field Spill Response Research Program (OSRRP) to study to allow for direct observation of sub-scour improve oil spill response technologies and proce- deformation. dures as part of the TA&R program. The OSRRP The principle objective of this proposal is to has improved existing capabilities to respond to confirm the magnitude and extent of sub-scour open-ocean oil spills. The OSRRP was expanded (zone 2) deformations in a dilatant soil, such as a in 1986 by coordinating and cooperative funding compact silt. This confirmation is essential to of research within the purview of both Environ- achieve the PRISE goal—developing the capability ment Canada and the U.S. National Institute of to design pipelines and other seabed installations in Standards and Technology. This partnership is regions gouged by ice, taking into account the soil continuing, and many of MMS’s oil spill research deformations and stress changes that may be caused projects are JIPs where MMS leverages its money during a gouge event. The objective will be by as much as 6:1. The OSRRP complies with Title achieved by three activities: VII of the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) of 1990 and • Direct field observation of sub-scour deforma- participates in the Interagency Coordinating Com- tions under fresh ice scours in compact silt in a mittee for Oil Pollution Research. The OSRRP tidal estuary; receives its funding through the OPA. • Simulation of these field ice scour events by The OSRRP research objectives are to: centrifuge modeling; and • Develop oil spill detection technologies and • Development of the existing numerical model improve the efficiency and effectiveness of to predict sub-scour deformation profiles in response and cleanup equipment to handle oil dilatant materials, such as compact silt. spills at sea; Although the above projects address critical areas • Improve the ability of response organizations for Arctic offshore facilities, additional research is to burn oil in situ; still required to demonstrate fully that the technol- • Increase our knowledge of the properties and ogy is available to design, construct and operate behavior of oil spilled at sea; facilities in this ice-laden region. In addition to the • Develop new and innovative shoreline development of numerical models, actual field pro- cleanup strategies; grams are needed to improve the understanding of • Continue operation and maintenance of Ohm- sea ice and the ice–structure interaction process. sett, the National Oil Spill Response Test Research is also needed to improve probabilistic Facility. models for estimating year-round ice loads for per- Through MMS funding, scientists and engi- manent production structures. There are added load neers from the public and private sectors world- uncertainties due to the extended exposure periods wide are working to address gaps in information of production structures, and these uncertainties and develop technology for cleaning up oil spills. must be considered in the design process. These This, in turn, will reduce the impact and environ- areas will be addressed by the TA&R program in mental damage caused by oil spills. Promising the near future. results have been obtained in many areas, such as Alaskan Arctic offshore oil and gas deposits burning of spilled oil, mechanical containment/ may be one of the major undeveloped petroleum cleanup devices and techniques, understanding the resources remaining in the U.S. The capability to behavior of spilled oil, airborne and satellite drill exploratory wells in water depths up to 200 remote sensing of oil spills, and evaluating oil feet in the Arctic has been proven. As noted previ- spill chemical treating agents such as dispersants. ously, production in these areas has been negated In-Situ Burning. Research results from the more by the lack of commercial, economic discov- meso-scale burns in Mobile, Alabama (1991– eries than by the lack of technology. The informa- 1994), the Newfoundland Offshore Burn Experi- tion gained as activities are extended into deep ment, and more recently, the Alaska Clean Seas, water and more hostile ice conditions, combined Emulsion Burn Experiments, indicate that burning with extensive research, should provide a solid is a rapid, effective and environmentally safe technological base for future operations. means for removing large quantities of oil from

16 the surface of the water. In public and government of the models has been completed. ALOFT-FT for forums, burning has become accepted as a first personal computers has undergone two rounds of response method. However, questions remain beta testing. Based on input from users, several about the effects of in-situ burning on both water significant new features have been added, includ- and air quality. In addition, improvements are ing multiple fire sources, a fuel properties data- needed in equipment to conduct in-situ burns, such base that can be modified by the user, optional as durable fire-resistant booms, as well as research user-specified emission factors, and the ability to to extend the “window of opportunity” for use of specify different wind fluctuations over water and in-situ burning as oil weathers and emulsifies. The land. This version is being prepared for general following research projects address public and distribution to the response community. technical concerns about in-situ burning through Work will continue on installing the ALOFT-FT experiments in the laboratory, in meso-scale tests and ALOFT-CT versions of the model on personal and in full-scale tests at sea. computers on a routine basis. In this next phase, A recent project called Meso-Scale In-Situ Burn NIST will add a three-dimensional graphical ani- Testing of Alaskan Crude Oils studied the ignition mation of a smoke plume to the flat terrain model and burning characteristics of five Alaskan oils to aid in visualizing the model output. In addition, during Phases 1 and 2. Phase 3 involved approxi- a beta version of the ALOFT-CT model for per- mately 54 meso-scale (7-ft-diameter) burns with sonal computers will be developed. ALOFT-CT fresh, weathered and emulsified Alaska North requires input data on the terrain and a wind field Slope and Milne Point crude oils in 6- to 12-in.- and requires substantially greater execution time high waves at the ARCO Fire Training Ground than ALOFT-FT. ALOFT-FT is adequate in most wave tank at Prudhoe Bay. The tests, conducted in areas except where smoke is expected to move August and September 1997, provided the infor- into mountainous terrain. Large mountains, such mation necessary to design appropriate large-scale as those found along the coast of Alaska, can have tests offshore. Future large-scale tests will assess a substantial impact on the smoke plume trajectory the capabilities and limitations of using emulsion and require ALOFT-CT. breakers to extend the window of opportunity for In a study of fire-resistant booms, six commer- in-situ burning operations. cially available offshore fire booms produced by The U.S. National Institute of Standards and five manufacturers were tested at Ohmsett between Technology (NIST) ALOFT (A Large Outdoor Fire July and October 1996. The objectives of this first Plume Trajectory) model is widely recognized as a phase of the tests were to examine the sea-keeping tool for computing and displaying smoke plume and oil-containing ability of the booms. The trajectories from in-situ burning. In the event of a booms were tested to determine first-loss tow burn, responders can rapidly access ALOFT pre- speed, oil loss rate, critical tow speed and wave dictions and other in-situ burning data to predict conformance. No burning performance was meas- the trajectory and concentrations of soot and other ured during these tests. Four of the booms per- combustion products. The ALOFT model of smoke formed within speed and oil loss rates that have transport is capable of predicting time-averaged been measured for regular commercial booms. downwind concentrations of particulate matter One boom was found to be superior in wave con- from a large fire. Model assumptions include a formance and critical tow speed, but this boom uniform ambient wind blowing over relatively flat was at the lower part of the range for first-loss tow terrain. The model has been expanded to include speed. A prototype boom with a unique paddle- the effect of varying wind velocity with altitude wheel operating system was found in need of fur- and the ability to calculate smoke plume concen- ther development. trations as a function of time. The model has also Phase 2 evaluated five of the booms tested in been expanded to calculate the soot production Phase 1 for thermal stress and mechanical perfor- from multiple smoke plumes over flat terrain. mance when exposed to a liquid-fuel fire in Two model versions now exist: ALOFT-FT for waves. The Phase 2 test series was conducted in flat terrain and ALOFT-CT for complex terrain September and October 1997 at the U.S. Coast (mountainous regions, for example). Both the flat Guard Fire and Safety Test Detachment in Mobile, terrain and three-dimensional complex terrain ver- Alabama. The test pan is 100 feet long by 30 feet sions are operational on work stations, and both wide by 5 feet deep and contains a wave maker versions can accommodate multiple fire sources. and an artificial beach. These tests were conducted Development work on the computational portions using a test plan developed from the ASTM F-20

17 Draft Standard Guide for In Situ Burning of Oil justable scanning capability that will allow for se- Spills On Water: Fire Resistant Containment Boom. lection of the optimum swath to respond to various The fire was burning diesel fuel floating on water. spill conditions. This capability will maximize cover- These experiments provided additional data on the age on shorelines, broken ice conditions on water, heat flux to the boom from a liquid-fuel fire. and other complicated surfaces. Another project involves redesigning an existing The SLEAF has been designed to provide a large stainless steel boom to reduce its size, weight real-time annotated map. This geo-referenced map and cost. The stainless steel boom was first de- will be faxed or otherwise transmitted to oil spill signed, constructed and tested in the early 1980s. It response personnel. The timely information pro- was built to survive for extended periods in steep vided by the SLEAF sensor will help mitigate the Arctic waves, carry high loads, withstand impacts harmful effects of an oil spill by ensuring a fast from ice, and operate in flames for long periods. and effective response. The SLEAF will detect and Because of the rigorous performance criteria in the classify oil in real time. Geo-referenced oil con- original design, the boom is expensive, heavy and tamination locations will be easily visible on the cumbersome to deploy manually. This project will hard-copy map output. Once the SLEAF has been be completed in four phases: installed in Environment Canada’s aircraft, it will • Redesigning the existing stainless steel boom undergo a period of flight testing to verify the prop- to reduce cost, size, weight and handling prob- er operation of the system under airborne condi- lems and to make it compatible with existing tions and ensure that the system complies with all fire boom systems; design specifications. • Constructing a 15-m (50-ft) prototype section Physical Behavior of Oil. The objective of these of redesigned boom for testing purposes; projects is to improve our understanding of the • Testing the boom with and without fire at behavior and fate of spilled oil and to develop mod- appropriate testing facilities; and els to predict oil behavior. They also include meas- • Refining the design of the boom and producing uring the physical and chemical properties of oils detailed engineering drawings. and including the results in a database. Elements to A recent literature review on soot production be addressed include oil weathering, evaporation, during in-situ burning of oil attempted to determine water-in-oil emulsification, dispersion, dissolution the range of soot yield generated by in-situ burning and photo-oxidation. of petroleum oils on water, and the effects of the A catalog of oil properties was first compiled by size of the fire and the type of fuel used. The natu- Environment Canada (EC) in 1984. The MMS has ral variability of fires and the difficulty in measur- jointly funded the catalog program since 1989. The ing soot yield precludes highly accurate, repeat- catalog was started to provide a single reference on able measurements. However, very general conclu- the physical and chemical data relevant to oil spills. sions can be drawn from the data. It appears that The current edition (December 1996) of the catalog the soot yield from in-situ petroleum fires range contains information on over 380 types of crude from approximately 1 to 10% for fires less than 10 oils and petroleum products, including many Outer cm in diameter; 5 to 15% for fires in the 10- to 100- Continental Shelf (OCS) crude oils. The catalog is cm range; and 10 to 25% for fires greater than 1 m. available in electronic format and has been distrib- Remote Sensing/Surveillance. A project to uted to all MMS OCS regions and other Federal develop a scanning laser environmental airborne agencies. The data are also available on a public fluorosensor (SLEAF) has the following objectives: bulletin board maintained by EC as well as online • Develop laser fluorosensing technology for at the EC home page. detecting oil on water, shorelines, debris, ice or The catalog contains many new items such as weeds; adhesion measurements, evaporation equations, a • Develop and test prototype instruments; and new form of distillation data, BTEX and C3 analy- • Develop a new-generation instrument that pro- sis. It is now possible to obtain over 800 pieces of vides scanning capability. information for each oil. A new report format has The SLEAF development is nearing completion, been created that is more attractive and easier to with delivery and aircraft installation set for Febru- use. EC is currently negotiating with Elsevier ary 1998. The SLEAF system will employ a state- regarding printing of the December 1996 edition. of-the-art laser optimized for fast deployment and This year the main catalog will include some new the detection of oil contamination on shorelines, oils, and the project will continue measuring proper- land, snow and ice and at sea. It will have an ad- ties of oils and petroleum products for future updates

18 to the catalog. In addition, a “mini-catalog” was pre- techniques. To date, only post-spill studies have pared for the Gulf of Mexico crude oils, and a simi- been conducted, while these projects will evaluate lar document will be prepared relating to oils cleanup techniques with basin-scale and field-scale imported into the Pacific coast. trials on experimentally oiled sites after pre-oiling The Behavior of Oil Spills (BOSS) project is conditions at the beaches have been studied. designed to provide a comprehensive review of In July and August 1997 near Sveagruva, Sval- information concerning the behavior of spilled oil. bard, Norway, experimental plots were established The emphasis is on the behavior of oil spilled at for cleanup operations at three sites along a contin- sea but will also include information on oil spilled uously oiled stretch of shoreline. A total of about on land, in fresh water and in the ground. The final 6000 L of oil was applied along a 3-m-wide swath report will combine the literature on oil spill behavior in the upper intertidal zone of the shoreline. Early and findings from previous jointly funded research results indicate that the surf washing technique was projects with MMS. Over 5500 papers have been effective, with obvious removal of oil. Also encour- collected and initially reviewed to date. This pro- aging was the use of fertilizers, in both slow release ject will result in a series of volumes combining the and soluble forms. The nutrients stimulated micro- review of the literature with data tables and unpub- bial activity and may enhance the effectiveness of lished results. The oil-in-ice review has been com- mechanical removal techniques. pleted. Work is continuing on the sections on solu- The University of New Hampshire is in the sec- bility, evaporation and emulsification. ond year of an effort to develop fast-current oil bar- The current Basics of Oil Spill Cleanup manual riers having substantially better performance char- was published in 1983 by EC and is in the process acteristics than the standard, single-vertical-barrier of being updated. The manual explains what hap- oil boom. These improvements include increased pens to oil when it is accidentally spilled on water tow speeds and more effective oil retention in the or land and the specific cleanup strategies that are new boom design. First-year work resulted in the possible under varying environmental conditions. two-dimensional submerged plane concept that was The draft chapters of the updated manual are under- tested in a laboratory flume using oils with a wide going final review. Over 200 high-quality photo- range of properties. Second-year accomplishments graphs have been collected and the line graphics include the design, construction and testing of flex- are complete. Negotiations with Lewis Publishers ible, three-dimensional submerged plane systems to publish the manual have taken place. that improved on the first cross-sectional design. Shoreline Cleanup. The Svalbard Shoreline The goal is to fabricate one or more prototypes for Project is part of a series of studies to better under- full-scale testing. stand the behavior of oil on shorelines and deter- In addition to further developing the submerged mine the most appropriate response options. Shore- plane technology in a new boom design, there is a line cleanup operations following a spill in a companion effort at the University of Rhode Island remote area are limited by the constraints of avail- to develop a computer model that evaluates and able equipment and personnel and by the desire to predicts the causes of boom failure and oil loss. minimize waste materials that require transport and The computer model now operates in only two di- disposal. In such cases the preferred option is to mensions. The model will be validated at the Ohm- treat the oil on site so that natural environmental sett facility by comparing its predictions with actual recovery is accelerated without a labor-intensive boom performance under controlled conditions. effort. The Svalbard Shoreline Project, along with Eventually this model may be used to evaluate and the related Oil and Fines Interaction Basin Project, suggest improvements to boom designs. will investigate the effectiveness of traditional The fast-current boom prototype will be tested shoreline cleanup techniques as well as the natural by JPS/Oiltrol, a manufacturer of oil spill response processes that remove oil from shorelines. Special equipment. Field testing will include participation emphasis will be placed on oil and fine particle in harbor response exercises conducted by the Pis- interaction. cataqua River Cooperative, which is a consortium The Svalbard Shoreline Project is evaluating the of four petroleum product terminals on the fast- cleanup techniques of surf washing, tilling, and till- moving, tidally influenced Piscataqua River in New ing combined with bioremediation at an exper- Hampshire. Final product evaluations will be con- imentally oiled shoreline. These techniques have ducted at Ohmsett. If the tests are successful, JPS/ been used frequently, but only qualitative data are Oiltrol intends to make the fast-current boom into a available on the relative efficiencies of the various commercially viable product.

19 Ohmsett. The national oil spill response test Alaska Environmental Studies facility known as Ohmsett is located in Leonardo, Program New Jersey, on the grounds of Naval Weapons Station Earle. Ohmsett is the only facility in the As the managing agency for the OCS leasing world where clients can test and evaluate full- program in Alaska, the MMS Alaska Outer Conti- scale oil spill response equipment with a variety of nental Shelf (OCS) Region has conducted environ- crude oils and refined petroleum products. Equip- mental studies to obtain information needed to ment tests are conducted under controlled, repro- make sound leasing decisions and to monitor the ducible conditions, and the Ohmsett test tank has a human, marine and coastal environments. In Alaska variable artificial wave maker. Ohmsett is also a more than $250 million has been spent on studies unique facility to do research and development on in 15 OCS planning areas in the Arctic, Bering Sea new devices and techniques to detect, map, con- and Gulf of Alaska subregions. These studies cover tain and clean up oil spills. a range of disciplines such as endangered species, The Environmental Protection Agency built living resources, fate and effects, and socioeco- Ohmsett in 1973 and operated it until 1988, when nomics. MMS assumed management responsibility. MMS Regional government leaders, traditional knowl- directed its refurbishment between 1990 and 1992 edge sources, environmental groups, oil and fishing at a cost of over $1.5 million, extending the life of industry personnel, studies contractors and other the facility by an estimated 15–20 years. scientists, and Federal, state and local agencies The primary feature of the facility is a pile- help the MMS to identify environmental issues and supported, concrete tank with a water surface information needs. Information transfer meetings 203 m long by 20 m wide with a water depth of and workshops are convened to bring together 2.4 m. The tank is filled with 9.84 million liters of information from these key sources. The overlap brackish water from nearby Sandy Hook Bay. The of shared knowledge results in a synthesis of infor- tank has a movable, cable-drawn towing bridge mation that identifies studies needed to meet the capable of towing floating test equipment at grad- current focus on postlease and monitoring informa- uated speeds up to 3.3 m/s for at least 40 s. The tion requirements. towing bridge is equipped to lay oil on the surface In 1993 the MMS established a Coastal Marine of the water several meters ahead of the equip- Institute (CMI) at the University of Alaska Fair- ment being tested, so that reproducible thicknesses banks (UAF) to take advantage of environmental and widths of test oils are achievable with minimal scientific expertise at local levels. Under a recently wind interference. The principal operating systems extended cooperative agreement, the MMS com- of the tank include a wave generator, a beach and mitted $1 million per year for studies to be con- a filter system. The wave generator and absorber ducted by the CMI if matching state funds were beach have the capability to produce regular available. The institute conducts research focused waves up to 0.6 m high and up to 45 m long, as on environmental, social and economic studies rele- well as a series of 0.7-m-high reflected waves. vant to both Federal and state offshore oil and gas Because of improved marketing efforts, the and mineral resource management issues. The UAF usage of Ohmsett has increased dramatically, from School of Fisheries and Ocean Science, nationally a total of only 32 days of testing at Ohmsett in FY renowned for its coastal/marine expertise, manages 93 out a possible maximum of 150 test days per the CMI. The institute creates an opportunity for the year to 114 test days in FY 96. The client base has MMS and the state to accomplish research pro- increased to include academic research organiza- grams that could not otherwise be carried out. tions and commercial firms in addition to the traditional U.S. and Canadian government agencies. Endangered Species Even with a major program of maintenance, refur- The bowhead whale, an endangered marine bishment and upgrades to Ohmsett over the winter mammal of high importance to Native cultures in of 1997, which delayed the start of testing until the Arctic, migrates through areas in which oil and June, there were still over 100 test days in FY 97. gas have been discovered. Efforts to define the In addition to testing and equipment development, migration corridors of bowhead whales and their FY 97 saw Ohmsett being used as a “hands on” responses to offshore operations continued through training facility for the first time by the U.S. Navy 1997 under the ongoing in-house Bowhead Whale and the U.S. Coast Guard. Aerial Survey Project (BWASP). Annual reports of

20 the fall bowhead migration are available through negligible. Under an ongoing extension of this fall 1996. study, the researcher is drafting nine journal arti- The BWASP provides real-time data on each cles about the main conclusions of this multi-year fall migration of bowhead whales across the Alas- study. kan Beaufort Sea for implementing overall limita- A recently awarded multi-year study called tions on seasonal drilling and geological/geophysi- Bowhead Whale Feeding in the Eastern Alaskan cal exploration. The fall 1996 report showed that Beaufort Sea: Update of Scientific and Traditional the cumulative median water depth at which whales Information will augment scientific and traditional were observed is 37 m, with a high level of signifi- knowledge about bowhead whale feeding in the cance between the 1983 median water depth (347 eastern Alaskan Beaufort Sea. The researcher will m) and the median value for other years (1982– coordinate with area whale hunters and other key 1996). There also was a high level of significance stakeholders to develop hypotheses that scientists between the 1989 median value (18 m) and the and subsistence hunters concur can be scientific- median values for other years. Between-year dif- ally tested. Based on these hypotheses and a sum- ferences in the median water depth at which mary of available scientific and traditional infor- whales were spotted appear to be correlated to the mation, the researcher will design and propose general severity of sea ice during the fall migra- appropriate research options for determining the tion. During the fall 1997 survey, observers spot- importance of the area to feeding bowheads, char- ted record numbers of bowheads feeding near acterizing the ambient acoustic environment in shore in the Beaufort Sea. the study area, and predicting sound levels of oil A recently completed study, Effects of Produc- and gas industry activity received by feeding tion Activities on Arctic Whales, documented the whales. effects of underwater noise on bowhead whales. The 1997 MMS-sponsored Arctic Seismic Experimental playbacks of operational sounds Synthesis and Mitigating Measures Workshop pro- caused statistically significant alterations in the vided subsistence whaling captains and represen- migration paths of individual whales, but the over- tatives from the MMS, other agencies and industry all biological significance was considered to be with opportunities to discuss their concerns about the effects of offshore seismic operations on bow- Scientist deploying a hydrophone to study the head whales. Recommendations for improved effects of production noise communications, technological improvements and on marine mammals. research needs were identified. The main conclusions and recommendations have been incorporated into National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) analyses and planning documents.

Living Resources An ongoing international cooperative study called the Beluga Satellite Tagging Project involves the coordinated efforts of the MMS, the Canadian Fisheries Joint Management Committee (Inuvik, NWT), the United Kingdom Sea Mammal Research Unit, and Inuvialuit hunters to capture and track the fall migration of beluga whales through Alaskan Beaufort Sea OCS areas. Satellite tags were placed on the belugas in the summer of 1997 by capture teams from the Canadian Beau- fort Sea villages of Inuvik, Aklavik and Tuktoyak- tuk. The teams relied on their local traditional knowledge to identify the best shallow-water capture sites in Canadian Beaufort estuaries and the latest time window for capture prior to the fall migration. Satellite-linked time/depth recorders and transmitter tags obtained detailed information on beluga migration routes through oil and gas

21 lease areas in the Beaufort Sea to determine detailed distribution of juvenile flatfishes by identifying and beluga migration routes to overwintering areas of quantifying species-specific habitat preferences for concentration, population estimates based on aerial the most abundant flatfish species in southcentral surveys, and habitat preferences as they relate to Alaska. The study identifies biologically sensitive sea ice and continental shelf geomorphology. areas and is critical to understanding the linkages A nearly completed CMI study called Testing between physical and ecological processes in the Conceptual Models of Marine Mammal Trophic Gulf of Alaska and Cook Inlet for use in analyzing Dynamics Using Carbon and Nitrogen Stable potential oil and gas leasing activities. Among the Isotope Ratios found that there may be a split in preliminary findings of this ongoing study are trophic status between populations of Steller sea that: lions. Harbor seals also have moved upwards by • In Kodiak Island bays, Kachemak Bay and approximately half a trophic level. This finding is Izhut Bay, rock sole and either flathead sole not incompatible with observed regime shifts in or Pacific halibut are the dominant species in fisheries from an ecosystem dominated by crab, August; capelin, herring and shrimp to one dominated in • Depth and sediment are key factors for defin- recent years by pollock and flatfish. The study ing Age-0 rock sole, Age-1 yellowfin sole, also produced ocean maps of carbon and nitrogen Age-0 flathead sole and Age-0 Pacific halibut isotope ratios in zooplankton taxa that are key to distribution; and the support of commercially and ecologically • Kodiak Island bays, Izhut Bay and Kachemak important top consumers. The database for the Bay have similar distributions of rock sole maps is large enough to confidently assess year- based on depth and sediment in August; flat- to-year and geographic differences in productivity head sole in Chiniak and Kachemak Bays also regimes. have similar summer distributions. A nearly completed project with the U.S. Fish The sampled fish stomachs from this habitat and Wildlife Service has found that sea otters study will be used in another CMI study funded in between Cape Hinchinbrook and Cape Spencer in 1997: The Relationship of Diet to Habitat Prefer- the Gulf of Alaska have increased in abundance ences of Juvenile Flatfishes in Kachemak Bay, and expanded in range since the last survey of the Alaska. A subsample of 80 juvenile flathead sole area in 1987. stomachs will be examined to determine fish diets The MMS initiated a study in 1997 that is inves- indexed by prey biomass. In Phase 1 of two phases tigating linkages between forage fish and their physi- the researcher will determine what hypotheses are cal and biological environment in lower Cook Inlet testable, what power the statistical analysis will and Shelikof Strait. The study is exploring the sta- have, and what sample size will be necessary to tus of forage fishes by multi-year sampling to bring the power of the statistical tests to the appro- determine their relative biomass, nutritional status priate level prior to the Phase 2 analysis of more and exposure to organic contaminants. The first than 1500 flathead and rock sole stomachs. sampling, conducted in the Tuxedni Bay/Chisik A recently completed CMI fish study, North Island area of Cook Inlet in August 1997, netted Slope Amphidromy Assessment, concluded that large numbers of Pacific herring, several species of stable isotopes are effective indicators of fish feed- smelt, Dolly Varden char, Pacific tomcod, many ing habits and life history patterns. shrimp juveniles, mysids, many euphausids and other fish species. The forage fish are currently Fate and Effects undergoing analyses of proximate composition, In the first of two modeling studies begun in stomach contents and cytochrome P450. The 1997, Sintef Applied Chemistry of Trondheim, Nor- resulting data will provide a basis for decisions way, will re-evaluate the oil-weathering model cur- regarding mitigations and for future damage rently used by the MMS Gulf of Mexico and Alaska assessment, if necessary. This study will provide OCS Regions. The model shows how a specific oil useful information for exploration monitoring and would weather after a spill as a function of physical postlease environmental assessments for historical, conditions and oil characteristics, and it calculates a current and future offshore operations in lower mass balance, how much oil evaporates, how much Cook Inlet. disperses into the water, and how much remains in Defining Habitats for Juvenile Flatfishes in South the slick. The study will evaluate the weaknesses Central Alaska is a multi-year CMI study that is and strengths of the OCS Oil Weathering Model and examining seasonal changes in the abundance and recommend improved or alternative algorithms.

22 In the second modeling study the University of collect data from sportfishing-guide outfitters and Alaska’s Institute of Marine Science (IMS) is related businesses and from their clients. These examining the differences in wind field represen- data will be used to: tations from two meteorological models—one • Update IMPLAN (an economic model) input/ used by the European Center for Medium Weather output coefficients; Range Forecasting, the other by the U.S. Navy • Hold focus group meetings in Kenai Peninsu- Fleet Numerical Oceanography Center. The study la communities; also examines how differences in the two models • Ground-truth the Kenai Peninsula component affect modeled oceanographic circulation in two- of the IMPLAN model and database; dimensional and three-dimensional baroclinic • Extract information from IMPLAN for use in shelf-circulation models. the Fisheries Economic Assessment model; The MMS also initiated studies of sediment • Analyze effects; and quality in the Gulf of Alaska and the Beaufort Sea. • Evaluate scenarios. Scientists from A.D. Little, Inc., are conducting The Exxon Valdez oil spill is likely the world’s the sediment-quality study of depositional areas most studied spill; in addition to published reports, in lower Cook Inlet and Shelikof Strait. During there is an enormous amount of “grey literature.” the summer of 1997, bottomfish, surface sedi- Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Cleanup and Litigation: A ments and sediment cores were collected for Collection of Social-Impact Information and Anal- chemical analyses (petroleum hydrocarbons and ysis will collect, organize and synthesize all the trace metals) and source fingerprinting, toxicity information about the oil spill, cleanup and asso- bioassays and biomarker analyses. Also during the ciated litigation. It also will identify key social summer of 1997 the IMS collected surface sedi- factors for analyzing this information to determine ment samples and sediment cores in the nearshore related effects on the human environment in local Beaufort Sea between the Colville River and Bar- communities. Examples of social factors are social ter Island for petroleum hydrocarbon and trace organization, cultural values, social health, access metal analyses. to subsistence resources, subsistence hunting and In addition, a final report on the adsorption of use of subsistence resources. The major product aromatic hydrocarbons by marine sediments was will be a CD-ROM containing an annotated bib- completed by scientists at the UAF Institute of liography with abstracts, key social factors and Arctic Biology. This study examined adsorption analytical findings. and desorption of benzene, naphthalene and Traditional knowledge is information possessed phenanthrene on and from Cook Inlet sediments. primarily by Native American residents and gained from experience in living on the land and Socioeconomics water. The Inupiat of the Alaskan North Slope Several new social and economic studies were have lived in the Arctic for countless generations initiated in 1997. Economic and Social Effects of and have much knowledge of the biological and Diminishing Oil and Gas Industry Activity on physical environment of both the marine and ter- Alaskan Communities will document the expan- restrial ecosystems. However, because most of this sion, decline and recovery of the Alaska economy knowledge, which has adapted to changes in tech- in the 1975–1995 period, which was driven largely nology and social/economic conditions, has been by oil sector activity. This study will document passed on orally from one generation to the next, fluctuations in state oil and local government reve- little of it is in published form and even less is nues with related effects on local governments and indexed. Some traditional knowledge has been economies, oil company support of community written down, recorded, archived and, in some institutions with related effects on those institu- cases, published, but because this knowledge tions, and employment associated with (and not has not been indexed, it is often not available to associated with) fluctuations in the oil industry Western scientists. MMS has initiated an effort that with related effects on individuals and households. will collect, catalogue and organize appropriate Based on this analysis of economic history, the information identified by Inupiat community researcher will formulate options that the MMS elders, North Slope Borough subsistence coordina- and relevant public bodies can implement to miti- tors, Inupiaq Language and Cultural Center per- gate the effects of similar economic fluctuations. sonnel, and members of the North Slope Scientific A CMI study, An Economic Assessment of the Committee. The information will be attributed, Marine Sport Fisheries in Lower Cook Inlet, will abstracted, key-worded and geographically refer-

23 enced in a database. The resulting information Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPRA) for explora- will be indexed and abstracted on a CD-ROM, and tion. Recently the Alaska staffs of the Bureau of copies will be provided to Alaskan Native commu- Land Management and the MMS were requested nities and Federal, state and local government to jointly prepare an environmental assessment of agencies involved in environmental research and the NPRA. In order to quickly prepare NEPA docu- assessment. ments with high-quality science, a 1997 NPRA Symposium was coordinated by the Alaska OCS Information Transfer Region. The symposium, attended by over 100 The MMS organized a major Information Trans- people, effectively demonstrated the large quantity fer Meeting during 1997. When industry announced of new environmental, social and cultural informa- a nearby oil discovery, the Federal and state govern- tion that has been collected since the last leasing ments proposed to re-offer portions of the National and exploration of the NPRA in the mid-1980s.

Fish and Wildlife Service

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) con- Lake, one of the world’s largest known goose ducts research, including inventories and monitor- molting areas. Activities in interior Alaska including, in the Arctic to generate information that will ed aerial surveys of breeding waterfowl, banding help meet its resource management responsibili- of mid-continent populations of greater white- ties. These responsibilities include conservation fronted geese, dabbling duck banding in support of of migratory birds, certain marine mammals, Pacific flyway objectives, trumpeter swan produc- endangered species, anadromous fishes and all tivity surveys, and trumpeter swan egg collection biota inhabiting national wildlife refuges and other in support of the continental restoration program. FWS lands. Western Alaska/Bering Sea activities included In November 1993, FWS research programs breeding population and nesting surveys of three were transferred to the National Biological Survey species of geese with diminished populations, (NBS), a new bureau that was formed by combin- waterfowl breeding population surveys, Bering ing the biological research functions of a number Sea winter spectacled eider surveys, emperor of Interior Department bureaus. In 1996, NBS was goose productivity and spring population surveys, reorganized as the Biological Resources Division spring staging Steller’s eider population surveys, under the U.S. Geological Survey. The FWS con- banding of cackling Canada geese in support of tinues to conduct inventory and monitoring pro- Pacific flyway objectives, radio-tracking flights of grams of biota in the Arctic at both the national king eiders in support of an Ecological Services and international levels. project, and an aerial inventory of the extensive 1997 die-off of marine birds washing up on the shores of Bristol Bay and the Alaska Peninsula. In Migratory Birds south-central Alaska and Prince William Sound areas, the Waterfowl Management Branch con- The FWS in Alaska is responsible for a variety ducted aerial surveys of Copper River Delta nest- of population monitoring and research efforts in ing trumpeter swans and breeding bald eagles in both the Waterfowl Management and Nongame the Susitna Valley, cooperative surveys of water- Branches. The Waterfowl Management Branch is fowl use of a phosphorus-contaminated military primarily responsible for long-term monitoring of firing range, a dusky Canada goose breeding pairs waterfowl populations. As a result, activities were survey, and an aerial survey of waterbirds in virtually identical for 1996 and 1997. Activities in Seward Bay in support of an Ecological Services northern Alaska included aerial population moni- office. Southeast Alaska activities included an toring surveys of threatened spectacled and aerial survey of wintering waterbirds (1997 only), Steller’s eiders, an annual survey of breeding a Chilkat Valley trumpeter swan survey, and a waterfowl, and continued monitoring of molting summer waterbird survey of 20% of southeast goose populations in the vicinity of Teshekpuk Alaska.

24 Marine Mammals

The FWS in Alaska is responsible for managing three species of marine mammals: polar bears, Pacific walruses and northern sea otters. Of these three species, polar bears and walruses are characteristic of Arctic regions. Populations of both species are shared with Russia, and polar bear populations are also shared with Canada. A major focus of research on these populations relates to international actions that are necessary to conserve populations. The issue of harvest is important because both species have been subject to legal or subsistence harvest or both, and research seeks to develop methods of defining and monitoring populations so that local or region-wide populations will not become depleted. Another issue addressed by research is the identification of important habitat areas and the potential impact of human activi- Snow geese flying over the The Nongame Branch of Migratory Bird Man- ties on areas that may be essential for the stability coastal plain of the Arctic agement (MBM) continued to investigate the of populations. National Wildlife Refuge in northern Alaska, with the recovery of species negatively affected by the Brooks mountain range Exxon Valdez oil spill. MBM continued biannual Polar Bears in the background. surveys to monitor population trends of marine The Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG) was birds in Prince William Sound. Other projects established in 1968 in response to concern for were focused on the interactions of seabird preda- overharvest of polar bears. The PBSG comprises tors and their forage fish in Prince William Sound: scientists and resource managers from the five seabird surveys concurrent with hydroacoustic fish Arctic nations that manage polar bears. A major sampling, reproductive biology and foraging ecol- function of the PBSG is to oversee research and ogy of black-legged kittiwakes, and breeding and management activities to ensure their consistency feeding ecology of pigeon guillemots. The abun- with the 1973 international Agreement on the dance, productivity index and prey selection of Conservation of Polar Bears, signed by all five marbled murrelets were also investigated in the nations. Between 1989 and 1993 the FWS partici- Sound. MBM conducted surveys of seabirds on pated in a study coordinated through the PBSG Saint Lawrence Island, in cooperation with the that was designed to determine the levels of chlo- villages of Gambel and Savoonga, and continued rinated hydrocarbons in polar bears from eastern surveys of seabird colonies in Prince William Russia, North America, Greenland and Svalbard, Sound and on Kodiak Island. Norway. Findings were finalized in 1996 and have Biologists with MBM conducted surveys on the been submitted for publication. Knowledge of the Yakutat Forelands to assess their importance to distribution and trends in concentrations of migrating shorebirds during the springs of 1996 organochlorine contaminants is important in and 1997. Other landbird and shorebird survey determining the effects on all components of the projects included breeding bird inventories of Arctic ecosystem. Alaska Army National Guard Training Areas and a In 1996 and 1997 the FWS continued to collect breeding bird atlas of the Fort Richardson Army information regarding polar bears harvested by base. A major effort was undertaken to assess bird Native hunters in coastal villages for subsistence habitat along Breeding Bird Survey routes in purposes. The majority of polar bears are killed Alaska. MBM continued a fall migration banding during the winter, when advancing pack ice brings station for passerines at Yakutat and collected in- bears into contact with coastal Alaska Natives. formation on weather patterns and habitat use. Harvest numbers are therefore reported on a har- Biologists also conducted breeding bird surveys vest year basis, which runs from July 1 through and measured vegetation features on Research June 30. The Alaska harvests during the 1995-96 Natural Areas on the Tongass National Forest. and 1996-97 harvest years totaled 43 and 86 bears,

25 the program is to monitor the activities of industrial development in polar bear habitat and help minimize impacts to polar bears, their habitat and their availability for subsistence use. As part of the incidental take regulations, the FWS was tasked with developing a Habitat Conservation Strategy for Polar Bears in Alaska. Completed in 1995, the strategy identified important habitat areas for polar bears; threats to polar bears and their habitat; land ownership, treaties, laws and agreements that affect habitat management; options for conserving habitat; and research needs. In August 1997 the FWS completed the report Collection of Local Knowledge Regarding Polar Bear Habitat Use in Alaska. This report summarizes information collected during the development of the strategy from Alaska Native polar bear hunters regarding areas used by polar bears for denning, feeding and seasonal movements. A database of den locations was Female polar bear with cubs respectively. The recent harvest trend continues developed that includes all known locations of on pack ice in the spring to be approximately 33% below the long-term dens based on traditional knowledge, radioteleme- near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. average. try and other anecdotal sources of information. Tissue specimens (skull muscle, kidney, liver This information is used for land use planning and skin) were also collected to assess the accu- activities with the oil and gas industry and other racy of sex reported for polar bears harvested dur- ongoing activities in the Arctic. Local knowledge ing subsistence activities. Samples from harvested of polar bear use of coastal beaches and barrier animals were collected by FWS biologists and islands alerted scientists to the importance of ma- Alaska Native taggers between 1985 and 1995 and rine mammal carcasses as a food source for polar submitted for genetic analysis. Specimens were bears. Marine mammal carcasses represent tons of collected from polar bears of the southern Beau- potential food for polar bears and may be particu- fort Sea population and from the Chukchi–Bering larly important for the survival of females with Seas population. The results indicate that some cubs and younger bears during the fall. To docu- misidentification of sex and age does occur in the ment the distribution and abundance of marine field. Findings from this study are in preparation mammal carcasses, aerial surveys were conducted for publication. in 1995–1997 along the Alaska coast from Nome In 1996 the FWS, in cooperation with the Alaska to the Canadian border. A summary report is in Nanuuq Commission and the National Fish and preparation. Wildlife Foundation, initiated a polar bear contaminant sampling program. Polar bears are ideally Walruses suited for monitoring the level and distribution of In 1996 and 1997 the FWS, in cooperation with heavy metal and organochlorine levels in the Arc- the Eskimo Walrus Commission, continued to tic ecosystem because of their position at the top monitor the spring subsistence harvest of walruses of the Arctic marine food chain and their wide dis- in the Native villages of Gambell, Savoonga, Dio- tribution. Alaska Native hunters and taggers were mede and Wales. FWS technicians and village res- trained in the collection of biological specimens idents worked together to collect information on from male polar bears harvested for subsistence the size and demographics of the spring harvest by purposes. Samples from polar bear liver, kidney, conducting hunter interviews and obtaining bio- fat and muscle tissue are analyzed for heavy metal logical samples. This information is used to assess and organochlorine concentrations. To date, tissue the size and composition of the harvest and to samples from 12 bears have been collected and study aspects of walrus population dynamics and submitted for analysis. Collection activities will life history. continue until 60 samples are received. In 1996 and 1997 the FWS, the Alaska Depart- The Incidental Take Program is another ongo- ment of Fish and Game and the Bristol Bay Native ing monitoring effort in Alaska. The purpose of Association teamed up to monitor walrus numbers

26 For more information on and human disturbances at terrestrial walrus haul- combined mark–recapture (mass marking) and FWS marine mammal outs in Bristol Bay. Each summer, thousands of radiotelemetry study on fall chum salmon to pro- research, please contact male walruses migrate to Bristol Bay to rest, molt vide fishery managers with information on total David McGillivary at (907) 786-3800. and replenish body reserves lost during the breed- and stock-specific abundance, stock composition, ing season. Bristol Bay, Alaska, represents critical run timing and locations of undocumented spawn- habitat for the largest aggregation of Pacific wal- ing areas in the upper Yukon Basin. Some Yukon ruses in North America. Daily count data collected River fall chum salmon travel more than 3500 km by haulout monitors have been incorporated into a before spawning, the longest freshwater salmon database to monitor trends in walrus numbers and spawning migration in the world. Fishwheels oper- habitat use patterns within Bristol Bay. Monitors ated in the mainstem Yukon River, upstream of the also participated in a study to identify the effects Tanana River, are used to capture chum salmon for of anthropogenic disturbances on haulout use and both the marking and recapture events. Mark– collaborated with Native hunters in the develop- recapture population estimates from 1996 and ment and implementation of a harvest monitoring 1997 compare favorably with independent esti- and biosampling program centered on a subsis- mates derived from up-river harvests and escape- tence walrus hunt at Round Island. ment monitoring. In 1997, remote tracking stations Between 1975 and 1990 information on the size for radiotelemetry were installed at sites on the of the Pacific walrus population was collected U.S.–Canada border, and additional sites were through a series of aerial surveys conducted located on major spawning tributaries within the jointly by the U.S. and Russia. The last aerial sur- upper drainage. vey flown in 1990 produced a population estimate In 1997 the FWS enumerated salmon escape- of approximately 200,000 animals. Range-wide ments on four Yukon River tributaries, including surveys were suspended in 1995 because of bud- the Chandalar, South Fork Koyukuk, Gisasa and getary constraints. Although there are no immedi- East Fork Andreafsky Rivers. To maintain biodi- ate plans to conduct another survey, future cooper- versity and resource health an adequate number of ative work to evaluate the size and trend of the salmon in any particular stock must be permitted Pacific walrus population is considered a high pri- to return to their natal stream of origin. The num- ority by both nations. In 1996 and 1997 the FWS ber that returns to spawn is called escapement. began investigating the feasibility of using satellite Escapement information is used to schedule fish- imagery to count walruses. This technology may ery openings and to ensure stock conservation, so prove to be cheaper and safer than flying aerial it is crucial that fisheries managers have accurate surveys. and timely information. The FWS has operated floating resistance board weirs and split-beam sonar to ensure adequate escapement of salmon Fisheries stocks on National Wildlife Refuges. Floating weirs spanning 100 m have been used to count FWS fishery research in the Arctic focuses on over 500,000 salmon in Yukon River tributaries. Yukon River salmon, an anadromous resource The FWS has also pioneered the development of shared by the U.S. and Canada. Allocation of the split-beam sonar technology to enumerate riverine harvest has been an international issue. Research populations of adult salmon. objectives by the FWS have been to use state-of- The FWS Fish Genetics Laboratory initiated the-art enumeration techniques to quantify salmon two genetic stock identification projects in 1997. abundance and monitor resource health and to em- In a continuing effort to improve the utility of the ploy genetic stock identification (GSI) techniques GSI methods for stock discrimination, the Fish to quantify genetic diversity and determine what Genetics Laboratory has initiated a three-year portions of harvested populations are of U.S. and project to improve stock discrimination of Yukon Canadian origin. The Alaska Region of the FWS River fall chum salmon. This project supports has participated in U.S.–Canada Yukon River interjurisdictional efforts to rebuild fall chum Treaty negotiations under the Pacific Salmon salmon stocks and improve the ability of managers Treaty and has been instrumental in providing to better allocate the catch among users. Molecular technical guidance in support of the international genetic methods are being used to evaluate the negotiations. As part of that effort the Fairbanks suitability of several classes of genetic markers for Fishery Resource Office, in cooperation with the stock discrimination, with special emphasis being National Marine Fisheries Service, is conducting a placed on separating U.S.- and Canadian-origin

27 For more information on fall chum stocks. Genetic profiles of representa- chemical technique on sheefish otoliths, which FWS fisheries research, tive spawning stocks from throughout the Yukon retain a chemical record of passage into salt please contact Steve Klein River drainage will be established using the new water. The distance between the spawning areas at (907) 786-3548. genetic markers. The discriminatory performance and salt water exceeds 2000 km, one of the longest of the new markers will then be evaluated. recorded migrations for this species. Continuing The second genetic study initiated in 1997 is a work next year may further expand our knowledge three-year project to develop a genetic baseline of the migratory range of these Arctic fish. for coho salmon. The new baseline will provide fisheries biologists and managers a tool to achieve biological diversity, conservation and harvest International Circumpolar goals. The project is phased to include collections Activities– Area V from spawning stocks in various regions of the state (including the Yukon River), testing and Since 1972 the U.S. and Russia have been development of genetic markers, and develop- involved in international negotiations regarding ment of genetic profiles for the spawning stocks. the protection of nature and the organization of The molecular genetic methods being used permit reserves. In 1994 the U.S.–Russia Environmental the application of nonlethal sampling methods for Agreement was signed (renegotiated from the collections, greatly simplifying the field logistics 1972 U.S.–U.S.S.R. Environmental Agreement). and resulting in more collections in a shorter peri- Under this agreement, conservation agencies and od. The results of this project will have application other organizations in both countries actively not only in Alaska but also throughout the entire sponsor exchanges of American and Russian spe- geographic range of coho salmon. cialists in rare and endangered fauna and flora, On the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge and refuges and reserves, migratory birds, marine Kobuk Valley National Park, sheefish support sub- mammals, fish husbandry and terrestrial/marine stantial subsistence fisheries that are of great prac- ecosystem biodiversity. Joint projects have made tical and cultural importance to the residents of the significant contributions to the protection and region. In cooperation with the Alaska Department management of shared species. of Fish and Game, the FWS initiated a study in The FWS is involved in a number of Area V 1994 to quantify the distribution, abundance, gen- initiatives. The Conservation of Wild Species of etics and life history characteristics of Selawik and Fauna and Flora and the Protection of Natural Kobuk River sheefish populations. Distribution Areas project’s primary goal is to promote conser- and abundance were assessed with mark–recapture vation of individual species or groups of species techniques. To locate spawning grounds, adult (especially migratory) and their habitats. Biolo- sheefish were surgically implanted with radio gists from both countries continually exchange transmitters to permit biologists to track their expertise and collaborate in field studies to con- movements from airplanes and boats. The Fish tribute to scientific knowledge and foster a more Genetics Laboratory characterized the genetic sub- effective management approach. Six activities structuring of the population using nonlethal tissue comprise the work of this project: sampling and new molecular genetics methods. • Implementation of the 1976 U.S.–Russia Several FWS technical publications are in prepara- Convention Concerning the Conservation of tion that will help guide managers in conserving Migratory Birds and their Environment, this unique stock. which monitors and promotes the study and In 1997 the FWS conducted research on shee- protection of more than 200 bird species; fish in the upper Yukon River. Sheefish are known • Study and conservation of cranes, raptors and to be highly migratory within many Arctic river other rare birds, including the establishment systems and exhibit both anadromous and fresh- and maintenance of stable, reproducing water resident life history forms. The sheefish populations of rare and endangered species of at the FWS research site were suspected to be birds, both in the wild and in captivity; anadromous and to spawn in various areas • Study and conservation of rare and endan- throughout the upper river, including the Yukon gered mammals; Flats National Wildlife Refuge. Through radiote- • Study and conservation of protected natural lemetry, the FWS confirmed that spawning areas areas, including military–civilian cooperation occur on the Yukon Flats NWR. Anadromous in land management, and a small grants behavior was verified by using a complex micro- program where the U.S. awards small grants

28 for technical assistance to nature reserves, and information regarding population estimates of parks and other protected areas of Russia; sea otters in their ranges bordering these countries • Cooperation among zoos in captive breeding were summarized. The results of studies were pre- of rare and endangered animals; and sented in areas such as sea otter food consumption • Conservation and management of marine and foraging including ecosystem effects, contam- birds. inant exposure monitoring, and reproductive and Another Area V initiative that FWS leads is the genetic studies involving captive or rehabilitated Aleutian Chain Biodiversity Project, which focuses sea otters. Several U.S.–Russia collaborative pro- on joint studies of the species occurring in national jects were proposed in the area of genetics, con- wildlife refuges of southeastern Alaska, the Alaska taminant research, population monitoring and Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands and the nature research into general sea otter biology and life his- reserves of northeastern Russia, the Kamchatka tory. The next joint workshop is planned for 1999 Peninsula and the Commander Islands of Russia. in Russia. The establishment of a Sister Refuge program was The Animal and Plant Ecology Project focuses proposed for 1996 where scientists and informa- on cooperative research into the ecology of single tion will be exchanged regarding inventory and species and communities of fauna and flora in the monitoring of brown bears, migrating raptors and U.S. and Russia. Activities include studies of: coastal plant communities. • Rare and endangered species of plants and the Over the years the Area V Environmental Pro- introduction of exotic species in both coun- tection Agreement between the United States and tries; Russia has provided a conduit for the exchange of • Northern migratory waterfowl, specifically information. Cooperative studies of the biology, snow geese, Aleutian Canada geese, and ecology and population dynamics of marine mam- spectacled and Steller’s eiders; mals species are also underway. FWS species • Holarctic mammals; studied under the Area V initiatives include polar • Chemical senses and communication in bears, Pacific walruses and sea otters. animals; The Polar Bear Specialist Group recognized • Application of contemporary technology, such the need for unified conservation efforts between as sea ice mapping distribution, in studies of the U.S. and Alaska for the shared Bering–Chukchi large mammals such as polar bears; and Seas population of polar bears. After several • Wildlife health and disease, such as the effects years of negotiations and public review, a draft of lead poisoning in waterfowl. government-to-government agreement and com- The Area V Ichthyology and Aquaculture panion Alaska–Chukotka Native-to-Native agree- Project seeks to improve fisheries management, ment was completed in 1997. These agreements increase productivity through intensive fish cul- would provide a basis for developing unified and ture, restore fishery resources, and exchange infor- comprehensive management programs, including mation on the physiology, nutrition, diseases, ge- provisions for conducting joint research. The U.S. netics and reproductive biotechnology of mutual Department of State has granted negotiating author- fish species. ity for the development of this agreement. A nego- The FWS also leads the effort to facilitate tiating meeting was scheduled for February 1998. cooperation in wildlife trade and law enforcement The routine exchange of publications and harvest activities to provide technical assistance and train- data between the U.S. and Russia has advanced ing for the conservation of endangered species in understanding of walrus biology and helped the the Russian Far East. In addition, conservation FWS track the status of the population. In 1997 education efforts are underway to enhance public both sides began working to develop a database awareness of and commitment to the need to con- that will consolidate data from aerial surveys, serve wild species of flora and fauna, as well as haulout counts, harvest data, disturbance studies, their habitats. biological collections and habitat studies. When completed, this database will be made available to researchers and managers in both countries. In Conservation of Arctic Flora November 1997 the sixth U.S.–Russia workshop and Fauna on sea otters was held in the state of Washington. Scientists representing Canada, Japan, the Russian The FWS Alaska is the lead agency for Conser- Federation and the U.S. attended. Research efforts vation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), an inter-

29 For more information national initiative that falls under the umbrella for- CAFF’s focus is biodiversity, habitat conserva- on CAFF, please contact merly known as the Arctic Environmental Protec- tion, species conservation within an ecosystem Janet Hohn at tion Strategy (AEPS), recently reorganized as the approach and the integration of indigenous peo- (907) 786-3544 Arctic Council. CAFF is one of four programs ples and their knowledge into the work of CAFF. or e-mail: [email protected] formed under AEPS, which was adopted by Canada, In 1996 and 1997 FWS work under CAFF focused Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, on inventory and mapping of Arctic vegetation, Russia, Sweden and the U.S. in 1991. The FWS development of conservation strategies for murres participates on the CAFF International Working and eiders, and development of a strategy and Group, which was established in 1992 and consists action plan for the Circumpolar Protected Areas of scientists, conservation managers and indige- Network (CPAN). Future work of CAFF will be nous peoples of the Arctic. CAFF provides a directed by the Strategy for the Conservation of circumpolar forum in which a wide range of Biological Diversity in the Arctic Region. Arctic conservation issues can be discussed.

Funding (thousands) National Park Service FY 96 FY 97

The central mission of the National Park Ser- Cultural Resources 790 1,338 vice (NPS) in Alaska is no different than for the Natural Ecology 1,650 2,431 rest of the U.S. The NPS preserves, unimpaired, Total 2,440 3,769 the natural and cultural resources under its stewardship for the enjoyment, education and inspira- research activities. And in keeping with current tion of present and future generations. As an Department of the Interior policy, the NPS has adjunct to this central mission, the NPS is also turned to the USGS for assistance with the larger charged with cooperating with partners to extend and more complex biological research issues that the benefits of natural and cultural resources con- face the parks. Moreover, in step with the intent of servation and outdoor recreation throughout the the Arctic Research and Policy Act, the NPS has U.S. and the world. actively sought the involvement and partnership of The unique aspect of the NPS’s mission in other Federal agencies, the State of Alaska, adja- Alaska is provided by the Alaska National Interest cent northern nations, Native groups, educational Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). Among other institutions and other interested parties in coopera- things, ANILCA ensures the continuation of tradi- tive research endeavors. tional subsistence pursuits in most of the park The research objectives in the NPS are driven areas and allows sport hunting in the national pre- and guided by its major mission goals. These goals serves. The vast size of the Alaska parks, com- were reaffirmed by the NPS’s National Leadership bined with their ecological complexity, presents Council in the just-published 1997 National Park great management challenges. As recently demon- Service Strategic Plan. The specific goals that strated by the Exxon Valdez oil spill, they are not give general direction to its natural and cultural free of threat and degradation from the impacts resource programs in the North are as follows: generated by the modern industrial world. They • Natural and cultural resources and associated remain vulnerable, and the wise management of values are protected, restored and maintained these lands depends on the knowledge and infor- in good condition and managed with their mation that can only be supplied by solid and broader ecosystem and cultural context. well-thought-out research and monitoring pro- • The National Park Service contributes to grams. knowledge about natural and cultural re- Recent organizational restructuring within the sources and associated values; management agency, coupled with the creation of the National decisions about resources and visitors are Biological Service (now the Biological Resources based on adequate scholarly and scientific in- Division of the U.S. Geological Survey), has formation. changed the way research is accomplished within • Park visitors and the general public under- the NPS. Today, in the more decentralized NPS, stand and appreciate the preservation of parks park staffs have assumed significantly greater and their resources for this and future genera- responsibilities for charting and carrying out its tions.

30 Shared Beringian Heritage to make this important volume available in English Program translation to the world community of scholars. A joint project of the Shishmaref IRA (Indian The Shared Beringian Heritage Program of the Reorganization Act) Council and the NPS has pro- NPS has expanded its outreach and partnership vided detailed documentation of traditional place activities during the 1996-97 fiscal years. In addi- names and connections to the land in the coastal tion to its cooperation with universities throughout zone of the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve the nation, the NPS has agreements in place with (BELA). A report on the study has been completed state and Native organizations, both at the regional and is scheduled for publication in 1998 or 1999. and village level. Kawerak Incorporated, in partnership with the The Beringia Panel continues to convene sev- NPS, is engaged in transcribing and cataloging 500 eral times a year to prioritize research proposals interview tapes with Eskimo people of the Seward and to hear first-hand reports on current projects Peninsula. These tapes represent an invaluable that are presented at the annual Beringia Days record of traditional life in the area. symposium in the fall in Anchorage. This panel The purpose of a University of Alaska project has been successful in bringing the interests of the is to better define and understand the geomorphic NPS and the Native corporations of western Alaska and hydrological processes that govern the forma- together in the areas of conservation and research in tion of vegetation and waterfowl habitat in the Beringia. Its members include management from Cape Espenberg wetlands of BELA. Research the NPS and the Native corporations of western results demonstrate that these dynamic and com- Alaska (Bering Straits, NANA and Arctic Slope plex wetlands form one of the most important Regional Corporations). “biological engines” in the region. During this period, new Russian partners have The purpose of a cooperative venture with local been developed and a working relationship estab- elders, Native language teachers and the University lished with the regional government of Chukotka. of Alaska Native Language Center is to record The NPS’s goal is to facilitate the exchange of sci- local Inupiaq folk tales in their original dialects entists and data across the frontier and to encour- and settings and integrate them with a workbook age a strong link between villages on both sides on Inupiaq orthography. The products will be used of the Bering Strait. More and more Russian sci- to preserve and teach the Inupiaq language in the entists and resource managers are attending Berin- context of local oral history. gia Days, and increasing numbers of Beringia In cooperation with the King Island Native com- research projects have a Russian partner or Rus- munity the NPS is sponsoring a study of the Wolf sian component to their study. Dance, one of the most important ceremonies of In the summer of 1997 an archeological recon- the King Island Eskimos. The research is being naissance was conducted by researchers from the conducted by Deanna Kingston, a Native King University of Washington in the upper headwaters Islander and anthropologist. Since the Wolf Dance of the Killik River within Gates of the Arctic was originally performed within the context of the National Park and Preserve (GAAR). This is in Messenger Feast, where one community hosted the general neighborhood of the now-famous another, the study will illuminate relationships with Mesa Site being excavated by the Bureau of Land other Eskimo groups in the Bering Strait region. Management. The object of the work was to dis- The NPS, in cooperation with the Northwest cover traces of the earliest inhabitants of Arctic Arctic Borough School District, has updated and Alaska. Little evidence of early use of this area will soon publish Kuuvangmiut Subsistence: Tradi- was discovered, and researchers will address the tional Eskimo Life in the Latter Twentieth Century. implications of these findings in making future A revised version of this invaluable record of tradi- predictions of likely locations where evidence of tional subsistence lifestyle will be published for the Alaska’s earliest people might be found. first time, and the book will be made widely avail- The NPS funded the translation and publication able to bilingual school programs in eleven villages of Nikolai N. Dikov’s seminal work on the prehis- in northwest Alaska and to scholars around the tory of Beringia, Asia at the Juncture with Ameri- world. ca in Antiquity. This book summarizes the results Researchers from the University of Alaska Fair- of Dikov’s research between 1979 and 1986 in banks are using a variety of scientific approaches Chukotka and reports on the data gleaned from to decipher the key natural processes responsible 170 archeological sites. It was the NPS’s purpose for the creation and maintenance of the Kobuk

31 Sand Dunes in Kobuk National Park. Because the In close cooperation with the U.S. Fish and dunes appear to also be a sensitive environmental Wildlife Service as well as the communities of sentinel for the region, a better understanding of Savoonga and Gambell, Native Alaskan researcher the dunes will also shed important light on the Caleb Pungowiyi is directing a three-year study of larger landscape and climatic history of Beringia. seabirds and seabird subsistence harvests on St. A multi-year collaborative research effort involv- Lawrence Island. The study involves strong parti- ing the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Univer- cipation by the local islanders in making direct sity of Massachusetts, the National Science Foun- bird colony observations and in sharing traditional dation and several research institutions affiliated knowledge on bird management strategies. with the Russian Academy of Sciences is attempt- Researchers from the Russian Academy of Sci- ing to determine the extent of Cenozoic glaciation ences, St. Petersburg, and the University of Alaska in the Bering Strait and also characterize the chang- Fairbanks continued to explore the nature and ing character of the paleoceanography of the region extent of twentieth-century cultural exchanges during the same time span. across the Bering Strait. Recent work centered on A project developed in partnership with indi- the roles of the Chukchi, King Islander and Dio- genous people on both sides of the Bering Strait mede Eskimos in these contacts. The intensity of was designed to promote the continuation of tradi- economic and social relations across the waters of tional intercontinental links and the revitalization the Bering Strait are much greater than originally of cultural traditions associated with these cross- expected, and new linguistic evidence has emerged continental exchanges. This project specifically that suggests that the Yupik spoken in the village of funded the attendance of regional dance groups Naukanski on the Russian side had its origins in and video documentation of their performances at Alaska. the 1997 Northwest Alaska Native Trade Fair in Kotzebue, Alaska. Ernest Burch is comparing and documenting Cultural Resources the social, political and economic institutions and forces that characterized the traditional Inupiaq Multi-Park Studies nations of the nineteenth century. As with his In its fifth and sixth years, the Gulf of Alaska earlier-funded study on “international relations” Coastal Archeological Survey Project, funded by among the Inupiaq nations, which has been com- the Systemwide Archeological Inventory Program pleted, the product will be a published book. (SAIP), resulted in the completion of surveys of Research by the University of Alaska Fairbanks coastal areas within Lake Clark National Park and on multiple exposures of an ancient ground surface Preserve (LACL) and within Wrangell–St. Elias buried under the 17,500-year-old Devil Mountain National Park and Preserve (WRST). The project ash fall in BELA continued in 1996 and 1997. continues to be interdisciplinary, placing emphasis Studies include plant and insect identification, pol- on the construction of a regional model of prehis- len analysis and the estimation of paleo-biomass toric settlement patterns relative to Holocene sea- and productivity. The results to date support the level changes, glacial action and the distribution concept of a steppe–tundra environment during the of subsistence resources along the coast. The late Pleistocene, but a newly found surface points research is led by investigators from the Arctic to the existence of a shrub tundra more similar to Studies Center, National Museum of Natural His- today’s environment at around 35,000 years ago. tory, Smithsonian Institution, and University of In cooperation with the Eskimo Society of Alaska Fairbanks through the U.S. Geological Chukotka, the Naukan Native Company, the Pro- Service (USGS), Biological Resources Division, videniya Municipal Museum and the North Slope Cooperative Research Unit. The FY 96 investiga- Borough, the NPS is supporting the development tions at WRST, on the north shore of Yakutat Bay, of increased awareness of the values of the subsis- demonstrated at least 800 years of prehistoric tence lifestyle and the potential benefits of the occupation where no archeological sites had previ- creation of an international park to the continua- ously been recorded. The sites provide a possible tion of this traditional lifestyle. Local participation tangible link to Tlingit oral history, which men- is critical to this project because it sponsors a var- tions migrations into Yakutat Bay from the north. iety of local efforts and studies ranging from The FY 96 investigations at LACL demonstrated a marine mammal harvest counts to skin boat con- high-density late-prehistoric Dena’ina occupation struction. on the north shore of Chinitna Bay in an area

32 where few definite archeological sites had been of this region, and the charcoal and tephra samples previously reported. In Tuxedni Bay the project will help to develop a chronological framework recorded a 3500-year-old site, the first site of that for the cultural occupation and major volcanic time period recorded on the north shore of Cook events in the monument and preserve. Inlet, and it extends the known geographical range Cultural resource staff also began work on an of the early maritime Ocean Bay culture. In FY 97 ethnographic overview and assessment. The study project work shifted to laboratory analysis and will define relevant neighboring groups with ties preparation of final reports. The final reports for to park lands, identify traditional use areas and the work in Kenai Fjords National Park (KEFJ) determine future ethnographic research directions. and Katmai National Park and Preserve (KATM) Archival research will be combined with the col- should be published in 1998. The final reports for lection of oral histories, and a comprehensive GIS the work in GLBA, LACL and WRST will be pub- cultural database will be developed to aid in evalu- lished in 1999. ating information and designing future investiga- Archeological overviews and assessments were tions. completed for WRST and LACL, and four others were initiated in Glacier Bay National Park (GLBA), Denali National Park and Preserve Sitka National Historical Park (SITK), Gates of the In cooperation with the State of Alaska, Divi- Arctic National Park and Preserve (GAAR) and sion of Subsistence, work was initiated on an Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park ethnographic overview and assessment of the park (KLGO). The one at KLGO involved the Chilkoot and preserve as a whole. This is a two-year project Trail and White Pass Units and is being accom- that will involve not only the NPS and the State of plished through a cooperative agreement with the Alaska but also several neighboring tribal groups University of Idaho. The outcome of these projects and Alaska Native villages. is the publication of synthesis documents that compile, review and evaluate all existing archeo- Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve logical data for a park and its immediate vicinity. Archeological surveys in 1996 of two parcels The results include an up-to-date park resource of land to be affected by the Anaktuvuk Pass land information base and directions for future research exchange resulted in identifying and recording and management of the resources. seven new sites that range in age from approximately 5000 years old to historic Nunamiut. This Alagnak Wild River project also initiated a monitoring program for Another first systematic archeological survey previously recorded sites around Agiak Lake. was conducted in 1997 at the headwaters of the A Native American Graves Protection and Alagnak River and along the Nonvianuk River to Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) study in the park its confluence with the Alagnak River. Twenty- seeks to determine culturally affiliated traditional four previously unrecorded archeological sites burial practices of the Native people associated were identified. They document human occupation with park lands. This study will use published ref- of the area from about 8000 years ago to historic erences, unpublished field data and interviews times and include a large multi-component village with community members to identify distinguish- with 69 features, two of which were large multi- ing surface features of gravesites. This information room houses. A previously recorded site was also will be used by park management to protect sites visited and mapped. This site has 38 house depres- from disturbance and to identify affiliated groups sions, 25–35 cache depressions, Russian Orthodox for future consultation. church ruins and a cemetery. Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve In association with the Hoonah Indian Associa- The first-ever systematic archeological survey tion, the NPS undertook in 1997 an effort to use of this remote and poorly known region was con- the recently compiled Tlingit place name map as a ducted in 1997. Twenty-one new archeological guide for locating and documenting former habita- sites (11 prehistoric and 10 historic) were found tions and sacred sites in the park and preserve. The and documented. The sites included several siza- survey resulted in the discovery of eight archeo- ble villages, one with more than 35 house pits. logical sites, including three fort sites. Two of the Lithic and faunal data from these sites will help in forts are in Glacier Bay proper and are likely the developing a picture of the culture and economy earliest sites thus far recognized in the bay. The

33 forts are particularly significant because they allow active cooperative management initiative. Melding a heretofore unrecognized glimpse of the tumultu- both Western management models and traditional ous human environment in the mid- to late 1800s. ecological knowledge, this initiative concludes that the overall objectives of agency and commun- Katmai National Park and Preserve ity members and the conservation of healthy In addition to revisiting and monitoring the resource populations is best met by negotiating condition of 50 previously recorded sites along the co-management regimes that integrate agency and coast of the park in 1996, the park undertook data local perspectives into a legitimate self-regulating recovery excavations at the Mink Island archeo- system. logical site within the Takli Island Archeological Archeological surveys were performed in District. This work was undertaken in cooperation Kobuk Valley National Park (KOVA) and Noatak and consultation with the Council of Katmai Des- National Preserve (NOAT) in 1996, and an addi- cendants, a group representing all Natives who tional survey was conducted in KOVA in 1997. have traditional ties with Katmai lands. Natural The work in KOVA, done in collaboration with weathering, wave erosion and recent vandalism Brown University, identified 14 new sites that have contributed to the partial destruction of this ranged from paleoarctic to the historic 1898 gold site. The excavations included units in both the rush in age and resulted in three major prehistoric upper component of the site, which dates from village sites being mapped. The work at NOAT 2500 to 500 years ago, and the lower component, resulted in architectural maps of stone qarigis at which dates from 7000 to 4000 years ago. Work three late-prehistoric village sites (Feniak, Desper- will be completed in 1998. ation and Burial Lakes) and initiated an ethnographic cultural landscape study at Desperation Lake Clark National Park and Preserve Lake. This study represents the first attempt at In 1997 the first year of a three-year project to assessing the scope and problems associated with map, analyze and interpret the Kijik National His- looking at archeological sites in the Arctic as part toric Landmark was initiated. This year involved of a larger ethnographic landscape. taking low-altitude aerial photographs of the 14- In 1996 at Cape Krusenstern National Monu- square-mile project area and producing detailed ment (CAKR), in a collaborative effort with the topographic maps. Included within Kijik are the Smithsonian Institution, the NPS began the pro- remains of 12 Dena’ina settlements and approxi- cess of re-locating the more-than-500 archeologi- mately 200 dwellings. The sites date at least from cal sites located by J. Louis Giddings and Douglas the late prehistoric period, approximately AD D. Anderson, both of Brown University, in the 1600, until the abandonment of historic Kijik 1960s. Rebar monuments were established at each Village in the early 1900s. site, and global positioning system (GPS) fixes were obtained for each. In 1997 new aerial photog- Western Arctic National Parklands raphy of the CAKR beaches was acquired to build Responding to an impending severe decline detailed photogrammetric maps to be used to mon- Screening for artifacts at in the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, the NPS has itor beach erosion, to locate archeological sites Kaiyak Lake in Noatak joined with other Federal, state, regional and com- and other resources, and to inform future arche- National Preserve. munity partners in northwest Alaska to form a pro- ologists of areas not examined by Giddings and Anderson. Also at CAKR, archeological excavations were conducted in 1997 at the erosion-threatened sites of Agiagruat and Aitiligauraq. The work at the former was done in association with Washington State University, and a preliminary assessment of the artifacts collected indicates a late-Western Thule occupation dating to the 14th or 15th centu- ries AD. The latter, which was undertaken as an archeological field school jointly with Brown Uni- versity, involved two turn-of-the-century Inupiaq semi-subterranean houses. This time period was one of transition and trauma for the Inupiat, and the analysis of the material will focus on the juxta-

34 sites, their relative chronology (from 2700 years ago to the protohistoric) before and after a significant volcanic eruption, the lithic technology represented, and its association with recently identified obsidian source material traded elsewhere in Alaska provided the park with invaluable resource data on the uncertain prehistory of the area.

Natural Resources

Denali National Park and Preserve Scientific research in Denali National Park and Preserve is critical to understanding and documenting resource conditions, providing information for park management decisions, and resolving threats to natural conditions. The park provides a unique opportunity for comparative studies that look at environmental response in pristine areas versus Partially excavated housepit position of items of traditional and Euro-American intensively manipulated areas. Denali is a vast in Cape Krusenstern manufacture. wilderness over six million acres in size; document- National Monument. ation of the presence and condition of resources is a Note the fallen roof timbers inside the house. Yukon–Charley Rivers National Preserve massive task. To accomplish this task the NPS con- In cooperation with the Alaska Department of ducts and supports a substantial interdisciplinary Fish and Game, Subsistence Division, the NPS con- natural resource inventory, monitoring and research ducted an ethnographic study of the Han Gwitch’in program. This program is implemented through people. The purpose of the study was to produce efforts by park scientific staff, cooperating state an illustrated manuscript that would celebrate and and Federal agencies, and various academic institu- document Han culture and history. The Han com- tions. During any given year, there are nearly 100 munity of Eagle Village, the Tr’ondek Hwech’in individual studies or projects underway. First Nation in Yukon Territory, and Parks Canada Wildlife research has been important in Denali were consultants on this study. Study topics included since 1926, when the first thorough inventory of an overview of source materials; Han band territo- wildlife in the park was started. Examples of 1996 ries and settlement patterns; traditional subsistence and 1997 projects include the ecology of moose practices; social organization; expressive culture; (USFS), the nesting ecology of migratory golden changes in Han culture brought by contact with the eagles (NPS), the ecology of grizzly bears (USGS- fur trade, the gold rush and missionaries; and the BRD) and investigations into predator–prey (caribou– Han people today. wolf) relationships (USGS-BRD). Information to deal with wolf management, one of the most contro- Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve versial resource issues in the park, continued to be In 1996 an archeological survey of the his- developed through an extensive monitoring pro- toric mining townsite of Chisana was completed. gram using radiotelemetry. Other studies continued Although historic accounts mention 400–500 log in 1997 include documenting wildlife behavioral cabins at Chisana in its heyday, the survey docu- response to vehicular use along the park road. For ex- mented only 125 structures. Stream erosion and ample, the effects of such vehicular use on Dall sheep the construction of an airstrip and other facilities migratory routes were examined and identified. on adjacent private land account for the decimation Denali’s Long-Term Ecological Monitoring of much of the original townsite. (LTEM) program continues to be developed jointly In 1997 the first extensive archeological survey by park staff and USGS-BRD. Studies from this pro- specifically targeted at identifying prehistoric sites gram are contributing to a fundamental understand- was carried out in the Wiki Peak area near the ing of park resources. Watershed-based studies for Canadian border. An unexpectedly high density this program are wide-ranging in scope and have of prehistoric sites (65) was encountered and focused on such resources as soils, water chemistry, recorded. The discovery of a large concentration of small mammals, birds and vegetation. Other LTEM

35 studies parkwide were aimed at monitoring weather of activity, distribution, behavior and human inter- and determining the regional effects of climate on action. The intent of the study is to determine the glaciers. level of bear and human activity, bear and human Recent studies have reflected a shift in interest to spatial and temporal use, and bear–human interac- learning more about the park’s abiotic resources. tions along the Kulik River during periods of high Examples of such projects include investigating the and low seasonal use by commercial operators and characteristics of the Cantwell formation volcanics guide services. The Kulik River is a representative unit. Paleontology studies were continued by the site similar to other drainages within the park that USGS. A study of the phenomena of surging gla- are experiencing exponential growth in terms of ciers continued on the Muldrow Glacier. Studies visitation and bear–human contact. dealing with roadside impacts (trail development) Concerns have been raised about the health of a and road dust were also continued. Closely related prized rainbow trout population in the Alagnak River studies on the environmental fate and impact of and its upstream tributaries in Katmai National Park. dust palliatives were conducted. Air quality sam- In cooperation with the USGS-BRD and the Alaska pling efforts continued and were expanded in 1997 Department of Fish and Game, questions regarding to include ultraviolet B monitoring. Investigations the rainbow trout population structure of the Alag- related to other park issues and threats included nak drainage are being addressed. It is unknown such things as assessing channel response to stream whether the rainbow trout in various rivers, lakes restoration, monitoring gravel extraction from allu- and tributaries of the watershed are represented by vial floodplains, and documenting the freeze–thaw a single, well-mixed population with readily mixed transition on a regional scale in boreal forests using spawning aggregations or whether there are dis- satellite data (NASA). crete populations having independent spawning Although the park is a vast and often forbidding groups. While it is generally believed that seasonal area in which to conduct research and monitoring, migrations occur, little is known about the detailed this vastness has been made far more manageable patterns of movement or population intermixing. by park staff through the application of global posi- Furthermore, little is known about the locations tioning systems and geographic information sys- and relative importance of juvenile rearing areas. tems. ArcInfo and ArcView software are used by Because of limited knowledge of these basic life the park staff involved in research efforts; this pro- history characteristics, it is difficult to assess the gram is supported by a full-time GIS specialist. relative impacts of the increasingly popular sport Additionally, efforts are being directed at automat- fisheries. Therefore, beginning in 1997 a five-year ing all resource data and information, as well as study was initiated to increase basic understanding developing and cataloging traditional information of the population dynamics of Alagnak watershed such as specimens, maps and written records. trout and to improve technical capabilities for assessing the overall health of Alaska rainbow Katmai National Park and Preserve trout populations in general. Genetic analyses and color-banding programs are being used in cooperation with the U.S. Fish Lake Clark National Park and Preserve and Wildlife Service and USGS-Biological Re- The Johnson River watershed, located in the sources Division to assess the degree of population southeast part of Lake Clark National Park and differentiation and movements among geographi- Preserve, with glacial headwaters on the Mt. Ili- cally separate groups of harlequin ducks. The pri- amna volcano and draining east to Cook Inlet, has mary area of study encompasses areas affected by been the focus of a water resource and fisheries the Exxon Valdez oil spill on the northeast coast of the inventory from 1995 to 1997. A continuously Alaska Peninsula (Katmai National Park) and the recording stream gaging station was established on Kodiak Island Archipelago (Kodiak National Wild- the river in 1995 in a cooperative effort between life Refuge) along the Shelikof Straits and Prince the NPS and the USGS. Water quality sampling, William Sound. Harlequin ducks were captured in aquatic invertebrate sampling, fish trapping and molting drives, genetic samples were collected, and stream sediment analyses were conducted on the legbands were applied with site-specific colors and mainstem and tributaries of the Johnson River and individual alphanumeric codes before release. in Bear Creek, a neighboring small clear-water An Alaskan brown bear study was conducted stream. In addition to baseline information gathered along the Kulik River corridor cooperatively with for the watershed in light of future development in the USGS-BRD for purposes of detecting patterns the area, data collected on the Johnson River will

36 prove useful to the National Water Quality Assess- the University of British Columbia and the North ment for Cook Inlet, part of a national water quali- Gulf Oceanic Society to identify individual killer ty program administered by the USGS. whales and monitor resident and transient pod movements in waters adjacent to the park. These Kenai Fjords National Park data may enable a better understanding of the A multi-agency coastal lake and lagoon inventory effects of transient killer whale predation on the and monitoring program began in 1996. Cloudy park’s declining harbor seal populations. In 1998, Cape Lagoon, adjacent to the western shore of park staff and scientists from the Alaska SeaLife Taroka Arm, was the first lake to be inventoried. Center and the North Gulf Oceanic Society will Survey data collected included outflow stream and deploy a remote hydrophone close to the mouth of beach profiles, lake bathymetric profiles, and tem- Resurrection Bay. Hydrophone data will determine perature and conductivity profiles through a range cycles of occurrence of transient killer whales of depths and lake level recordings. Water, plank- along portions of the park coastline. ton, fish and invertebrate samples were collected. Temperature dataloggers were deployed at In 1996, 14 sockeye salmon spawners were count- three coastal locations and two Exit Glacier loca- ed in the shallow gravel bottom area of the lagoon; tions in 1997. A knowledge of seasonal temperature however, all juvenile salmonids captured were regimes will enable a better understanding of sea- coho salmon. In 1997, many more sockeye spawn- sonal cycles of floral and faunal occurrence, distri- ers were observed in the lagoon, even though no bution, condition and productivity. This program surface flow was observed in the poorly defined will be expanded in 1998. stream channel linking the lagoon to Taroka Arm. Park staff also conducted the first cycle of A second lake or lagoon will be surveyed in campsite impact monitoring since an initial 1993 1998, and Cloudy Cape Lagoon will be resampled. campsite impact inventory. To date, approximately A recording rain gauge and lake level recorder will 50 campsites have been identified and monitored. be deployed at Cloudy Cape Lagoon in an effort Preliminary results suggest that approximately to determine how quickly the lake level responds 90% of the sites showed little increased impact to rainfall events. These data will help resource due to human disturbance. However, some sites managers determine when salmon are entering the located in more sensitive environments exhibited a system and will be useful in developing models marked increase in size. Other less-utilized sites that predict the fate of salmon runs in this system. exhibited some degree of recovery. The final The coastal bald eagle population has been results of the 1997 monitoring are anticipated in monitored in the park since 1986. Results from the early 1998. 1996 season and preliminary results from the 1997 monitoring season suggest a greater number of Bering Land Bridge National Preserve nest failures than expected. Final results are The NPS is developing an assessment protocol expected in early 1998. for reindeer ranges in western Alaska. The pre- In 1997, park resource managers, biologists from serve, located on the Seward Peninsula of Alaska, the National Marine Mammal Laboratory (Seattle, is the only NPS unit in the system with mandated Washington), the Alaska Department of Fish and reindeer grazing. Existing herd management prac- Game, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks tices that have evolved over the last century give (Institute of Marine Science), and a visiting Russian more attention to acres of range than to quality of scientist collaborated for the first-ever live capture range. The NPS is hoping to change that focus. of harbor seals using floating glacier ice as a pri- Donald Spalinger of the University of Alaska mary haulout. The team used a modified floating gill Anchorage, who is developing a monitoring proto- net to capture the seals. Once captured, the animals’ col, completed a second field season in 1997, condition was determined and vital statistics (sex, working with Keith Owen of Texas A&M Univer- weight, etc.) recorded. Blood and tissue samples sity. The team is collecting specific information on were collected from each animal, and a small radio range condition and diversity. The goal of this transmitter was attached to the rear flipper. Collected work is to produce a detailed guide to range data will help to provide an understanding of indi- assessment for reindeer ranges in western Alaska. vidual harbor seal condition and movements within After more field work and consultation in 1998, the fjords and may be used to assess causes of a con- Dr. Spalinger and the NPS will produce a monitor- tinued population decline. ing handbook for distribution to reindeer herders, Park staff assisted killer whale researchers from land managers and other interested parties. The

37 goal is to have the handbook available to herders were collected as part of a cooperative project by the spring of 1999. with the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge to doc- In 1977 Douglas and Diane Schamel returned ument the harvest of wolverines on Federal lands to Cape Espenberg to study the nesting habits of within northwest Alaska. Carcasses will be necrop- red-necked phalaropes and other shorebirds. This sied to determine the sex and age of harvested fourth year of field work complements studies wolverines, the reproductive characteristics of done in the late 1970s by the couple and provides females, and the nutritional condition of each ani- excellent data on trends over an extended period. mal. In FY 98 the project will expand its objec- The Schamels have been able to re-locate their tives to determine the survival and productivity original study plots and use exactly the same loca- of wolverines using a radio-collared sample. tions and techniques. Collateral to their shorebird study the team is monitoring numbers, hatching Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve success and predation on common eiders. Prelimi- Using standard National Wetlands Inventory nary data indicate that numbers and breeding suc- photointerpretation and cartographic conventions, cess are down for all species. Predation of eggs by wetlands identification, classification and mapping jaegers, foxes and reindeer has reduced hatching were completed on eleven USGS quadrangles cov- success. The Schamels will return to the field in ering the upper Kobuk River watershed. 1998 for a final season with hopes of gathering A botanical reconnaissance was conducted in more specific data on common eiders. the Walker Lake National Natural Landmark (NNL) and parts of the adjacent Arrigetch Peaks Noatak National Preserve and NNL. A total of 350 species, including 214 vascu- Kobuk Valley National Park lar plants and 136 macrolichens, were inventoried. The fifth year of moose population monitoring Thirty-one of the vascular plants represented addi- in Noatak National Preserve was completed with tions to known park flora, and nine represented the cooperation of the Alaska Department of Fish large range extensions. Thirty-seven of the lichen and Game. The purposes of the study are to delin- species were new to the park’s flora, and 26 were eate census areas and document survival of radio- new to the Brooks Range. collared moose. Currently a radio-collared sample In FY 97 the NNL biological reconnaissance of 70 moose is monitored four times during the effort was expanded to provide baseline data on year to document survival and movements. During lichen flora and floristics for the entire park. More 1997 the project expanded its objectives to docu- than half of the park’s species are lichens and ment calf production and survival using intensive bryophytes, yet surprisingly little was known monitoring of radio-collared cows during the calv- about their presence and distribution. Lichens ing period in June. were inventoried across two broad transects of the Annual monitoring of Noatak National Preserve park, resulting in approximately 30 new records sheep entered its eleventh year in 1997. Aerial mini- for the park and a clearer idea of the parkwide dis- mum count surveys documented the third year of tribution of taxa. The project also provided training significant lamb production following a five-year to botanists from other park units and agencies, pub- absence of productivity. Adult numbers also lished a guidebook to Alaskan genera of macro- increased in the Baird Mountains because of lichens, and produced a visitor center display. The immigration of sheep from groups living east of park’s lichen flora was incorporated into a data- the survey area. base including records from an extensive literature The fourth year of a five-year program to moni- search and current identifications. A sizable lichen tor neotropical songbird populations within Noa- collection of over 900 specimens was added to the tak National Preserve and Kobuk Valley National park’s holdings. Park was completed in late August. Over 1000 A project was initiated to determine the distri- birds of 30 species have been banded since the bution and abundance of the rare plant Aster program began in 1994 as part of the Monitoring yukonensis in the park and preserve and to deter- Avian Productivity and Survivorship Program mine its vulnerability to human disturbance. The sponsored by the Institute for Bird Populations. species is found in scattered populations in north- Highlights of the program include a banding sta- ern Alaska and in parts of the Yukon and North- tion on Native corporation land near Kotzebue west Territories, Canada. Relatively few data are where the public participates in banding activities. available to document the range and distribution Over 50 trapper-caught wolverine carcasses of this plant.

38 2200 square miles were surveyed. The sheep population decreased by 30% to 80% since surveys were conducted in 1986 and 1982–1983. Snowshoe hare track count transects were conducted through seven tundra vegetation types near the village of Wiseman. Long-term monitoring of the transects may reveal refugia where hare populations remain high, even during the low part of the population cycle. Landbird species were monitored within the park and preserve as part of a statewide Boreal Partners in Flight effort. Three off-road point- count transects were monitored: tundra transects in Anaktuvuk Pass and in the upper Noatak River drainage, and a boreal forest transect in the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River. The routes have been surveyed annually since 1993, and five previous years of data contribute to understanding landbird Identifying lichens in Gates Baseline vegetation information was collected species diversity, distribution and habitat use as of the Arctic National Park within the Anaktuvuk Pass all-terrain vehicle (ATV) well as improving landbird monitoring techniques. and Preserve. access land exchange area of the park. Monitoring The importance of riparian shrub habitats to plots were established in different plant communi- avian species was evaluated in a tundra ecosystem. ties and associated soil types to evaluate how ATV Species diversity, nest density and nest site charac- use will affect those communities. These data will teristics were documented for neotropical migrant be used to determine changes in community struc- birds. The park serves as the northernmost breed- ture and to establish thresholds of acceptable ing grounds for several species of neotropical change. migrant birds. The northernmost limits of their Sheefish in the Kobuk and Selawik Rivers are range may be the best areas for early detection of the largest in Alaska and represent an important population changes, so careful documentation of subsistence and sport fishing resource. A cooper- these populations is important. ative ADF&G/NPS project was conducted to describe the stock status of spawning sheefish in Yukon–Charley Rivers National Preserve the upper Kobuk River and to measure the propor- A military F-15 fighter jet crashed in the head- tions of sheefish that return to spawn one and two waters area of the Charley River in 1995. The air- years after a previous spawn. Spawning sheefish craft’s impact resulted in a fire that severely burned abundance, length and age composition were esti- a localized area to mineral soil. An unknown quan- mated in the upper Kobuk River. Subsistence and tity of unburned fuel contaminated the area, and commercial harvests were estimated in Hotham although larger pieces of the aircraft were removed, Inlet, and sport harvest was estimated for the entire the area is still littered with metal fragments. An river. ongoing soil, vegetation and water quality moni- The opening of the Dalton Highway (Haul toring project will ensure that the site recovers to Road) to the general public in 1995 caused con- a natural, undisturbed state. The project also cerns over increased fishing in lakes north of the develops procedures and techniques necessary to Brooks Range. This motivated the State to initiate address expected similar incidents as a result of population studies of four lakes containing lake substantial military aircraft operations over the trout. As part of this effort a two-year cooperative preserve. ADF&G/NPS study began in 1997 on the lake trout A three-year study of Dall sheep habitat will of Itkillik Lake. The study objectives are to esti- determine seasonal movement patterns of sheep mate lake trout abundance and length composition, within the preserve. The project will also improve and to estimate lake trout catch per unit effort us- the timing of sheep surveys, quantify the mingling ing standardized gillnet sampling (index fishing). of sheep from discontinuous areas of habitat, iden- A Dall sheep population survey was conducted tify sensitive sheep use areas (such as lambing and in 1996 in park areas where the sheep are subject rutting areas) and temporal use of those areas, help to sport or subsistence harvest. Approximately mitigate the impacts of increased low-level mili-

39 tary flight operations, and develop a long-term Long-term monitoring of water quantity and monitoring plan. Fifteen sheep were radio-collared in flow rates on the Kandik, Nation and Yukon Rivers April 1997. To date, data show individual movements was initiated in 1992. Information for the Kandik of up to 40 miles. and Nation Rivers was important because of poten- A wolf radio-tracking project was initiated in tial development on private lands that would utilize 1993. The objective is to determine the demogra- water from the preserve. Yukon River data collec- phy of wolf packs using the preserve. Identified tion is part of a Canada–U.S. effort to collect long- preserve wolf packs have received protection on term water quality information. Beginning in FY State lands adjacent to the western boundary of the 98, spring, summer and fall data collection on the preserve, where the State is using non-lethal preda- Kandik and Nation Rivers will be expanded to year- tor control in an effort to enhance the recovery of round data collection. The objective of this project the Forty Mile Caribou Herd. Seventeen wolves in is to continue the long-term monitoring plan. eight packs are being monitored in order to continue to protect them. Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve Peregrine falcon populations were monitored In 1997 the park began a multi-faceted study to along the upper Yukon River and on the Charley monitor the extent and effect of spruce bark beetle River. Nesting territory occupancy, breeding suc- infestation in an 800,000-acre study area in the cess and productivity on the Yukon River have been Copper River Basin. Study objectives were to: documented annually since 1979 and on the Charlie • Complete a vegetation and infestation map of River since 1993. Bands and satellite radio-tags the study area using photointerpretation; have been used to determine migration routes, • Implement forest inventory plots to provide detailed descriptions of coniferous communities for a vegetation map and determine what factors are influencing the likelihood of infestation; • Establish permanent plots to monitor the effect of bark beetle infestation on vegetation, structure and wildlife over time; and • Conduct landscape analyses of beetle infestation and proposed management activities in relation to ownership boundaries, subsistence resources and agency management goals. In the first year, park staff established sixty forest inventory sites, established potential long-term monitoring sites, and had aerial photography flown for ongoing photointerpretation and vegetation mapping. The Mentasta Caribou Herd occupies the western and northern portion of the park and adjacent lands. These caribou are an important faunal component of the area and are highly valued for their intrinsic ecological, cultural and recreational roles. Caribou antler on tundra wintering areas, and dispersal, movement and mor- From a high of approximately 3100 animals in in the Wrangell–St. Elias tality of adults. Pesticide levels have been meas- 1985, the herd began to decline, until in 1997 it National Park and Preserve. ured periodically. Substantial recovery of American was estimated to consist of only 614 individuals. peregrine falcons has been documented in the pre- The primary reason for the decline appeared to be serve during this project. poor calf survival and recruitment, as shown by Landbird species were monitored as part of a summer and fall monitoring surveys and a prelimi- statewide Boreal Partners in Flight effort. Two off- nary study of radio-collared cow caribou. Factors road point count transects were initiated in 1997 such as habitat deterioration or hunting did not and will be monitored annually henceforth. The seem to be involved. In 1993 the park initiated a data will contribute to understanding landbird spe- study to determine calf survival rates and causes of cies diversity, distribution and habitat use in the mortality. This research was a cooperative effort preserve and to improving landbird monitoring between the NPS and the USGS-BRD. Using aerial techniques. surveys and radiotelemetry, biologists determined

40 the proportion of pregnant cows, calf survival ical investigation of mineral properties within the and causes of calf mortality. Pregnancy rates park and preserve. In most of the mineralized areas remained high (approximately 80–90%), but calf the extent of metal contamination and baseline survival was low (5–25%). Predation by wolves geochemical signatures were unknown. The goals and brown bears accounted for the majority of of the study were to quantify the modern-day calf mortality. effects of historic mining activity on stream sedi- Before the park was established, all-terrain ment and surface waters at Nabesna, Bremner and vehicles (ATVs) were employed, and their use Kennecott, determine a geochemical baseline at continues. Where the use level is high, trails have Gold Hill where small-scale placer mining is formed and impacts to the landscape, drainage and active, and develop a geochemical baseline in min- vegetation have developed. In an assessment of eralized, unmined areas at Orange Hill and Bond ATV impacts, researchers examined the relation- Creek. Stream sediment, water and rock samples ships between ATV impacts on vegetation and collected from these areas are being chemically soils and the amount of use, the vegetation type, analyzed for more than 50 elements, such as anti- the soils and permafrost. Impacts of ATVs vary mony, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, significantly between both vegetation and soil mercury, molybdenum and zinc. Parameters meas- types. Natural and geosynthetic materials were ured at water sample sites include pH, conductivity tested for their ability to mitigate impacts on ATV and flow. Differences in pH and conductivity are trails in mixed shrub–sedge tussock bogs under- directly related to the different geologic settings of lain by permafrost. Six hardening treatments were the areas. Carbonate rocks are common around tested on heavily and moderately impacted trails. Kennecott and Nabesna deposits, and calcite is Post-installation monitoring, which began in 1996 present in bedrock and veins at Bremner and Gold and will continue, shows that all treatments are Hill. Carbonates tend to counteract acid-generating able to withstand ATV traffic while allowing re- reactions caused by the breakdown of sulfide min- growth of vegetation. erals such as pyrite and neutralize the solutions. A vascular floristic inventory of 13 million Most metals are not mobilized in water under these acres in the park was initiated in 1994 and com- higher pH conditions. In contrast, at Orange Hill pleted during 1997. Site selection emphasized and Bond Creek there is a lack of carbonate rocks areas with unique lithology and geomorphology, and an abundance of finely dispersed pyrite and its areas with no previous botanical collections, and breakdown products. The acidic waters are able to communities known to have sensitive and endemic mobilize and carry metals in solution, resulting in taxa. Inventory results are in preparation. higher conductivities and metal contents in waters The USGS and park staff conducted a geochem- at Bond Creek and Orange Hill.

Funding (thousands) Bureau of FY 96 FY 97 Natural Ecology 1,500 2,500 Land Management Minerals Research 0 115 Cultural Resources 250 200 The Federal Land Policy and Management Act Pipeline Monitoring 500 550 Fire Control 350 350 of 1976 gives the Bureau of Land Management Mining Administration 250 320 (BLM) responsibility for managing the land and Total 2,850 4,035 resources of the public lands of the United States, including those in Arctic Alaska. Management is based on the principles of multiple use and sus- The research work is typically site specific for tained yield, a combination of uses that takes into identified problems, as opposed to research for the account the long-term needs of future generations sake of expanding knowledge. for renewable and nonrenewable resources. These The BLM’s focus has been shifting from com- resources include soils, recreation, range, timber, modity development through stages of multiple- minerals, watersheds, fish and wildlife, wilder- use management and resource conservation to ness, and natural, scientific and cultural values. ecosystems management. The Department of the

41 Interior established the U.S. Geological Survey Stream Analysis and Mining (USGS), Biological Resources Division, which is responsible for most of the Department’s biologi- Stream data were collected in June 1997 in the cal research (including the BLM’s). George River drainage, 75 miles southwest of McGrath. The project involved gathering geomorphic information to characterize the streams and Breeding Bird Surveys creeks of the area to prepare a stream reclamation plan. The data will be used to reclaim Julian Creek Three drainage systems were surveyed for all to a pre-mining functional condition that will pro- species of breeding birds as part of a nationwide vide for fish passage and fish rearing/feeding areas. effort to determine trends in North American bird populations. Surveys were initiated in 1996 with the establishment of a Breeding Bird Survey Cooperation in Archaeology (BBS) route on the Unalakleet River, which flows into Norton Sound. In 1997 an additional route On April 25, 1997, BLM-Alaska Director Tom was established on the Anvik River, and a prelimi- Allen signed (as the first Federal signer) the “Multi- nary survey done on the Bonasila River. In 1998 Agency Five Year Agreement with the State of the Bonasila will become a permanent BBS route. Alaska, Office of History and Archaeology Con- The BBS program was administered initially by cerning Support for Alaska Project Archaeology the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Program.” This agreement formally established a now by the Biological Resources Division of the cooperative relationship among various agencies USGS and the Canadian Wildlife Service. The and the State of Alaska, Office of History and objective of these surveys and the BBS program Archaeology, for achieving mutual heritage edu- is to collect data on bird species and numbers cation goals. This includes providing classroom throughout North America, which provides a curriculum enrichment materials about Alaska’s source of standardized data on populations of heritage, such as its archaeological and historic breeding birds. sites in the Arctic, as well as throughout other The BBS program has existed since 1966. Cur- parts of the state. rently the BBS consists of approximately 3700 BLM-Alaska, in cooperation with the national active survey routes throughout the continental Heritage Education office in Dolores, Colorado, U.S., Canada and Alaska. Each route is randomly co-authored the following publication for use by located and 25 miles long, with 50 stops at half- teachers (grades 4–7) in Alaska’s schools statewide: mile intervals. All birds seen or heard within a Intrigue of the Past, Discovering Archaeology in quarter mile of each stop during a three-minute Alaska. BLM is facilitating the distribution of this point count are tallied. For each species the total publication and is helping with the multi-agency number of individuals counted along a route is effort to train teachers in the use of this and other used as an index of relative abundance. A trend educational materials in their classrooms. These analysis statistical procedure is used to produce an publications and other efforts are designed to foster estimate of population change, or trend, presented a better public understanding of the importance of as a mean percent change per year. In Alaska many protecting archaeological and historical resources routes are set up and run along rivers because of in Alaska and elsewhere for their educational and the lack of a road network. other benefits. Thirty-four species of birds have been recorded on the Unalakleet route, 42 on the Anvik route, and 54 on the Bonasila route. The Canada goose National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska and common redpoll were the two most abundant Studies species on the Bonasila River, while the Wilson’s warbler and bank swallow were most abundant on In February 1997 the Secretary of the Interior the Anvik, and the blackpoll warbler and northern announced the beginning of an Integrated Activity waterthrush on the Unalakleet River. The popula- Plan (IAP)/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) tion trends of these species in these watersheds, for 4.6 million acres on the northeast corner of the most of which are migrants from Central and National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPRA). An South America, can only be determined if annual 18-month time frame was given to accomplish this surveys are continued. task.

42 The NPRA sits atop Alaska and the continent. gas development and the various species of The Arctic Ocean, with the Chukchi Sea west of waterfowl and caribou. The product of the Point Barrow and the Beaufort Sea to the east, workshop was a set of stipulations to be forms the northern boundary of the reserve. The included in the various alternatives addressed eastern and southeastern boundary follows the in the draft document. western bank of the Colville River from its mouth • The Secretary visited the NPRA this summer at Harrison Bay to the confluence of the Etivluk to obtain a personal understanding of the River. Here the boundary plunges due south to the issues, the country and the people involved. Continental Divide at the crest of the Brooks • A special subsistence workshop was held on Range. The boundary follows the divide westward the North Slope to tap the store of traditional to a point due south of Icy Cape. A line from that knowledge and scientific information held by point to Icy Cape makes the western boundary. the North Slope people. There are three predominantly Inupiat Eskimo • A process for peer review was established in villages in the area of particular interest: Barrow, conjunction with the USGS (using specialists with a population of over 4000; Atqasuk, with a from a variety of Federal agencies) and with little over 200; and Nuiqsut, with just over 400. the State of Alaska. The planning area consists of primarily coastal The draft analyzes the impacts of five alterna- plain—wetlands with many lakes. It is totally tive management schemes and contains an analy- underlain by permafrost. The entire area is impor- sis for impacts on subsistence as required by sec- tant for subsistence. The northern third is high in tion 810 of the Alaska National Interest Lands resource values. It is a key area for nesting and Conservation Act (ANILCA). The alternatives molting migratory waterfowl and is the location of cover management of all resource values in the a Teshekpuk caribou herd calving area. It is also area. They include opening or not opening all or potentially high in oil and gas resources. parts for oil and gas leasing and options for desig- The planning effort is being conducted with the nating the Colville River as a Wild and Scenic cooperation of the Minerals Management Service River (with the suitability determination yet to be (MMS), which has extensive experience develop- made). They include various management options ing EISs on nearby areas. Work on this EIS has for use and/or protection of resource values and occurred in an exceptionally open and cooperative include the use of stipulations to reduce potential environment, featuring an on-going dialogue impacts. among all interested groups and including the The EIS process is still on track for a July 1998 State of Alaska and the North Slope Borough as decision. The draft EIS was made available for active partners in the document’s preparation. Other public comment in December 1997. The comment Federal agencies have been actively involved in period ended March 12, 1998. The draft EIS did reviewing various sections of the draft document, not contain a preferred alternative. This is so the including the USGS, the Natural Resources Conser- decision will reflect the best public interest in vation Service and the USFWS. Various public view of all the information available. Current pro- groups and organizations have received scoping ject planning calls for a final EIS to be made avail- or update briefings from BLM management in able by June 26, 1998, with the Record of Deci- Alaska as well. sion published by July 31, 1998. Substantial effort has been made to apply the The draft was made available to the public via best available science to the process: the Internet on November 24, 1997. The use of a • The interdisciplinary team who prepared the web page has provided an innovative approach to draft conducted a science symposium to cap- public access of project information. Visit the ture all the latest scientific information. Na- home page at http://aurora.ak.blm.gov/npra/ tionally known specialists in Arctic science from industry, USFWS, Alaska Fish and Game, University of Alaska, Ducks Unlimited and the Mineral Land Assessments North Slope Borough attended and provided that information. In February 1996 the Alaska staff of the U.S. • A special workshop on caribou and waterfowl Bureau of Mines (USBM) was transferred to the was held to bring specialists from Federal, BLM with a mandate to conduct mineral assess- state and local governments together to discuss ments under the auspices of ANILCA, section what is known about the relationship of oil and 1010.

43 Industrial Minerals selections. Of these occurrences, 9 were historically In 1995 the USDA Forest Service (USFS) and producing mines, 25 development prospects, 21 the USBM entered into a three-year interagency exploration prospects and 9 raw prospects. The agreement to conduct a survey of the mineral mate- majority (55) were hard rock deposits and 9 were rials located within the Chugach National Forest placer deposits. Mines, prospects and occurrences (CNF), Alaska. When the USBM Alaska personnel were sampled to aid in determining the type, amount, were transferred to the BLM, the interagency distribution and economic viability of mineral depos- agreement was transferred also. The field work its located on Ahtna-selected lands within the park for the project was conducted by the BLM in 1996. boundary. A report was completed in the second The intent of the project was to determine the loca- quarter of FY 98. tion, accessibility, quantity and quality of mineral material sources. Sources of materials for aggre- Tongass National Forest Mineral Assessments gate, shot-rock, riprap and other common varieties Studies of the mineral development potential of used in the construction industry were the main mining districts in southeast Alaska are continuing focus. at the request of the USFS. The objectives of the Two major areas of interest were identified dur- Chichagof–Baranof and Stikine area studies cur- ing the preliminary literature search: the Kenai Pen- rently underway are to identify the type, amount insula study area and the Cordova study area. These and distribution of mineral deposits, determine ore areas are located along existing transportation sys- reserves, complete economic feasibility studies, and tems and are identified with major ongoing and address the economic and environmental effects of proposed road construction activities. Field work in mineral development. 1996 was limited to the road corridor of the Seward The Chichagof–Baranof study was initiated in and Glacier Districts on the Kenai Peninsula. 1995. Field work for the study was completed in During 1996 the BLM conducted a 40-day field 1997. Two reports detailing work accomplished in season mapping and sampling 27 material sites and 1995 and 1996 have been completed and released. gravel deposits in the Kenai Peninsula area. To The draft of an economic feasibility report on two identify potential new material sources, “grass mineral deposit types in the Chichagof–Baranof roots” exploration was conducted in areas with no area was released in the fall of 1997. The final previous mining or gravel extraction. Work was Chichagof–Baranof report is due to be completed restricted to the areas along the existing roads, in the summer of 1998. highways and trail systems. A total of 67 samples The Stikine area mineral assessment, encom- were collected. Ground-penetrating radar geophys- passing the Wrangell and Petersburg forest areas, ics tests were performed at 12 sites to aid in deter- was initiated in 1997. A report detailing the first mining the depth to the water table and/or bedrock. year’s activities as well as background information Two reports were prepared and delivered to the on land status, geology, mining history and previ- USFS in early 1997: Mineral Materials Survey of ous studies and a bibliography will be completed the Seward and Glacier Ranger Districts Road during FY 98. Current plans call for the Stikine Corridor, Chugach National Forest, Alaska: Vol- mineral assessment to be completed in 1999. Yearly ume I. Summary and Site Descriptions and Volume reports are anticipated along with a comprehensive II. Application of Ground Penetrating Radar to Site final report to be completed in 2000. Delineation and Reserve Estimation. Upper Koyukuk Mineral Assessment Mineral Investigations of Native Land Selections The Upper Koyukuk mineral assessment is an During the summer of 1997 the BLM completed examination of Federal, state and Native lands. field work on a one-year mineral assessment of The program is a comprehensive study of past Ahtna, Inc. selections within the Wrangell–St. Elias and current mining activities as well as future min- National Park and Preserve, Alaska. The assess- eral development potential in the Koyukuk Mining ment was conducted to provide Ahtna, Inc. the District. necessary minerals information to finalize their The district comprises approximately 11.6 mil- regional selections within the park (as requested lion acres drained by the upper Koyukuk River and by the National Park Service). the Kanuti River. The region contains over 320 Through a literature search and field investiga- known mineral properties, including placer and tion, the BLM identified mineral occurrences lode gold, copper, tin, tungsten and massive sulfide located within a one-mile radius of the Ahtna, Inc. sites.

44 tract administration and management. The results of the survey were slated to be available to the public in the spring of 1998.

Abandoned and Inactive Mine Inventory The BLM is examining abandoned and inactive mine (AIM) sites in the Tongass National Forest (TNF) and CNF for the USFS as part of an interagency agreement initiated in 1990. Project work was started by the USBM and subsequently transferred to the BLM in February 1996. To date, 109 sites have been examined for physical and chemical hazards in the TNF and 137 sites evaluated in the CNF. Work in 1997 included returning to seven significant AIM sites in the TNF and performing an integrated site assessment to more clearly define the chemical hazards present. Inventory- level sampling was completed at three AIM sites. Collecting GPS data from The four-year program will include literature Inventory work was conducted at several AIM the workings of the and records searches, an airborne geophysical sur- sites in the CNF during 1997 to establish consis- Clear Creek Mine. vey, geologic field investigations, and construction tency with the previous evaluations and facilitate a of an extensive mineral database for the district. comprehensive prioritization for AIM sites in both Results will be made available to the public in forests (TNF and CNF together comprise USFS three open-file reports. During the 1997 field sea- Region 10). son, approximately 30 sites were visited and 264 The BLM has provided individual site files for samples collected for analysis. The sites included the 109 sites evaluated in the TNF. Presentation historic and active placer mines, an underground packets including a narrative summary for all sites placer mine, and other areas of potential mineral- was also provided. Oral presentations detailing ization. results and prioritization of sites were given to Chatham, Stikine and Ketchikan district personnel Geophysical Surveys in 1996 and 1997. Future work includes additional In 1997 an airborne geophysical survey of min- integrated site assessment and removal prelimi- eralogically prospective areas in the Wrangell and nary assessment reports at high-priority AIM sites. Petersburg areas was conducted. The objective of BLM personnel will provide additional data as the survey was to define mineral exploration tar- requested by the USFS. gets, refine geologic maps, enhance the BLM’s current mineral assessment, and spur economic Geologic Analyses and Studies activity in the area. Funding for the study included The Energy and Minerals Team is participating $300,000 of carry-over funds from the BLM and in the geologic analyses of three parts of the Arc- $200,000 from Wrangell’s share of the Southeast tic. Recently announced oil and gas discoveries Alaska Economic Fund. Survey contract adminis- with their subsequent development plans have tration was provided by the State of Alaska, Divi- implications for disposition of Federal minerals. sion of Geological and Geophysical Surveys A geologist and a geophysicist from the Energy (ADGGS). Minerals Team are working with USGS geologists A geophysical survey of potentially mineral- to determine the nature and extent of the economic bearing areas in the vicinity of Wiseman, Alaska, bedrock geology beneath the Arctic National Wild- began in August 1997. The instruments being used life Refuge. This includes areas defined under include a magnetometer and an induced electro- sections 1002 and 1008 of ANILCA. Analysis of magnetic conductivity sensor operating in five fre- seismic data and field geology suggests that this is quencies. Approximately 530 square miles were a predominantly clastic stratigraphic section and is covered, with lines flown at quarter-mile spacing. of lower Paleozoic age. The project participants include the BLM and the Both onshore discoveries and offshore explora- ADGGS. The BLM has supplied funding in the tion drilling on Alaska State leases affect the Arctic amount of $220,000, and ADGGS provided con- National Wildlife Refuge 1002 area. Geological and

45 seismic analyses of recent exploration activity and seismic data to delineate the extent of newly shows that features similar to those currently gar- defined plays to determine how they affect poten- nering industry interest extend and exist beneath tial lease tract values. All tracts are being analyzed the 1002 area. As a result these analyses show to determine geologic parameters needed as inputs there is potential for drainage of Federal leasable to calculate minimum acceptable lease values. minerals when recent discoveries, such as at Sour- In addition, potential lease play definitions and dough well, begin producing. However, it is deter- descriptions are being prepared for the remaining mined that no drainage will occur until these parts of the reserve not originally included in the Alaska State leases begin producing. Currently IAP. Both in-place and recoverable resource num- announced industry plans do not project develop- bers will be determined, but tracts in the remaining ment on these State leases before 2001. part of the reserve will not be analyzed at this time. Other geological investigations of northeastern The Energy and Minerals Team participated Alaska stratigraphy and biological marker com- with geologists from the USGS and the MMS in pound geochemistry of oils show that three separate field work in the westernmost Brooks Range. petroleum systems are present and have generated Understanding this surficial geology has applica- oil that has subsequently charged potential reser- tion in defining plays in the Chukchi Sea lease voirs. Prudhoe oils of the Ellesmerian System are areas and the western NPRA. In addition, the present in the subsurface of the northwestern por- regional geological analysis ties in with under- tion of the 1002 area. Surficial oil seeps and oil- standing the nature and disposition of several stained sands belonging to the Hue-Sagavanirktok potentially large base metal deposits found in the System are present across the 1002 area from southernmost NPRA. Katakturuk Creek to Manning Point and the Nigua- Geochemical analyses of oil shows found in the nak area. The oil seep at Angun Point does not Chukchi Sea exploration program show that the oil match any of the previous oils. Oil at Angun Point does not resemble any of the currently described is speculated to be from a third independent petro- North Slope oils. There is an enigma, however, leum system generated by Tertiary rocks offshore. because the oil is most likely generated from the This work will be included in Short Notes on Alas- same source rock that generated a significant por- kan Geology. tion of the Prudhoe oil group. Chukchi Sea oil The Integrated Activity Plan (IAP) for the NPRA bears a strong correlation to oils found in the Sver- involves the Energy and Minerals Team at several drup Basin of the Canadian Arctic Islands. A pre- levels. Team members and MMS geologists and rift re-rotation of land masses juxtaposes the Chuk- geophysicists defined potential plays for the reserve chi area to the Sverdrup basin during pre-Jurassic and determined both in-place and recoverable oil time. This geometry suggests a larger area may be and gas reserves for its northeast portion. Geolo- prospective for oil. These data will be included in gists and geophysicists are interpreting well logs Short Notes on Alaskan Geology.

Funding (thousands) Geological Survey FY 96 FY 97 Energy and Minerals 4,500 2,625 In FY 94 the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Natural Hazards 3,500 2,625 National Park Service Arctic research programs Global Change 2,500 750 were transferred to the National Biological Survey Marine and Coastal Geology 1,000 188 Geomagnetism 250 250 (later National Biological Service) (NBS), a new Ice and Climate 480 188 bureau constituted by combining the biological Hydrology 130 100 research functions of a number of Department of Mapping 1,070 563 the Interior (DOI) bureaus. As a result of the FY Marine Mammals 1,660 1,660 97 Appropriations Act, the NBS was transferred to Migratory Birds 2,390 2,390 Fisheries Research 360 360 the U.S. Geological Survey and became the Bio- Cooperative Research 330 330 logical Resources Division (BRD). Terrestrial Ecology 1,130 1,130 The BRD conducts research in the Arctic to Park Research 1,140 1,140 generate information that will help DOI agencies Total 20,440 14,299

46 capabilities that may be applicable to problems in Arctic research. Ecological research in Arctic ecosystems is difficult, given the harsh conditions, frequently inaccessible habitats and often wide-ranging movements of Arctic biota. It is also very costly. Since it has often been necessary to develop new methods of obtaining information, some of the most advanced technologies have been developed for, or first applied to, research in the Arctic. Satellite-linked biotelemetry and molecular genetics are but two of many new techniques that have been successfully applied to the problems of fish and wildlife conservation in the Arctic.

Wildlife Ecology

Research on the unmanipulated wolf/prey community of Denali National Park and Preserve (DNPP) has continued unabated since 1986. BRD scientists, in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS), are currently studying the popula- Bull caribou in fall looking out tion dynamics and predator/prey relationships of on its winter range, northern edge of Denali National Park gray wolves and caribou and are planning in and Preserve, Alaska. FY 98 to launch new research on moose, the other major prey of wolves in DNPP. To date, the studies in Alaska meet their resource management respon- have provided new information on the population sibilities. These responsibilities include the conser- dynamics, predation behavior, social structure and vation of migratory birds, certain marine mam- genetic relationships of wolves; the population mals, endangered species, anadromous fishes and dynamics, reproductive performance and calf sur- all biota inhabiting National Wildlife Refuges and vival patterns for caribou; and the influences of National Parks and Preserves. Research addresses weather and landscape use patterns on wolf/ the effects of development, disturbance, hunter caribou relationships. During these studies, wolf harvest and natural environmental cycles on fish density increased from below 4.0 wolves/1000 km2 and wildlife populations. Other research seeks to during 1986-87 to 7.8 wolves/1000 km2 by 1990, develop improved census and survey methods that with the onset of a six-year period of above- will better detect trends in populations. All research average snowfall. Caribou numbers increased from has the ultimate goal of providing information that 1986 to 1989, reaching about 3200, then declined will lead to better management decisions and actions precipitously to around 2000 animals by 1993 as a to promote conservation of living resources in the result of high losses of calves to predation (primar- vast ecosystems of the Arctic. Fish and wildlife ily wolves and grizzly bears) following the severe populations in the U.S. Arctic are extensively winters and increased mortality of adults during the shared with Canada and Russia, and a portion of severe winters. Since 1993, wolf numbers have the research effort is directed toward treaty and declined to about 5.5 wolves/1000 km2 with the other international requirements to jointly manage decline in caribou and a return to near-average shared resources. snowfall, while the caribou numbers have stabilized Most Arctic research of the BRD is conducted at 2000. Although biologists only conducted moose from the Alaska Biological Science Center (ABSC), censuses every five years during this period, it Anchorage, and the Cooperative Research Unit at appears that moose numbers have stayed relatively the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Some addi- stable. tional research is performed by others of the 15 Denali National Park and Preserve also supports national research centers or the more than 50 coop- a naturally regulated grizzly bear population that erative research units, each of which has special has not been subject to harvest for at least 80 years.

47 Grizzly bears are an important visitor attraction in north flank of the Alaska Range. Fall nutritional DNPP, and the impact on bears from efforts to status affects both female bear fecundity and cub improve visitor access to the park is a primary con- survival. In this area, fall nutritional status is cern. NPS managers suspect that current human largely dependent on berry availability. The pri- access alters grizzly bear distribution within some mary berry sources in the study area are blueberry, portions of the park. Public pressure for more crowberry and soapberry. The objectives of this access into Denali along current routes is constant, study are to determine the distribution patterns for and alternative access points are proposed on both these plants, measure the interannual variation in the north and south sides of the park. Continued berry crops, and determine the nitrogen content human developments adjacent to the eastern and relative importance of plant nitrogen fixation boundary of the park are fragmenting bear habitat. to bear diet. This study is part of a larger ABSC Sport harvest of grizzly bears east of the park has grizzly bear ecosystem research project in DNPP. been very intensive in the past, and reduction in Biologists are using the data to evaluate the rela- bear density is the objective of the current harvest tionship between berry availability and bear popu- program in the State of Alaska’s Game Manage- lation dynamics. The primary study area covers ment Unit 13, southeast of the park. There is con- 1750 km2 in the western part of the park on the cern that intensive harvest and habitat fragmenta- north flank of the Alaska Range. BRD biologists tion may eventually alter natural gene flow. Grizzly used aerial surveys of the study area, ground bears are specifically mentioned in the park’s enab- checks and data on bear movements and foraging ling legislation, and protection of the grizzly bear from radio-collared bears to assess the distribution population is an important concern of park admin- patterns of soapberry, blueberry and crowberry istrators. This combination of threats and responsi- plants and to select areas for monitoring berry crops. bilities resulted in the need to: They specifically looked at the distribution of soap- • Understand grizzly bear population ecology berry plants in relation to moraines and outwash of and identify intrinsic and extrinsic factors known age of the Muldrow and Foraker Glaciers. that drive bear population dynamics, espe- They established 29 permanent transects to meas- cially those that could be altered by human ure soapberry, blueberry and crowberry crops. activities; Soapberries, blueberries and crowberries were col- • Identify the natural variation in population lected near the transects and divided into a whole parameters to assist in identifying human- berry sample and a seed sample. These samples caused perturbations; and were analyzed for total nitrogen and stable nitro- • Develop cost-effective, non-invasive methods gen isotope ratios. The study area contains exten- to monitor the grizzly bear population. sive stands of soapberry plants on neoglacial Beginning in 1991, NPS and BRD biologists moraines of the major glaciers and smaller stands chemically immobilized grizzly bears from a heli- on glacial outwash. Blueberry and crowberry copter and placed radio collars on 28 female and plants are abundant throughout the study area and 30 male bears, not including dependent young. include patches with up to 1000 m2 of continuous The female age distribution was bimodal, with no blueberry cover. The soapberry crop was consis- females between the ages of 9 and 16. Annual sur- tently good in 1994–1997. Berry counts on tran- vival rates of independent bears were high—above sects showed considerable variation among bushes, 95% for both males and females. The average litter but individual bushes had similar crops each year. size of newborn cubs was high (2.2 cubs), and the Overall observations of the blueberry and crow- average age of young at the time of family break- berry crops and counts along transects in 1994– up was typical for Alaska grizzlies (3.0 years). The 1997 showed small productive patches within a average annual survival rate of dependent newborn matrix of unproductive bushes. The blueberry crop cubs and yearlings was unusually low, however, was 50% higher in 1995 than in 1994; the crop and is the subject of ongoing research. Naturally was poor in 1996, followed by a large crop in regulated grizzly bear populations may be charac- 1997. Crowberries were virtually absent through- terized by high but variable dependent bear mortal- out the study area in 1994 but had good crops in ity, periodic recruitment and a dynamic female age 1995–1997. Soapberries may be important to bear structure, at least in sub-Arctic environments such fall nutritional status in this area. In 1994 both as interior Alaska. soapberries and blueberries were available in the Berry availability and quality may be factors study area, but grizzly bears fed primarily on driving grizzly bear population dynamics on the soapberries from late July until snowfall. Soap-

48 berries in this area offer efficient foraging and a Although there were no thwarted attempts to cross relatively high protein content. The large soapberry the road during fall migration, ram groups were stands occupy a unique place in space and time in delayed by the road for up to 7.5 hours due to traffic. the study area ecosystem. They occur on relatively For the 10th consecutive year the NPS, in coop- recent glacial moraines, where they are the primary eration with the BRD Forest and Rangeland Ecosys- nitrogen fixers. This successional pattern differs tem Science Center (FRESC), Corvallis, Oregon, from many other areas of Alaska, where alders or collected data on the reproductive characteristics Dryas sp. are the primary nitrogen fixers. of golden eagles in DNPP in 1997. Using two BRD biologists investigated the effect of vehicle aerial surveys, biologists monitored 72 golden traffic on the Denali Road in DNPP on Dall sheep eagle nesting areas in the northeastern portion of seasonal migration during 1995–1997. Several sec- DNPP. Territorial pairs occupied 63 nesting areas, tions of the park road intersect sheep migration cor- resulting in an occupancy rate of 88%. Laying rate ridors between the Alaska Range and the Outer was 71%, with 45 territorial pairs producing eggs. Range. Sheep leave typical escape terrain and Nesting success, measured as the number of laying travel up to 10 km through valley shrub habitat pairs raising one fledgling, was 73%. Thirty-six and conifer forest to reach these seasonal ranges. successful pairs raised 57 fledglings. The overall Occasionally road traffic has interrupted the population production, measured as the number of sheep’s attempts to cross the road. This study was fledglings per territorial pair, was 0.90. This was conducted to determine the timing of migration; the second highest year for golden eagle produc- the number, sex and age class of migrating sheep; tivity in the study area in 10 years. Since 1988 the sheep and vehicle driver behavior at road cross- overall annual reproductive output of golden ings; and whether thwarted attempts to cross the eagles in DNPP was influenced most strongly by road occur often enough to alter or jeopardize the proportion of pairs that lay eggs. Laying rates migration patterns. Aerial surveys were conducted for golden eagles in DNPP are highly correlated to determine sheep abundance before, during and with numbers of snowshoe hare and willow ptar- after spring migration. Biologists documented migan observed on the study area. migration attempts through daily observation of In 1997 the FRESC and NPS biologists began staging areas and known migration trails and to examine the behavior and movements of juve- recorded detailed information on sheep–vehicle nile and subadult golden eagles from natal areas interactions at the road. To supplement direct in DNPP. Using satellite radiotelemetry they are observations, they used infrared-triggered cameras collecting data on eagle movements during post- and time-lapse cameras to photograph sheep trav- fledgling periods, migration, winter and subse- eling on trails through migration corridors. Spring quent summers. In late July and early August 1997 migration attempts were observed as early as 12 (after nestlings were more than 60 days of age) they May 1996 and as late as 7 July 1997. Group size deployed 22 satellite radio transmitters (PTTs) on ranged from 1 to 62 individuals. Generally, group juvenile golden eagles. PTTs were deployed on composition was either ewes with younger animals 12 females and 9 males at 14 nests (14 siblings, or rams, although occasionally adult rams traveled 7 singles). PTTs were attached to juvenile eagles with ewe groups. Sheep that migrated prior to using a backpack harness constructed of Teflon mid-June were ewe groups of 1–4 individuals or ribbon. The entire package weighed about 102 rams. Larger ewe groups with lambs initiated grams (less than 3% of the total body weight of migration during the third week of June. Overall, the eagles). The duty cycle for all PTTs is 8 hours spring migrations occurred at various times of the on and 72 hours off; PTT life is estimated at 3 day, with sheep approaching the road between years. They are using the Service Argos Data Col- 0400 and 2000 hours. Unsuccessful migration lection and Location System to obtain locations of attempts, in which sheep retreated from the road the radio-tagged eagles. The ABSC is assisting and returned to their winter range, were observed with data collection. each spring. In most cases these sheep were success- An integrated watershed approach to long-term ful in later attempts to cross the road. Observed fall ecological monitoring has been under develop- migration attempts occurred between 23 August ment at DNPP since 1992. The DNPP monitoring and mid-October. Group size ranged from 1 to program is being developed as a prototype for 32 individuals. Ewe and ram groups migrated sep- other parks in the sub-Arctic. Because of minimal arately. Sheep approached the road at various information on variability and interactions among times of the day between 0800 and 2100 hours. sub-Arctic biota and different environment vari-

49 ables, a multidisciplinary sampling approach has Findings have shown that although human activity been used. Early efforts have been concentrated in may highly influence bears’ patterns of use, bears and around a single watershed—Rock Creek, a are able to adequately access salmon resources. readily accessible headwater stream near park Work is ongoing to map vegetation communities, headquarters. Pilot studies have tested techniques salmon resource availability, and other nutritional and documented variability for methods in air resources so that managers can better understand quality, weather, stream water chemistry, hydrol- bear–habitat relationships. ogy, soils, vegetation, stream invertebrates, and Research conducted on the Arctic coastal plain bird and small-mammal populations. These indi- of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) vidual efforts have provided significant insight in northeastern Alaska addressed the potential into what might be effective approaches to moni- impacts of petroleum development on the ecology toring within single watersheds. of this unique wilderness environment. Biologists Current research is focused on integrating designed research at the landscape level to encom- watershed findings and scaling to additional pass the 2.5-million-acre coastal plain of ANWR. watersheds. Additional approaches to monitoring The Porcupine Caribou Herd uses this area as its key biological and environmental changes at vari- primary calving ground. Snow geese breeding on ous levels of scale from the watershed to the full Banks Island stage in this area in the fall. Polar six-million-acre park and beyond are also being bears den on the area’s Beaufort Sea shoreline. investigated. In addition, stronger links between The area hosts a resident population of muskox. the long-term environmental monitoring program The research incorporated the relationships of and tactical short-term management needs are these fauna to the habitat of the coastal plain. being forged. Using remote sensing, biologists developed a A coastal brown bear study in Katmai National vegetation map of the coastal plain from Landsat Park and Preserve (KNPP) was recently completed thematic mapper and ground survey checks. This after seven years of field work. The project was a map, which has 16 land cover types, has been the cooperative effort of the Alaska Department of basis for assessing habitat use and value. Addition- Fish and Game, the NPS and the BRD. Research ally, remotely sensed data on vegetation growth objectives included an estimate of the bears’ repro- rates from the normalized difference vegetation ductive histories and population dynamics, their index (NDVI) derived from the advanced very movements and distributions, and habitat relation- high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) on polar- ships. Preliminary data analyses have identified orbiting satellites provide the opportunity to assess significant differences in the population dynamics the habitat conditions of the coastal plain for cari- of this population of unhunted bears compared to bou and other species during the non-winter period. nearby hunted areas, where at KNPP there are These data allow biologists and managers to link more adult males to females, adults have a higher growing-season vegetation changes with caribou mean age, cubs experience a lower survival rate habitat selection. With the growing concern over and females are less productive (litter size). Addi- global climate change, these landscape-level rela- tionally, biologists have found KNPP bear densi- tionships could provide the basis for monitoring ties to be the highest ever reported (550/1000 changes that may be occurring. Preliminary analy- km2), and although home ranges for some KNPP sis of NDVI and caribou calf survival shows a female brown bears are the smallest ever reported marked relationship (85%) between onset and rate (less than 10 km2), some of KNPP’s female bears of spring growth and neonatal mortality. Additional traveled less than 240 km annually to and from analyses and continued research will be necessary summer ranges. KNPP brown bears exploit a wide to determine the causal relationship inferred and to range of food resources, including mussels, clams predict the impacts of vegetation changes engen- and a host of invertebrates exposed only at low dered by global warming. tides. Biologists also conducted studies that focused on bear–habitat relationships. Preliminary findings Fisheries Research support the notion that bear habitat quality is Fisheries biologists from the ABSC are con- chiefly a function of nutrient resource availability ducting a detailed study of the ecology and sur- and that nutrient resource maps may prove accept- vival of chum salmon in Yukon River tributaries in able indicators of bear habitat suitability. Addi- Alaska. This research was initiated in 1996 in tional work at KNPP has focused on bear–human response to an information need of Federal and interactions at various backcountry locations. state land managers for a better understanding of

50 the factors controlling chum salmon production. on Alaska’s North Slope, and seasonal and annual Some runs in the Yukon River watershed have survival of adult brant. diminished to the point where important commer- Brant that lose their clutches or do not nest cial and subsistence fisheries have been limited in undertake a molt migration, usually in late June, to recent years. The primary hypothesis being tested secluded areas in the high Arctic. They congregate is that, in general, the severity of winter weather in large numbers on molting areas for a month or determines the number of chum salmon smolts more until new flight feathers are grown. Impor- moving downstream each spring. To evaluate the tant molting areas have been discovered on Alaska’s hypothesis, biologists are intensively studying sec- North Slope near Teshekpuk Lake and Wrangel tions of selected Yukon River tributary streams to Island, Russia. These areas, dominated by large assess the number of adults entering the sections, freshwater lakes and ocean estuaries, provide the density of healthy eggs and fry incubating essential habitat for tens of thousands of brant within the sections, and the number of fry emigrat- from many nesting colonies during the annual ing from the sections. Estimates of stage-to-stage wing molt. A six-year capture–mark–recapture survival will be made from these observations. study of brant that molt in the Teshekpuk Lake The survival estimates can then be correlated with area revealed that brant originated from ten nest- environmental variables (for example, tempera- ing colonies in Canada and Alaska. The captured ture, snowfall, ground ice and extent of upwelling birds were 76% adults and 57% males. Ninety-one subsurface water) to examine to what extent the percent of known-age recaptures were less than environment determines freshwater production of six years old. Fewer one-year-olds and more two- chum salmon. Research will continue through year-olds were present than expected. Sixty-one 2000 so that annual variation can be assessed. The percent of adult females were failed breeders. results should improve the capabilities of Federal Brant that were captured in more than one year and state fisheries biologists in predicting run showed high site fidelity to lakes where they were sizes, allowable harvests and optimal spawner originally banded, a behavior that may have escapements. evolved if survival is enhanced because of few predators, low human disturbance and abundant Migratory Birds food and cover. These criteria are met in the The black brant is a sea goose that depends on Teshekpuk Lake area, where few predators of coastal habitats from high Arctic nesting sites in brant exist, anthropogenic disturbances are Canada, Alaska and Russia to primary wintering limited, extensive grass–sedge foraging sites pro- areas in the Pacific coastal states, the Baja Califor- viding nutrient-rich foods are abundant, and nia peninsula and mainland Mexico estuaries. escape cover is extensive. The Teshekpuk Lake Concern about the species stems from a long-term brant molting area is within a larger block of land downward trend in winter populations and the in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska that is degradation and loss of important staging and under consideration for petroleum leasing. winter estuarine habitats from commercial and An eight-year study of seasonal and annual sur- recreational development and disturbance. Other vival of adult brant was based on resightings of factors that may be limiting population recovery leg-banded birds at nesting colonies in western include harvest and predation at nesting colonies Alaska; at major spring and fall staging habitats on in Alaska. the Alaska Peninsula, the Strait of Georgia in Brit- The ABSC, in cooperation with the FWS, the ish Columbia, and Humboldt Bay, California; and Canadian Wildlife Service, Nature Reserves (Rus- wintering areas in Baja California. Seasonal sur- sia), the Bureau of Land Management, and the vival was the same for males and females. The University of Alaska Fairbanks, has been working mean monthly survival rate was lowest in late on various aspects of the life history of black brant spring migration (mid-April to early June)—the for over a decade. More recently the Japanese period of greatest subsistence harvest on the breed- Association for Wild Geese Protection (a private ing grounds in Alaska—and highest in winter conservation organization), Ducks Unlimited Inc., (early January to early March)—the period of and Ducks Unlimited (Mexico) have joined this greatest sport harvest. The annual survival rate did international effort to understand the population not vary among years, averaging 0.840 from 1986 dynamics of black brant. Several studies were to 1993. Biologists concluded that subsistence har- recently completed, including an assessment of vest likely is the most important factor controlling the demographic characteristics of molting brant the size of the population, and reductions in the

51 harvest on the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, effort between the FRESC and the FWS, has oper- would result in an increased number of breeders ated as a remote field camp on the Colville River and geese in the population. delta in northern Alaska since 1987. Its primary Brant demographic and survival studies were mission is to provide scientific information needed made possible because more than 40,000 birds have in the conservation and management of Arctic- been marked with alphanumeric-coded plastic leg breeding birds and the ecosystems on which they bands. Incidental to these studies was the discovery depend. The Colville River delta provides some of a previously unknown wintering area for Alaska of the best habitat for breeding waterbirds (tundra birds. Colleagues working on Hokkaido and Hon- swans, geese and loons), breeding shorebirds and shu Islands in Japan observed three brant with fall-staging shorebirds in northern Alaska. FRESC leg bands that had been affixed to hatching-year biologists have completed studies on tundra swan birds from a nesting ecology study on the Yukon– productivity, habitat use and parental care; mating Kuskokwim Delta in western Alaska. In addition, strategies of the rock ptarmigan; spectacled eider an after-hatching-year bird from the Prudhoe Bay productivity and habitat use; and the use of wet- area of Alaska was discovered among flocks on lands by grazing waterfowl. Ongoing studies Kokkaido Island. Biologists examined weather pat- include developing monitoring protocols for nest- terns and speculate that these brant take a westward ing shorebirds and Lapland longspurs; comparative transoceanic flight route from their primary fall demography and breeding ecology of red-throated, staging area at Izembek Lagoon, Alaska, to the Pacific and yellow-billed loons; and the breeding islands of Japan, where they mix with wintering ecology, survival and dispersal of shorebirds. birds from high-Arctic Russia. FRESC biologists are working with the FWS and Satellite telemetry has proven to be an effec- the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) tive tool in tracking long-distance migrants during program to initiate Alaska- and world-wide moni- annual flights from nesting to wintering areas. The toring of tundra-breeding birds and the tundra eco- ABSC has pioneered the use of this technique to system. better understand migration timing, migration routes and corridors, staging habitat locations and Marine Mammals migrant survival. Tundra swans nest in western The FWS has trust responsibility for managing Alaska (on the Alaska Peninsula, the Yukon– three species of marine mammals: polar bears, Kuskokwim delta and the Seward Peninsula) and Pacific walruses and sea otters. Polar bears and across the Arctic Coastal Plain from Barrow east Pacific walruses are apical carnivores in Arctic through the Canadian high Arctic. Even though the regions. The BRD has responsibility for conducting swans are conspicuous, biologists and managers research to satisfy FWS information needs for have a poor understanding of tundra swan migra- these two species. The U.S. shares both species tion pathways. The movements of satellite-marked with Russia, and polar bears are also shared with tundra swans were tracked during autumn and Canada. The international nature of the populations spring migration between the outer Yukon–Kuskok- requires the U.S. to coordinate research programs wim delta and wintering areas in California. with both Russia and Canada. The focus of current Marked swans migrated eastward across the delta research relates to international actions necessary during early October. After crossing the Alaska to conserve shared populations. Both species are Range, swans stopped briefly on the Susitna Flats subject to legal harvests by Alaska Natives, and of Upper Cook Inlet. They then migrated eastward research seeks to develop methods for defining and into the Yukon, Canada, and from there flew south- monitoring populations to establish sustainable ward, paralleling the Wrangell Mountains through population goals. Resource development in the the interior of the Yukon to a staging area in north- Arctic habitats and their potential impacts on popu- eastern British Columbia. They gradually migrated lations of polar bears and Pacific walruses are also through central Alberta and southwest Saskatche- topics of research interest. wan and across Montana to a staging area in south- The research program on Pacific walruses is eastern Idaho. Swans remained in Idaho from mid- focused on the trophic ecology and use of terres- November until early December, when they migrated trial haulouts of Pacific walruses in Bristol Bay. across Nevada to the Sacramento–San Joaquin delta The development of an international Pacific walrus of California. Spring migration routes were similar database, which includes data from Russian and to those used in autumn. American scientists concerning census, harvest and The Colville Research Station, a collaborative habitats, is nearing completion. Drugging protocols

52 ranges often exceed 400,000 km2. Maternity denning occurs primarily in Russian territory, with the majority on Wrangel and Herald Islands. Survey methodologies for aerial censuses of polar bears in western Alaska have been developed, but budget limitations and the continuing economic crisis in Russia have delayed implementation of this survey. The aerial surveys used by Russian scientists on Wrangel and Herald Islands have been revised based on a joint U.S.–Russia workshop. The revised methodologies were tested on Wrangel Island during the spring of 1998 by a U.S.–Russia team of scientists. Present movement data for polar bears are limited to adult females. A pilot study to determine if subcutaneously implanted satellite transmitters could be used to monitor the movements of adult male polar bears was initiated USGS Alaska Biological Sci- in the spring of 1996. Detailed movement data ence Center researcher have been collected for seven adult males during weighing a polar bear cub near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, the spring and summer months. Preliminary data in April. Heavy cubs are sig- analyses indicate that adult males have a tendency nificantly more likely than to be more sedentary that adult females during the lighter cubs to survive the same period. Technical difficulties caused the sat- first few months in the rigors ellite transmitters to fail before animals could be of the Arctic environment, and heavier cubs usually are recaptured the following spring, and the effort dur- born to heavier females. ing the spring of 1998 focused on resolving this problem. have been refined, and effective immobilization Continued analysis of movement data gener- agents have been found for Pacific walruses. The ated by satellite radio-collared female polar bears use of isoflurane gas for extending the effective suggests that polar bear populations in the Beau- marking period was partially successful, but the fort and Chukchi Seas are largely discrete. Some unreliability of currently available intubation pro- Beaufort Sea polar bears did temporarily leave cedures for walruses limits the utility of the gas. their “home areas,” however, and were most likely Attachment procedures for satellite tags have been to do so during late winter and spring. Because improved, and units were deployed on 30 adult polar bears breed in the spring, biologists hypothe- male walruses in Bristol Bay during the summers sized that bear populations of the Chukchi and of 1996 and 1997. Telemetry data indicate move- Beaufort Seas, which appear from movement data ments between all primary land-based haulouts in to be discrete, may not be discrete genetically. Bristol Bay, with some evidence of haulout fidelity New molecular genetics data support that hypothe- between years. The movement data also indicate sis. Based on eight microsatellite loci in tissue that walruses are traveling between land-based extracted from approximately 300 polar bears, haulouts to particular regions of the southern Ber- there appear to be no significant genetic differing Sea, presumably for feeding purposes. Time– ences between Beaufort and Chukchi Sea bears. depth recorders were deployed on five walruses Hence, there is a contrast between radiotelemetry during the summer of 1997, and the units were data suggesting a high degree of fidelity and recovered by recapturing the animals six weeks molecular genetics data suggesting no differences. later. These units collected detailed dive profile Also, this pattern appears to contrast with that in data for the five individuals. Data analysis is the Canadian high Arctic, where polar bear popu- underway. lations living closer together than do the bears of BRD biologists have completed satellite tele- the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas had relatively dis- metry studies of movement patterns of adult tinct genetic patterns. female polar bears, and data analyses are under- BRD research has shown that the patterns of way. The movements of adult females marked in maternal denning in Alaska tend to reduce the vul- the Chukchi population are extensive, and annual nerability of denning bears to human disruptions.

53 Nonetheless, conflicts with denning polar bears Cooperative Research remain a concern because bears in dens are more The Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife vulnerable to disturbance than at any other time in Research Unit supports a wide variety of research their life cycle and because both denning on land in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Alaska, Canada and the extent of human activities are increasing. and Eurasia. Aquatic studies are presently concen- Hence, ongoing research seeks to characterize trated on the energetics of Dolly Varden char in denning habitats and test whether state-of-the-art Noatak National Park and Preserve (NPP); the thermal detection devices can allow dens to be water quality of lakes in Gates of the Arctic NPP located before human activities occur. If preferred and Katmai NPP and in Lake Becharof; and migra- habitats predictably can be mapped, and if denned tion and habitat use of broad whitefish in the Prud- bears can be detected with the aid of infrared scan- hoe Bay watershed. Landscape-oriented projects are ners, biologists and managers will have a manage- focused on environmental changes in the Kobuk Sand ment tool that will eliminate conflicts between Dunes; the status of rare plants in the Bering Land human activities and denned bears. Bridge region; habitat use and remote sensing of The concentration of polar bears in the central caribou in northern Alaska and the Yukon Territories; Beaufort Sea region in late summer and autumn and vegetation response/nutrient cycling in relation and the larger population that exists now has the to climate change in the Arctic. Studies of birds and potential to increase interactions between humans mammals constitute the majority of Alaska Unit and polar bears at times other than denning. For studies in the Arctic. These include the habitat of example, in 1997, 50 polar bears were trapped on red-legged kittiwakes on St. George Island; the the beach when the sea ice suddenly retreated population ecology of black brant and lesser snow north in August. The central Beaufort Sea is the geese; habitat use of peregrine falcons in the upper home of the most productive oilfields in North Yukon River; sampling protocols for small mam- America, and several stranded bears ended up mals in Denali NPP; the biogeography of Arctic hanging around oilfield facilities, where they hares in northwest Alaska and eastern Russia; habi- posed a constant threat to the safety of oilfield tat mapping of muskoxen on the Alaskan North workers. As oil exploration and development and Slope; and the interaction of muskoxen and rein- other human activities expand to the east and west deer on the Seward Peninsula. of present development centers, biologists expect Additional research in Arctic regions of Alaska conflicts between polar bears and humans to be and Canada is being conducted by BRD scientists more frequent. Similarly, 20–30 of those trapped at Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units in bears spent the late summer and fall near the Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Missouri, Wash- coastal village of Kaktovik, where they became ington and Louisiana. Most of this work answers accustomed to feeding on the scraps left by subsis- questions pertinent to the management of migratory tence whaling activities and they learned that waterfowl and wetlands habitats on breeding grounds humans need not be feared. in the Arctic, migratory flyways and wintering To properly manage human–bear interactions, grounds to the south. All of these projects are tightly we must have better knowledge of polar bear for- linked to program objectives of cooperators in sev- aging strategies and the ecological importance of eral Canadian and U.S. government agencies, many near-shore habitats. In response to that need, the state natural resource agencies, flyway councils and ABSC plans to initiate research to answer ques- private organizations. tions such as: When and why can polar bears be expected to concentrate in near-shore areas where their opportunity to conflict with humans is great- Mineral Resources Program est? What limiting factors at sea may be encouraging larger numbers of bears to remain on land for The regional geology and mineral resource longer periods than in the past? What is the impor- potential of frontier areas, the geology of known tance of land-based foods such as beach-cast mineralized terranes and the geoenvironmental marine mammals and human waste relative to behavior of mined and unmined mineral deposits ringed seals, which are thought to be the main and occurrences are major themes for research in component of their diet? Answers to these and Alaska as part of the Mineral Resources Program. In other questions will help assure that humans and addition, compilation of geological, geochemical and polar bears can continue to coexist in Alaska’s geophysical databases into easily accessible and man- Arctic. ipulatable digital formats is a major ongoing effort.

54 Tectonics and gold mineralization in type that is not well documented in Alaska or else- south-central Alaska where. Coordinated geologic mapping, geochemi- Studies of the large expanse of oceanic rocks cal sampling and geophysical studies have refined and associated plutons along the southern Alaska regional geologic and metallogenic models for the margin have led to the development of a new model belt. Regional geology is dominated by extensive for the generation of gold veins and have helped to sedimentary rocks intruded by late Cretaceous– resolve the tectonic history of the northern Pacific early Tertiary igneous complexes. Precious-metal Ocean basin. Patterns of magnetic anomalies reflect and related deposits are associated with the igne- the existence of three oceanic plates in the northern ous complexes. Detailed mapping, analysis of Pacific in early Tertiary time, separated by three structural features (faults and folds), analysis of spreading ridges. One of the ridges, between the features in sedimentary rocks, and preliminary Kula and Farallon plates, headed in the general di- isotopic results indicate that the igneous com- rection of the North American margin, but exactly plexes, gold deposits and mercury deposits appar- where it intersected the margin cannot be discerned ently all originated at about the same time in an from marine magnetic anomalies because all direct intracontinental strike–slip basin system. The evidence has been subducted. The location of this strike–slip basins formed over a protracted period triple junction is revealed, however, by a suite of of time behind the western Alaska Range segment Paleocene and Eocene near-trench plutons in of the circum-Pacific volcanic arc. Geologic stud- southern Alaska. The near-trench magmatic pulse ies are continuing, using this model as a guide, was diachronous, beginning around 63–65 Ma at to identify the extent of the belt, a metallogenic Sanak Island in the west and progressing to about model for the region, and an estimate of the 50 Ma at Baranof Island to the east. Near-trench region’s mineral potential. plutons are thought to have been generated as a result of subduction of the Kula–Farallon ridge Environmental impacts of mercury and arsenic below the southern Alaska margin. The triple junc- An understanding of the geochemical behavior tion evidently migrated along that margin some of arsenic and mercury surrounding developed 2200 km in 13–15 million years. Near-trench plu- mineral deposits and in geologic environments tonism was only one of several geologic effects of with naturally elevated levels of arsenic and mer- ridge subduction. In addition, the accretionary cury is of critical importance in predicting natural wedge was cut by numerous normal and strike– and anthropogenically induced environmental slip faults, some of which host gold–quartz veins. impacts and establishing scientifically sound miti- 40Ar/39Ar ages on sericite show that mineraliza- gation efforts. tion was coeval with near-trench magmatism and, In the Fortymile Mining District in east-central by implication, due also to ridge subduction. Prior Alaska, determining the natural levels of arsenic to this study, gold mineralization had been attrib- and other metals in the watershed versus the levels uted only to a poorly defined metamorphic event. resulting from placer mining (dredge operations) We can now relate mineralization to a very speci- is required to establish risk assessment protocols fic tectonic setting and use this as a new guideline for discharge permitting by Federal and state agen- for gold exploration in frontier areas around the cies. Parts of the historic Fortymile Mining Dis- world where ridge subduction may have occurred. trict are being evaluated by BLM for possible inclusion as part of the Nation’s Wild and Scenic Frontier studies in the Kuskokwim mineral belt River System. Recreational visitor usage of For- The quality of regional geologic knowledge in tymile River and its tributaries has increased 40% Alaska lags far behind that in the conterminous since the mid-1970s, and there is concern about U.S. Not only is the mineral resource potential of conflicting land use. Extensive areas of Fortymile vast tracts in the state unknown, but the basic geo- River systems have been mined since 1886, and logic data used to determine mineral potential, much of the area along the river system consists of such as the age and thermal history of the bedrock, currently patented mining claims. The area contains have not been collected. One of the most poorly mineral deposits such as vein gold (plus silver, lead, understood parts of the state is the 190,000-km2 copper, zinc and antimony), stratabound volcano- Kuskokwim mineral belt, which stretches through genic massive and/or disseminated sulfides, por- southwest Alaska. The area is a frontier in two phyry copper and others. During the preparation of ways: the geologic framework is extremely poorly a series of Environmental Impact Statements for understood, and it contains a gold-bearing deposit the area (beginning in 1974), anomalously high

55 levels of arsenic were found in soil, sediment and mercury contents in the edible portions of the fish surface water. It is unknown, however, how arsenic were below the 1.0-ppm limit established by the is mobilized and whether its presence poses a Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Mercury threat to aquatic life, wildlife or humans. The ini- contents in muscle tissue of salmon, the primary tial research effort focused on water quality in the fish consumed by humans in the area, were well vicinity of active mining operations. Chemical and below the FDA limit. The bioavailability of mer- turbidity studies were undertaken to evaluate the cury in vegetation and the contribution of mercury impact of placer mining. from southwest Alaska to the global mercury cycle The water chemistry data collected in the vicin- are areas of ongoing research. ity of mining operations give values roughly equal to or lower than the regional average concentra- Water Resources tions of dissolved metals, based on 25 samples. Turbidity values fall within the range of turbidity The USGS hydrologic activities in Alaska are values found for currently mined areas of the divided into three broad categories: Fortymile River system and its tributaries. The high- • Collection of hydrologic data; est turbidity value was measured in an unmined • Hydrologic appraisals; and stream. The preliminary study identified no appre- • Basic and applied research in hydrologic ciable difference in turbidity values between mined topics unique to cold climates. and unmined areas in the river system. Further efforts in this study area will evaluate: Hydrologic Data Collection • The importance of water–rock interactions as a A wide range of climate directly influences the determining factor in water quality; water resources of Alaska. Precipitation ranges • The fate and transport of the elements of from less than 10 in. per year (principally snow) in interest; and Arctic Alaska to 200–300 in. per year (principally • The flux and biogeochemical cycling of rain) in southeast Alaska. Hydrologic data are arsenic between terrestrial and aquatic required for planning and conducting hydrologic environments. appraisals and hydrologic research. In 1997 collect- Studies of environmental impacts of mercury ing these data constituted the major part of the in the southwest Alaska mineral belt were designed Division’s efforts in Alaska. to document, in a sub-Arctic environment, the levels and distribution of the various mercury spe- Hydrologic Appraisals cies and to identify the geochemical processes that Hydrologic appraisals include studies of water control the distribution, speciation and transport of resources in areas that are likely to be or that are mercury at selected inactive mercury mines. Iden- being affected by mineral or urban development, tification and discrimination of natural and anthro- investigations of potential hydrologic hazards, and pogenically induced impacts were focused on areas studies of ground- and surface-water contamination where the environmental impact of mercury is a on Federal lands. concern to regulatory, planning and land managing Alaska has about 36% of the entire Nation’s agencies, to the local population, and to the village average annual streamflow; if lakes and glaciers and regional Native corporations. Mercury levels are included, Alaska has more than 40% of the in stream sediments, stream water and fish were entire Nation’s surface water resources. Stream- measured. Stream sediments collected near mer- flow in southern Alaska alone is comparable to the cury mines are elevated in mercury due to erosion mean annual streamflow of the Mississippi River. and local transport of cinnabar, a mercury-bearing This streamflow does not enter the ocean in the mineral. Stream sediments in unmined areas form of one large river but by way of numerous showed no significant mercury concentrations. smaller rivers and streams. Alaska has 7 of the 20 Stream waters collected in the vicinity of mines largest rivers in the U.S.: the Yukon, Kuskokwim, yielded mercury values above background levels Copper, Stikine, Susitna, Tanana and Nushagak. for the region but below the present State of Alaska Alaska has so many lakes they are essentially and EPA–CPC drinking water and in-stream stan- uncounted. Nearly 100 lakes are larger than 10 dards. Fish livers and muscle tissue from fresh- square miles in size. Iliamna Lake is Alaska’s larg- water fish collected downstream from mercury est, with a surface area of about 1000 square miles. mines contained elevated mercury, most of which Springs throughout the state are found as innumer- was in the toxic form, methylmercury. However, able small seeps and as warm or mineral waters

56 that support recreational centers. On the North cover associated with accelerated erosion rates Slope, flows from large springs produce wide- caused by boat activity may threaten salmon spread icings in winter. In 1997 the USGS moni- returns to the river. Bank loss and boat activity tored about 85 surface water sites. were characterized during 1996 along 67 miles of Snow covers most of the state for half to three- the Kenai River, including a segment of the river quarters of the year. Freezing and thawing of water several miles long where boat activity is restricted affects virtually all of the state to some extent. Gla- to non-motorized uses. Dates of peak boat activity ciers cover nearly 30,000 square miles in Alaska— coincided closely with chinook salmon returns to about 5% of the total area of the state—but produce the Kenai River and with peaks in measured bank approximately 35% of Alaska’s runoff and 10% of erosion. The boat activity period began in late the Nation’s runoff. If all the glacial ice melted, it May, peaked on weekend days in mid-July, and would take a river the size of the Yukon about 150– declined in early August. Several types of bank 200 years to drain all the water. Glaciers play a key protection measures were evaluated along the role in water storage, timing of peak flows and sed- Kenai River for their ability to reduce or eliminate iment transport. bank erosion. These include complex engineered Ground water is an undeveloped resource in most systems of coconut-fiber biodegradable logs of Alaska; in many areas, potential development of attached to the bank with live willow sprouts and the resource far exceeds current use. Groundwater covered with elevated walkways, simple series of conditions are diverse: major aquifers are present in spruce trees cut down and cabled to the bank, rock the alluvium of large river valleys (Yukon, Tanana, riprap piled against the bank, and vertical wooden Kuskokwim, Susitna), in glacial outwash deposits retaining walls. under coastal basins (Cook Inlet) and valleys In June 1997 the USGS conducted a water qual- (Seward and Juneau), and in carbonate bedrock of ity survey of the Kuskokwim River. The Kusko- the Brooks Range. In other areas, however, the kwim River drains approximately 32,000 square fine-grained material of glacial and glacial-lake miles, is the ninth largest river in the U.S., and is deposits and the low permeability of consolidated the Nation’s second largest river entering the Ber- rocks offer a much less promising ground water ing Sea. The river basin is remote and largely unde- potential. In addition, the recharge, discharge, veloped, although mercury mining occurred within movement and thus the availability of groundwater the basin until 1971 and placer gold mining contin- over much of the interior, western and northern ues in the upper reaches. The central part of the parts of the state and on the flanks of the Alaska river drains the Kuskokwim mineral belt, a miner- Range are restricted by permafrost. In 1997 the USGS alized zone enriched in the trace elements. This monitored approximately 50 groundwater sites. study focused on the water quality of the Kuskok- The quality of Alaskan waters is generally wim River and its major tributaries with the objec- acceptable for most uses. However, available data tive of evaluating how water quality changed as do indicate naturally occurring problems, such as the river flows downstream. To achieve this, water suspended sediment in glacier-fed streams, salt- and bed sediment at seven sites were sampled water intrusion and undesirable concentrations of along the Kuskokwim from McGrath to Akiak: iron or arsenic in ground water at various locations. one above the mineral belt, two within the mineral Local pollution from septic tank leakage has belt above the historic mercury mining, two within occurred in several locations. In 1997 the USGS the mineral belt below the historic mercury min- collected water quality data at approximately a ing, and two downstream from the mineralized dozen sites. region and below the historic mining. In addition, three tributaries—the Holitna River, Crooked Hydrologic Projects Creek and Red Devil Creek—were sampled. The Hydrologic subjects being studied include the Holitna River is a major tributary to the Kuskok- quantity and quality of surface and ground water; wim, Crooked Creek is a small drainage with hydrologic instrumentation; and glacier, snow and unmined mineral potential, and Red Devil Creek ice dynamics. drains the historic Red Devil mine site. Of the 22 The Kenai River in south-central Alaska is an aqueous trace elements analyzed, only boron, economically important salmon river generating as chromium, copper, manganese, zinc, aluminum, much as $78 million annually in direct benefits. lithium, barium, iron and antimony were detected, Resource management agencies are concerned that and only barium, iron and strontium exhibited a increased sedimentation and loss of streamside downstream concentration change. The highest

57 mercury concentration was found in Red Devil Red Devil drainage had mercury concentrations Creek, but this produced no effect in the main stem nine times greater and antimony concentrations of the Kuskokwim because the streamflow of the two times greater than those of sediments collected tributary is small relative to the Kuskokwim. Evi- from the right bank and those collected either dence of the mining impact on the Kuskokwim main upstream or downstream from the Red Devil drain- stem was found in the bed sediment chemistry, how- age. No difference was found between sediments ever. Mercury and antimony concentrations in the collected from the left and right banks at the site Red Devil Creek sediments were about 1000 times eight miles below the mine, and the effect of the higher than concentrations in the Kuskokwim mine appears to be localized on the left bank River sediments. Kuskokwim River sediments col- region near the mine. lected from the left bank about 0.25 mile below the

58 Department of Defense The Department of Defense continues to operate and maintain facilities in the Arctic. To support these operations, the DOD conducts a broad- based Arctic research program. The Arctic program is conducted by all three services and extends from the ocean floor to the magnetosphere.

Although overall funding for Arctic research Funding (thousands) within the Department of Defense (DoD) has FY 96 FY 97 decreased since the end of the Cold War, the Arctic Engineering 2,369 2,892 Department still has active interest in the Arctic. Permafrost/Frozen Ground 1,562 565 Specific DoD objectives for Arctic research Snow and Ice Hydrology 1,910 3,646 include (but are not limited to): Oceanography 8,988 11,631 • Understanding the interaction of the Arctic Lower Atmosphere 168 314 environment with military systems, including Upper Atmosphere 2,000 3,777 human systems and environmental remediation; High-Freq Active Auroral Program 13,000 7,500 • Understanding energy exchange and atmo- Medical and Human Engineering 489 720 sphere–ocean interaction dynamics, and the Total 30,486 31,045 impact of the energy exchange process on experimental measurements to determine specific global circulation; and physical processes, first-principles numerical • Understanding the structure and physics of modeling efforts, and a strong connection to on- the middle and upper atmosphere. going theoretical research. Although the DoD program is reviewed as a The Air Force maintains a wide range of whole during the annual Technology Area Review ground-based radio, radar and optical diagnostics and Assessment (TARA), the three military services to perform the needed measurements. These are actually conduct research to meet their specific conducted from Nord, Qaanaq, Thule, Sondre- objectives. Consequently each service’s major strom and Narssarssuaq, Greenland (in coopera- accomplishments will be reported separately. tion with the Danish Meteorological Institute); Ny Alesund, Longyearbyen (Spitsbergen) and Tromso, Air Force Norway (in cooperation with the University of Oslo, Norway); and Goose Bay, Labrador (Can- The Air Force conducts research in upper atmo- ada). The ground-based measurements are often sphere and ionospheric physics, primarily by the complemented by measurements from instruments Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles on sounding rockets and polar-orbiting satellites. Directorate, Battlespace Environment Division From this understanding, numerical models to (formerly the Phillips Laboratory) and the Air specify and ultimately predict the behavior of this Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). complex region are being developed. This research These offices coordinate their effort to understand and model development are needed for real-time the effects of space weather. This research is pri- support to DoD communications, navigation and marily conducted in the Arctic “polar cap.” The surveillance systems. goal of the research is to understand the basic physical and chemical processes and dynamics of Dayside Auroral Studies at Svalbard the polar ionosphere, with the main objectives to Major experimental campaigns were conducted specify, predict and mitigate disruptions to DoD at Ny Alesund, Svalbard (Norway), in January communications, navigation and surveillance sys- 1997 (following initial experiments in 1993) to tems. To actively pursue and maintain a well- investigate the structure and dynamics of the day- rounded program, the research effort combines side auroral cusp region. Because of the high lati-

59 tude of Svalbard (79°N), this is an ideal location to emissions and artificial periodic inhomogeneities, conduct sensitive optical observations of the aurora as well as to modulate the polar electrojet to pro- near noon. Both campaigns included optical, radio duce extremely low frequencies, phenomena that and radar measurements in cooperation with the can be excited with modest power levels. University of Oslo. During January 1997, measurements from the NASA FAST satellite were Army coordinated with the ground-based optical images. These higher-resolution satellite particle and field The U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and measurements will be used to attempt to distin- Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), with offices in guish temporal and spatial variations within the Hanover, New Hampshire, and Fairbanks, Alaska, cusp region. is the center of engineering expertise for cold regions and winter conditions for the Corps of High-Frequency Active Auroral Engineers, the Army and DoD. CRREL is the only Research Program Federal laboratory that focuses solely on Arctic The Air Force–Navy High-Frequency Active and cold regions problems and is internationally A complete description of the Auroral Research Program (HAARP) consists of a recognized as a center of excellence in Arctic re- HAARP facility is available high-power, high-frequency (HF: 2.8–10 MHz) search. at http://w3.itd.nrl.navy.mil/ ionospheric heating facility that has been under The U.S. Army Research Office (ARO), located haarp.html construction since 1994 in Gakona, Alaska. Initial in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, has a field experiments were conducted in 1997. A devel- mission to support basic research that leads to an opment prototype version currently operates, with increase in fundamental knowledge that may have plans for the facility to be completed by early in short- or long-range impacts on Army capabilities. the next century. When finally completed, the ARO is involved in Arctic research and develop- facility promises to provide the world’s most ment largely through the sponsorship of extra- powerful HF transmission capabilities, combined mural basic research directed toward the topics with unparalleled frequency agility and beam- of environmental quality and the properties and steering agility. Recent completion of the proto- processes of snow, ice and frozen ground. type made it possible to conduct preliminary The United States Army Research Institute of investigations of HF-induced phenomena with Environmental Medicine (USARIEM), located in the HAARP facility in a March 1997 campaign. Natick, Massachusetts, conducts research to sus- Although the prototype produced relatively low tain and enhance the health and performance of power output in the 3- to 4-MHz frequency range military personnel in cold environments, including (effective radiated power of approximately 5 Arctic areas, through basic and applied biological MW), the full-frequency agility capability was and biophysical research. Researchers employ available. In the current effort the prototype was human, animal, tissue, cellular and mathematical used to investigate stimulated electromagnetic models using multidisciplinary team approaches. A principal research goal is to define complex Portion of the 48-tower interactions of climatic stress (heat, cold and alti- developmental prototype tude) and the body’s physiologic defense mecha- antenna array at nisms. Gakona, Alaska. The following are objectives and accomplishments for FY 96 and 97 in the program areas of Arctic Engineering, Permafrost and Frozen Ground; Snow and Ice Hydrology; Oceanography; and Medical and Human Engineering.

Arctic Engineering, Permafrost and Frozen Ground The current CRREL program reflects recent world events. The engineering emphasis has shifted to technologies needed to support forces in underdeveloped theaters of operation, rehabilitate and more efficiently operate an aging military infrastructure, assess and clean up contamination

60 from past activities, and extend the capability of both temperate and Arctic regions. The Remote existing equipment to function more effectively in Sensing/Geographic Information Systems Center a broader range of operating conditions. located at CRREL developed and tested an auto- Together with the National Concrete Masonry mated snow mapper for use with Landsat imagery. Association, CRREL completed a Construction This algorithm rapidly finds the fraction of snow, Productivity Advancement Research study to find or materials with snow-like properties, based on ways to minimize thermal protection requirements an idealized spectral mixture model. for cold-weather masonry construction. Although CRREL conducted long over-snow traverses in current guidance requires mortar to be heated to the Kuparuk Basin on the North Slope of Alaska 50°C, a finding of the study is that mortar need not in collaboration with the University of Alaska and be heated above 20°C. Additionally, the study Colorado State University. The traverses were showed that antifreeze chemicals can eliminate the conducted to collect snow depth and snow prop- need for thermal protection altogether without erty data over a wide area in order to develop and causing detrimental side effects to the masonry. test models of snow distribution. These models These findings promise to take a huge bite out of can be used in the prediction of over-snow traffic- the estimated $325 million annual surcharge that ability and meltwater runoff, scene prediction, and cold weather inflicts on masonry construction climate studies. During the traverses, more than activities. 1000 km were covered using a small-unit support CRREL also conducted extensive research in vehicle towing special research sleds built by CR- ground-penetrating radar in FY 96 and 97. Radar REL. Over 250,000 depth measurements were tak- maps of the total thickness of permafrost have en at temperatures as low as –40°C. From these been developed, with confirmation from the exten- measurements, trends in snow depth have been sive drilling necessary to map the subsurface identified. Preliminary model results predict the extents of contamination. Additionally, the radar correct snow depths over more than 70% of the is being used to detect buried metallic objects such modeled area. as containers of toxic waste and ordnance. ARO sponsored several studies in snow and The Army Research Office (ARO) sponsored ice hydrology in 1997, including Meltwater Flow two major efforts over the period. The first is Con- Through Snow from Plot to Basin Scale, by Mark stitutive Behavior of Frozen Soils at Small Strains. Williams of the University of Colorado at Boulder, Charles Ladd of the Massachusetts Institute of who is studying the spatial and temporal variation Technology is engaged in a laboratory study of of water flow through a melting snowpack in a frozen soil deformation at small strain rates. Tri- research project that is jointly funded with the axial compression tests are being conducted to National Science Foundation. Another project, provide axial stress–strain and volumetric strain Study of Ice Adhesion with Scanning Force Micro- characterization of a frozen sand as a function of scopy and Electromagnetic Spectroscopy, by Vic- relative density, confining stress, strain rate and tor Petrenko of Dartmouth College, is undertaking temperature. The second ARO-sponsored effort is a fundamental study that is aimed at acquiring an Solute Mobility in Frozen Porous Media, by Ber- in-depth understanding of the nature of the strong nard Hallet of the University of Washington. and universal adhesion of ice to most solid mater- Through a program of laboratory experiments, this ial based on new knowledge of both the micro- effort studies the fundamental processes that gov- structure and the physical properties of the ice/solid ern the transport of chemical constituents in frozen interface. The long-term goal of this research is the porous media. The experimental data obtained will purposeful development of durable, ice-phobic elucidate primary mechanisms and rates of solute coatings by means of molecular engineering. movement in frozen porous media, as well as examine the potential for electrical field genera- Oceanography tion during freezing and the tendency for chemi- Understanding the interaction of solar radiation cals in frozen ground to concentrate at freezing with the sea ice cover of the Arctic Ocean is criti- fronts. cal to the heat and mass balance of the Arctic ice pack and its effect on climate. Data on the surface Snow and Ice Hydrology state were obtained from helicopter photography CRREL and ARO also conduct research in map- missions made during the height of the melt sea- ping snow extent using remote sensors. This re- son. CRREL analyzed photomicrographs of ice search supports hydrologic and climatic models in thin sections using a PC-based image processing

61 system to determine the number of inclusions and a study to determine the efficacy of phase-change statistics for brine pockets in young ice and first- (PC) materials incorporated into various boots used year ice and for air bubbles in a multi-year hum- in cold regions. PC boots have a proprietary exo- mock. Quantifying these inclusions is critical for thermic substance in a given boot that is purported both interpreting and modeling the electromag- to release heat upon exposure to extreme cold. Vari- netic properties of sea ice. ous prototype PC boots, in combination with a pro- Two icebreaking ships carrying six scientists totype Marine sock and current-issue sock, are from CRREL and more than 50 other scientists being studied on USARIEM’s regionally heated representing various universities and agencies copper foot while exposed to a cold ramp down to such as NASA and the Department of Energy –5°C (23°F). Finally, USARIEM published a study (along with researchers from Japan, Canada and of the effect of cold water immersion at different the Netherlands) established an ice station for the depths on metabolic and thermal responses. Experi- SHEBA (Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic) exper- ments were conducted in a laboratory with subjects iment. One of the icebreakers will remain frozen immersed to different depths and exercising at a into the pack ice of the Arctic Ocean and drift as a range of metabolic rates. The study showed that floating science platform for 13 months. This water levels above the knee at 15°C and above the experiment will provide a better understanding of hip at 25°C depressed the core temperature. the climate of the Arctic; this knowledge will im- USARIEM traveled to Alaska to support an prove global-scale weather and climate models. international mountaineering expedition to Mt. Sanford (altitude 16,237 ft) starting from a base Medical and Human Engineering camp on Sheep Glacier (altitude 6,500 ft). The USARIEM studied the heat transfer properties expedition consisted of 12 climbers with an objec- of cold-stressed fingertips during cold-induced tive to demonstrate the practicality of physiologic vasodilatation (CIVD). A novel manner of charac- monitoring in harsh climatic conditions. Five of the terizing the CIVD effect is by ascribing a factor twelve climbers reached the summit. Overall, phys- called heat loss efficiency. A weak linear relation- iological status monitoring appeared to demonstrate ship between the heat loss efficiency and the dura- outstanding potential to manage activity levels and tion of CIVD was revealed. The intensity and the identify sick soldiers during military operations in incidence of occurrence of heat deficits were harsh climates. found to be more prevalent in the first CIVD waves in both test conditions. Subsequently the Navy heat deficit of the fingertip decreased while heat storage intensified. This technique should lead to a The Office of Naval Research’s High Latitude unique way to characterize a population suscepti- Program investigates processes (physical, biologi- ble to non-freezing cold injury. cal, chemical and geological) active in all polar USARIEM continues to study the effects of oceanic areas, with special emphasis given to high- cold stress on military women’s thermoregulatory latitude marginal seas. The goals of the program are responses. A study was completed comparing to improve the Navy’s understanding of air–sea–ice model and experimental results with protective exchange processes, mechanisms of cross-shelf clothing for cold stress impact on women. Previ- transport, and the process of deep ocean convection ously USARIEM examined the magnitude of shiv- and to incorporate the improved dynamical under- ering thermogenesis and internal body temperature standing of these processes into new environmental response in women exposed to cold wearing pro- models that can better support fleet activities in the tective clothing during resting activities at various next decade and beyond. These program goals are stages of the menstrual cycle. It was found that being addressed partially through participation in shivering thermogenesis was highly correlated the joint NSF/ONR/Japan/Canada Surface Heat with mean weighted skin temperature. Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) experiment and the USARIEM also developed an uncomplicated ongoing ONR/NSF-sponsored Science Submarine approach for estimating heat loss during cold Cruise (SCICEX) program. exposure. The current equation may be used to All ONR Ocean, Atmosphere and Space Depart- generate predictions that incorporate clothing ment-funded programs receive an annual summary insulation for the U.S. Army Standard Extended report from each principal investigator. These sum- Cold Weather Clothing System and cold ambients maries document each task’s objectives, accom- down to –20°F (–28.9°C). USARIEM also initiated plishments and publications during the past year. In

62 Further information on 1998, ONR will be providing these annual sum- be used in operational weather and climate models. ONR’s High Latitude mary reports as a CD-ROM with selected reports One final result is that the parameterized mixing Program can be obtained on the World Wide Web. In the future these collec- length should be smaller than previously thought, from the World Wide Web site and associated links: http:// tions will provide an easy-to-use compendium of reducing the turbulent exchange of heat and mo- www.onr.navy.mil/sci_tech/ accomplishments. In the interim a few significant mentum flux from air to sea in the Arctic region. ocean/onrpgahl.htm highlights are summarized below. This work also has direct application for modeling The Navy continues to fund substantial research pollutant dispersal over the Arctic. into the dynamics of sea ice surfaces. Sea ice pro- A second major accomplishment came during vides a superb platform for studying the upper the summer 1996 and 1997 SCICEX cruises. These ocean without the complicating effect of surface cruises, aboard the USS Pogey and Archerfish, waves. The long-term goals are to understand the respectively, had clearly defined scientific goals. turbulent transfer of momentum, heat, salt and The primary goal of this research was to improve other contaminants in naturally occurring boundary the understanding of those processes in the upper layers of the ocean and to apply this knowledge to Arctic Ocean that influence the heat balance and understanding air–ice–ocean interaction in polar sustain the ice cover. This goal encompasses the regions and the impact of this transfer on the large- upper halocline and includes mesoscale features scale coupled atmosphere–ocean dynamic system. including their origins, prevalence, dynamics and In 1997 the Navy funded a large series of experi- influence on heat transport. A secondary role of this ments to directly measure the transport of heat program is to participate in assessing the potential and salinity. The data have been used to develop utility of submarines as research platforms. To meet relatively simple conceptual models for eddy these goals the Navy sponsored research into con- exchange, which have been incorporated into tinuously measuring the vertical distribution of numerical ocean circulation models with applica- horizontal currents, temperature and salinity in tions ranging from modeling strong heat flux in the upper Arctic Ocean from a submarine. These the Weddell Sea to sediment transport in the Kara measurements were taken under the ice pack in Sea. some instances and provided a first-time character- In 1997 the researchers (primarily Miles McPhee, ization of the upper-ocean mesoscale (small-scale) University of Washington) directly measured such features. Analyses of the summer 1996 SCICEX diverse elements as circulation, wind and sea vel- data are still in their early stages. The current data ocity, and heat transport. The goal was to parame- proved to be of high quality and clearly show a com- terize these complex factors into a simple form to plex dynamic ocean structure.

63 National Aeronautics and Space Administration As part of its Offfice of Earth Science, NASA supports various research programs in the Arctic that emphasize applications of airborne and space remote sensing to studies of the earth and space sciences. This issue focuses primarily on NASA’s Program for Regional Arctic Climate Assessment.

NASA’s Program for Regional Arctic Climate Funding (thousands) Assessment (PARCA) was formally initiated in FY 96 FY 97 1995 by combining into one coordinated program Polar Ice Interactions 5,500 5,300 various investigations associated with efforts, start- Ecology 6,400 2,500 Solid Earth Science 500 460 ed in 1991, to assess whether airborne laser altime- Arctic Ozone 1,000 7,500 try could be applied to measure ice sheet thickness Clouds and Radiation 1,100 1,200 changes. It has the primary goal of measuring and Sub-Orbital Science 700 700 understanding the mass balance of the Greenland Iono/Thermo/Mesospheric SR&T 600 600 ice sheet, with a view to assessing its present and FAST Auroral Snapshot 5,200 4,076 Magnetospheric SR&T 1,000 1,000 possible future impact on sea level. The lessons Solar Terrestrial Theory 400 400 learned from this program will be applied to the Arctic Data Systems 14,600 14,300 more global assessment of ice sheet volume that Research Balloon Program 0 832 will become possible after the 2001 launch of Sounding Rocket Program 1,000 955 NASA’s Geoscience Laser Altimeter System Total 38,000 39,823 (GLAS), which has the primary goal of measuring changes in ice-sheet elevation at latitudes up to • Monitoring of surface characteristics of the 86°N. The main components of PARCA are as ice sheet using satellite radar altimetry, syn- follows: thetic aperture radar (SAR), passive-micro- • Airborne laser altimetry surveys and ice thick- wave, AVHRR and scatterometer data; ness measurements along precise repeat tracks • Investigations of surface energy balance and across all major ice drainage basins in order to factors affecting snow accumulation and sur- measure changes in ice surface elevation; face ablation; and • Shallow ice cores at many locations to infer • Monitoring of crustal motion using permanent snow accumulation rates and their interannual global positioning system (GPS) receivers and variability, recent climate history and atmo- absolute gravity campaigns at coastal sites. spheric chemistry; Field activities in 1996 and 1997 involved • Estimates of snow accumulation rates by cli- remeasurements along a GPS traverse to infer ice mate model analysis of column water vapor velocity across the 2000-m contour (closer to 3000 obtained from radiosondes and TIROS Opera- m along the eastern flank of the ice sheet), collec- tional Vertical Sounder (TOVS) data; tion of several shallow (20- to 150-m-deep) cores • Surface-based measurements of ice motion at to improve our knowledge of snow accumulation 30-km intervals approximately along the over the ice sheet, local measurements of ice thin- 2000-m contour completely around the ice ning/thickening in shallow drill holes, and mainte- sheet in order to calculate the total ice dis- nance of several automatic weather stations (AWS). charge for comparison with total snow accu- Also, the airborne topographic mapper (ATM) and mulation and thus to infer the mass balance of ice-sounding radar were flown aboard the NASA most of the ice sheet; P-3 to measure ice thickness along the GPS • Local measurements of ice thickness change traverse and across selected outlet glaciers and to in shallow drill holes; complete surface elevation and ice thickness sur- • Investigations of individual glaciers and ice veys over the Jakobshavn catchment and over an streams responsible for much of the outflow area inland from the Humboldt and Petermann from the ice sheet; Glaciers.

64 Airborne Laser-Altimeter ice velocity complements satellite-based tech- Monitoring of the Ice Sheet niques in that it offers a flexible platform for site- specific observations. When combined with the Each year since 1991 the NASA P-3 aircraft, thickness data from the ice-penetrating radar, equipped with dual-frequency carrier phase track- which is flown simultaneously on the P-3, these ing GPS receivers, a ring-laser gyro inertial navi- velocities can be used to estimate discharge fluxes. gation system, scanning and profiling laser altime- The method also offers an independent means of ters, and (since 1993) a low-frequency radar to validating ice velocities derived from SAR and measure ice thickness, has flown over numerous visible imagery. transects of the Greenland ice sheet. In excess of 100,000 km of trackline have been mapped, cover- Coherent Radar Depth Sounding ing all major drainage basins and characteristic geophysical regions in Greenland. The airplane of the Greenland Ice Sheet location was measured precisely using differential This research involves performing airborne ice GPS surveying techniques, allowing all altimetry thickness measurements using a coherent radar data to be converted into measurements of ice sur- depth sounder. The radar operates at 150 MHz and face elevation relative to the Earth ellipsoid. is capable of measuring polar ice sheet thickness to Analyses of these data indicate that ice surface about 4000 m in cold ice and to lesser thicknesses elevations can be reliably measured with an accu- in temperate glaciers. The radar uses complemen- racy of approximately 10 cm over baselines of tary surface acoustic wave devices for pulse expan- more than seven hundred kilometers. sion and compression. The system operates as an Mapping of the ice sheet by the ATM scanning unfocused SAR. laser onboard NASA’s P-3 aircraft typically pro- Radar data, collected over the interior ice sheet, duces a set of surface elevations along a 150-m- around the margin and over outlet glaciers, were wide swath. With an aircraft speed of 150 m/s and tagged with geolocation information obtained from a laser pulse rate of 3000 per second, this results the onboard GPS receiver. The radar data were in an average of one surface elevation per 7.5 collected in conjunction with laser altimeter meas- square meters, with each elevation measurement urements of ice surface elevation. A next-generation having some uncertainty due to measurement coherent radar depth sounder (NGCORDS) using noise, aircraft pitch and roll errors, and GPS posi- microwave monolithic integrated circuits was also tioning uncertainty of the aircraft. To monitor ele- developed and field tested in 1997. The ice thick- vation change the aircraft flies over the same ness along the 2000-m velocity traverse and at groundtrack one or more years later, and the sur- Summit (up to about 3200 m) was measured, and face elevations are then compared. the measurements are being used in conjunction All major drainage basins on the ice sheet were with other data to estimate Greenland’s mass mapped with the ATM in 1993 and 1994, and the balance. flight lines will be resurveyed in 1998 and 1999 to Ice thickness measurements were also used to reveal any changes in surface elevation that have assess the accuracy of high-quality digital elevation occurred during the five-year interim, providing model data that were used to estimate the thickness an estimate of the change in volume of the ice of floating glacier sections for comparison with the sheet. CORDS measurements. An extensive data set was Data from the ATM have also been used to esti- also obtained for the Jakobshavn outlet glacier, mate surface velocity by tracking elevation features which is considered to have the highest iceberg at the ice surface. During the 1997 field season, production of all Greenland glaciers and is a major repeat flight lines were surveyed over four sec- drainage outlet for a large portion of the western tions in the Jakobshavn drainage basin, with time side of the ice sheet. separation between these flights ranging from two to six days. By interpolating the laser scanner data onto a 1- × 1-m grid and using cross-correlation Accumulation Estimates analysis techniques, the movement of the eleva- from Ice Cores tion features, the most distinct of which are cre- vasses, were tracked. The results show that the The primary objective of this work is to use surface velocities near the calving front are on the multi-species chemical analyses of 20- to 150-m- order of 7 km per year. This method of estimating deep ice cores to estimate annual accumulation at

65 (NASA-U) and 78.53°N, 56.83°W (Humboldt Gla- cier). Annual layers were identified in the cores using multiple parameters: δ18O and concentrations of dust hydrogen peroxide, ammonium, calcium and nitrate. Using all parameters together to define annual layers resulted in a 350-year record for the NASA-U core with no dating uncertainty. For the lower-accumulation Humboldt core, the dating uncertainty is about 5 years over the 852- year period of record, with no uncertainty over the past 200 years. Annual accumulation over the periods of record at the two sites averaged about 0.34 and 0.14 m of water equivalent, respectively. There was no statistically significant trend in the NASA-U annual accumulation rates over the period of record. However, the Humboldt data do show an increasing trend of about 1.3 ± 0.4% per century over the period of record. A set of 20-m firn cores drilled near the main 150-m cores showed that interannual variability of accumula- Drilling shallow cores to tion exceeded spatial variability at NASA-U. The establish the historical Humboldt cores showed equal spatial and interan- accumulation and elevation nual variability. of the ice sheet over the past few hundred years. In 1996, 120-m cores were collected at GITS (77.14°N, 61.04°W) and TUNU (78.10°N, various sites on the Greenland ice sheet. This will 35.50°W), with several 20-m cores also collected improve our estimates of snow accumulation over at TUNU. In 1997, shallow firn cores were col- the ice sheet for comparison with ice discharge lected at eight sites around the perimeter of the and for use in models. The core data are also anal- Greenland ice sheet at approximately the 2500-m yzed for the interannual variability of snow accu- elevation contour. The 4-in. cores were collected mulation rates, which is a major cause of short- by two- and sometimes three-person teams using period variability of ice sheet elevation and must the “sidewinder” coring device, a mechanically be understood before we can infer long-term operated hand auger developed by the University trends in ice sheet volume from observed surface of Nebraska. At those shallow coring sites that elevation changes. were co-located with automatic weather stations, PICO four-inch drill setup During the summer of 1995, 150-m firn and ice more than one core was collected in order to at the NASA-U site in cores were drilled to determine annual accumulation investigate issues of short-scale spatial variability northwest Greenland. rates at two Greenland sites, 73.84°N, 49.49°W in snow accumulation. Two sites in northwest Greenland (75–76°N) had average annual accumulation values of 0.30–0.36 m of water equivalent, and two sites in west-central Greenland (71–72°N) had values of 0.40–0.42 m of water equivalent. All four sites had values that were only 70–80% of those estimated from prior work and call into question the accumulation “ridge” in western Greenland that is apparent in older data.

Accumulation Rates from Microwave Remote Sensing Data

Because of the volume scattering characteristics of microwave radiation in polar firn, data from both active and passive microwave sensors hold

66 information about the grain size and layering char- and the development of hoar layers near the sur- acteristics at and below the surface of the snow face. pack, which are related to accumulation rates. One Third, 5.6-cm backscatter data from spaceborne way in which the accumulation rates in the dry scatterometers show promise for estimating accu- snow zones are being studied is based on the mulation rates in the dry snow and percolation polarization-dependent microwave emission char- zones. The backscatter characteristics show a acteristics at 4.5-cm wavelengths. The approach is direct relationship with known accumulation pat- based on the fact that the density layering in the terns. The data have also been used to identify snow is of greater impact on horizontally polar- facies boundaries and detect changes in these ized emission than on vertically polarized emis- boundaries over time. The results so far show a sion. Thus, the differences between the two can be clear reduction in the location and extent of the used to the estimate mean annual accumulation dry snow zone since 1978, with the largest changes rates. Researchers have had considerable success occurring in the southwestern part of the ice sheet. with this approach in Antarctica, with results com- These changes are consistent with the decadal paring favorably to field observations, and their warming trend and increase of more than 1°C effort is being extended to Greenland. The result- between 1979 and the present. Finally, accumula- ing maps broadly agree with previous compilation data have also been obtained by correlating tions of field observations. stable isotope ratio profiles (δD and δ18O) from A second method that is applicable to the dry snow pits with passive microwave brightness tem- snow zones is based on microwave emission at a perature trends. These analyses yield the amount, wavelength of 1.55 cm. Emissivity at this wave- rate and timing of density-corrected accumulation length has been shown to be related to accumula- at locations around Greenland with sub-seasonal tion by a hyperbolic function. The relationships resolution. have been demonstrated for the dry snow zones in Greenland and Antarctica, and microwave-based accumulation maps are being developed. The rela- Greenland Precipitation Estimated tionships at this shorter wavelength, however, are from Atmospheric Analyses somewhat complicated by snow metamorphism

Two antenna horns of a radar Observations of precipitation over Greenland instrument used to monitor are limited, refer to different time periods, and are the backscatter properties of of uncertain accuracy. However, the analyzed wind, snow and ice at the geopotential height and moisture fields are avail- equilibrium line altitude. able for recent years. The objective of this work is to develop a dynamic method for retrieving precipitation over Greenland from these analyzed fields twice a day. Precipitation and accumulation over Greenland from 1957 to 1995 and their seasonal interannual variations are being estimated by this approach. How the atmospheric general circulation and weather systems control precipitation and accumulation over Greenland is also being studied. The mean precipitation for 11 years, from 1985 to 1995, shows maximum values of more than 100 cm/yr along the southeastern coast and the southwestern edge of Greenland, with a secondary band of relatively high precipitation along the western coast. A large area of very low precipitation (less than 20 cm/yr) dominates the northern interior region. Retrieved precipitation amounts for 1985–1995 are being compared with published accumulation maps, as well as the accumulation rates from recent ice cores. Preliminary analysis shows an

67 average difference of 10% for these comparisons. using this approach is primarily determined by the The accumulation/precipitation data sets are com- accuracy of the assumed snow accumulation rates. pared by deriving the spatial distribution of their Consequently 1998 plans for PARCA include a differences. The total annual accumulation over continued program of shallow coring to further the entire ice sheet and its major regions is also improve our estimates of snow accumulation and computed from the different data sets. The annual its temporal variability over the entire ice sheet. accumulation computed by the dynamic method for the 1985–1995 period is lower than the observed data over a significant part of the ice Localized Ice Thickness Changes sheet. This difference may be real, in that most The objective of this project is to determine of the ice core observations were acquired before local rates of ice thickness change at various sites this period, and a decline in precipitation amounts in Greenland. The results will be used to identify over Greenland for the last three decades has been regions of the ice sheet where large changes are inferred from a variety of atmospheric methods. occurring, the causes of which can be investigated in future studies. The results will also be helpful Ice Sheet Mass Balance for interpreting elevation changes detected by repeat airborne and satellite altimetry. Ice velocity has been measured at approximately Precise measurements of vertical velocity are 30-km intervals, mainly along the 2000-m contour compared with the accumulation rate at the same line, around the entire ice sheet. Repeated GPS location; if the two quantities differ, the ice sheet data were collected at these sites, with more than must be either thickening (when accumulation 400 individual site occupations at about 180 sta- exceeds downward velocity) or thinning (when the tions. The sites were established by planting an reverse is the case). Vertical velocity is obtained aluminum pole vertically in the ice, with a flagged from repeated GPS surveys of markers anchored at bamboo pole planted nearby to make the site several depths in the firn or ice. By placing the easier to find for the next occupation. Spacing markers at depth, vertical motion due to variations between sites was usually 30 km, with some areas in snowfall and firn compaction is avoided. In most of denser spacing on the western slope of the ice cases, markers are placed in hot-point-drilled holes, sheet and an area with 40-km spacing in the north- at depths ranging from 5 to 25 m. If markers can west. Prior to 1995 the sites were visited by snow- be anchored in solid ice, then the correction for mobile traverse, but from 1995 the work was done firn compaction does not need to be made. At using a ski-equipped Twin Otter aircraft. two sites, NASA-U and Humboldt, markers were Ice thickness was also measured along the vel- installed in ice at the base of 150-m-deep holes ocity traverse using the CORDS airborne low- from which other PARCA investigators have frequency radar. These two sets of measurements recovered cores. have been used to estimate the total volume of ice Twelve sites have been installed on the Green- discharged across the traverse, and to compare this land ice sheet, and as of 1997, five sites have been with total snow accumulation within the ice sheet studied in detail. Thickness changes range from catchment area inland from the velocity traverse, +13 cm/yr (thickening) to –54 cm/yr (thinning). to infer the mass balance, or rate of thickening/ thinning of the ice sheet. Initial results indicate that, taken as a whole, this interior portion of the Ice Velocity and Discharge Flux ice sheet is almost in balance but with localized from Interferometric Synthetic regions thickening or thinning by 10 cm or more Aperture Radar per year. This analysis is complete for most of the tra- The objectives of this research are to measure verse, with a major gap in the southwestern quad- the ice discharge of the Greenland ice sheet as rant of the ice sheet, where ice thickness has yet to close as possible to the grounding line or calving be successfully measured. Deep ice in this region front of outlet glaciers and to compare the results is warmer than elsewhere, severely reducing the with mass accumulation and surface ablation in radar penetration. Nevertheless, planned improve- the interior to estimate the mass balance of the ice ments to the CORDS depth sounder should resolve sheet. this problem during the 1998 field season. The approach involves using multiple-pass The accuracy of the estimated mass balance ERS radar interferometry data to measure the vel-

68 ocity, topography and grounding zones of the out- utary entering from the south. Downstream, the let glaciers, in combination with surface topog- flow changes character and seems to deviate from raphy derived from satellite altimetry. At the what would be expected from simple balance flux grounding line, ice thickness is derived from the estimates. This may be due to problems with the glacier surface elevation, assuming that the ice is data used for estimating the balance, or it may be in hydrostatic equilibrium. Where no grounding reflecting a variability in the system related to the line is present, ice thickness must be measured by surging behavior of Storstrommen Glacier. other means, such as using ice sounding radar. In addition to the ice flow information, newly Mass accumulation is obtained from published acquired radio-echo sounding profiles and altime- data, and surface ablation is calculated using a try data are helping to define the character of this degree-day model. large feature. Multiple-azimuth photoclinometry Interferometric SAR observations of the Green- using AVHRR data is also improving our under- land ice sheet gathered by the European Space standing of the surface topography that is pro- Agency’s Earth Remote Sensing (ERS-1 and 2) duced by the rapid ice motion. Initial results from satellites were used to map the grounding line and this work show that the margins of the stream are ice velocity of northern Greenland glaciers. Com- topographic troughs and that the undulation field bined with an existing digital elevation model of on the stream is strong enough to produce closed north Greenland, limited radar echo sounding data basins in several areas. and prior data on mass accumulation, the interferometric results were used to measure the grounding line ice discharge of 22 glaciers and to compare Greenland Ice Surface Elevation these estimated fluxes with the total mass accu- Changes from Satellite Radar mulation in the interior, corrected for losses by Altimetry surface ablation calculated from a degree-day model. The results suggest that basal melting is a Estimates of the overall mass balance and sea- major form of mass loss to the ocean from the sonal and interannual variations in the surface northern sector of the Greenland ice sheet. Basal mass balance are obtainable from time series of melt rates inferred assuming steady state condi- ice surface elevations measured by satellite altime- tions are ten times those recorded on Antarctic ice try. Although satellite radar altimetry has signifi- shelves. The mass balance analysis, recently com- cant limitations in coverage and accuracy over plemented with new glacier additions, continues to sloping surfaces, information on ice sheet surface indicate that the northern sector of the ice sheet elevation changes has been derived for central may be slowly thinning at present. It has also been parts of the Greenland ice sheet. found that the grounding line of Petermann Gla- One group of investigators re-examined eleva- cier retreated by several hundred meters between tion change estimates for the Greenland ice sheet 1992 and 1996, consistent with the suggested thin- by incorporating a global method for analyzing ning trend of north Greenland glaciers. altimeter orbit error present in the ice sheet data A similar approach, combining ERS interfer- sets. Because the predominant radial orbit error is ometry data from 1995–1996 and ice sounding a long-wavelength signal concentrated at the cir- radar measurements to be collected in 1998, is cular frequency of the orbital period, they used a being used to characterize the ice discharge of the global analysis of ocean altimeter data sets. For entire coast of East Greenland. the Geosat-Exact Repeat Mission (ERM: 1987– 1988) and Seasat (1978) mission, crossover data sets were created with respect to a reference Ice Flow in the Northeast (mean) ocean surface. The radial orbit error was Greenland Ice Stream identified by passing the sea-height crossover residuals through a stochastic filter designed to SAR interferometry controlled by GPS field estimate the time-varying amplitudes of the sinu- surveys is providing us with a detailed picture of soidal orbit error function and the measurement ice flow in the major ice stream draining much of system bias that may be present in inter-satellite the northeast Greenland ice sheet, which was first comparisons. detected in SAR imagery. The flow patterns in the The resulting orbit error corrections were onset area are more complicated than had previ- applied to the Seasat and Geosat-ERM Greenland ously been reported, with an apparent second trib- data sets, and the elevation change was analyzed

69 by dividing the average change in elevation by the of the mass balance. Seasonal variations in the sur- average time interval using all crossovers. A spa- face elevation are also observed, ranging from a tial analysis reveals large geographic variations in 14-cm peak-to-peak amplitude cycle with a mini- elevation change from –15 to +18 cm/yr. After iso- mum in July at elevations of 2200–3300 m to static adjustment, a spatial average of 32,283 ERM about 2 m with a minimum in late September in × Seasat crossovers yields a growth rate of 1.7 ± the upper ablation zone. 0.5 cm/yr from 1978 to 1988. This growth rate is Preliminary analysis of ERS-1 radar altimetry less than 10% of that calculated in earlier analy- data (1992–1996) above 76°N suggests a thinning ses, primarily because of improvement in our of 11 cm/yr above 2700-m elevations on the north- knowledge of the satellite orbits. Given the large east part of the ice sheet and a thickening at lower spatial variations in elevation change, this aver- elevations with a 10-cm/yr maximum at 1200- to aged growth rate is too small to determine whether 1700-m elevations. On the northwest part of the or not the Greenland ice sheet is undergoing a ice sheet, the data suggest a thinning of 20 cm/yr long-term change due to a warmer polar climate. above 2200 m and a thickening at lower eleva- Elevation changes obtained between Seasat tions, with a 24-cm/yr maximum at 1200- to 1700- (1978) and Geosat (1985–1989) are affected by m elevations. These results from ERS-1 data are the short three-month period of Seasat and interan- very preliminary and are not confirmed by other nual variations in the seasonal cycle, and in a sep- PARCA investigations. arate analysis, the ice thickening rate derived from The analysis of radar altimetry data to measure four years of Geosat data (1985 to 1989) for the changes in elevation is fraught with problems. area south of 72°N was found to be about 7 cm/yr. Beginning in 2001, NASA’s Geoscience Laser Seasonal variations in elevation, caused by varia- Altimeter System (GLAS) will significantly tions in snowfall, firn compaction and melting, are improve the range accuracy, orbit accuracy and also observed. A consistent set of improved satel- spatial coverage for measurements of seasonal and lite orbits and altimeter corrections have been used long-term changes of ice sheet elevations. in this analysis. Ice thickening is observed in the southern portion of the ice sheet by about 10–20% Greenland Network of Drilling a 10-meter hole with Automatic Weather Stations a hand auger to insert a thermistor chain for snow The Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net) was and ice temperature initiated in 1995 with the goal of monitoring cli- recordings. This is done at each automatic weather matological and glaciological parameters at vari- station of the Greenland ous locations on the ice sheet. Stations have been Climatic Network (GC-Net). added each year, so that the present network includes 14 stations and monitors 350 parameters. So far the GC-NET database contains more than 14 station-years of measurements that have been quality controlled and calibrated. The tasks of calibration and quality control have been updated for the majority of GC-Net stations. Documentation of the data sets and the description quality control methods have been generated. Satellite-transmitted data are currently being used to extend the GC-NET record to the present. The quality control task is complicated by the fact that up to 20% of the data are not transmitted. This set of procedures was developed to optimize the data record using interpolation techniques. Once a station is revisited, continuous data can be retrieved to replace the transmitted data. Quality control procedures are applied to all AWS data sets. An interesting cross correlation was found

70 between wind speed and surface temperature, with from microwave data is based on the increase in a coefficient of better than 0.5. The wind speed microwave emissivity as liquid water is introduced increase does precede the temperature increase into a previously dry snowpack. A simple radiative by approximately 6–10 hours. This relation was transfer model is used to estimate the SMMR and observed mainly during winter and has important SSM/I 37-GHz, horizontal-polarization brightness implications for microwave satellite remote sens- temperatures associated with melting snow and ing and for the interpretation of shallow ice cores. ice. The modeled brightness temperatures are used Because of the warmer air and the wind-pumping as thresholds. If the observed brightness tempera- effect of strong wind, the snow cover temperature ture exceeds the modeled brightness temperature, increases near the surface. If the temperature gra- melt is said to have occurred that day. dient is sufficiently large, depth hoar layers form Time series of brightness temperatures have in the middle of winter. been extracted from the Pathfinder SMMR data at A mean monthly lapse rate was derived along 100-m elevation increments from 900- to 2700-m the Jakobshavn–Summit profile of 0.6–0.7°C per elevations near long-term climate monitoring sta- 100 m for spring and summer and 0.8–1.0°C per tions at Qamanarssup sermia (64°N) and Patiksoq 100 m for fall and winter. The katabatic wind (70°N) in western Greenland. Microwave-derived along the same profile showed an increase in annual melt duration (in days) was compared to directional constancy towards the coast. The inter- the melt duration estimated from mean monthly annual variability of snow accumulation at various surface temperature data for the Qamanarssup ser- GC-Net sites, as well as the radiative and turbulent mia and Patiksoq transects. The same time period energy exchange, has been studied in detail. was used to calculate average annual melt dura- Multiple snow precipitation events were identi- tions from the surface temperature data. Mean fied using AWS data. Typical accumulation events monthly temperatures from long-term climate are characterized by higher than normal tempera- monitoring stations, augmented by coastal weather tures, wind speeds increasing with the approach of stations, are used to calculate the number of days a storm and then diminishing as soon as snowfall with melt. The number of days with temperatures begins, an increase in downwelling long-wave greater than 0°C, based on an assumed normal radiation flux, an increase in boundary layer sta- temperature distribution, is calculated for each bility as reflected by positive Richardson numbers, month and then summed to arrive at the annual an increased surface albedo, and decreasing pres- melt duration. Along the Patiksoq transect there is sure. Humidity was observed to approach satura- no more than a three-day difference in annual melt tion during snow events yet was preceded by a duration at any elevation between the satellite and short dry phase just before snowfall began, indi- surface temperature estimates of melt duration. A cating the invasion of a different air mass. For the snow and ice melt model is used to account for dif- Humboldt AWS, the wind direction during snow ferent degree-day factors for snow and ice surfaces events is westerly, indicating that Baffin Bay is an and to account for the formation of superimposed important moisture source region. At TUNU-N, ice. Mass balance calculations give an overall snow events are associated with winds from the average annual accumulation of approximately north and east. 530 km3/yr and a mean annual ablation rate of 230 km3/yr. The ablation rate shows a large range during 1988–1996 from 100 to 500 km3/yr, but most Estimates of Ablation Rates on the years experienced 200–300 km3/yr. Approximate- Greenland Ice Sheet from Passive ly 13% of the ice sheet experiences net ablation, Microwave Observations but this varies from 8% (1992) to 23% (1995).

The primary objective of this project is to estimate the ablation rate of the Greenland ice sheet Absolute Gravity and using SMMR (scanning multichannel microwave GPS Measurements in Greenland radiometer) and SSM/I (special sensor for microwave/imaging) data. Passive microwave satellite Ongoing changes in the distribution and vol- sensors have been used to map the spatial extent ume of ice in Greenland could cause vertical crust- and frequency of snowpack melting on the ice al motion of up to several millimeters per year or sheet; a continuous time series is available since more around the edges of the ice sheet. By meas- October 1978. The derivation of melt frequencies uring this motion, it should be possible to learn

71 about those changes in ice. However, the visco- campaign included a total of 30 ER-2 flights and elastic response of the earth to past changes in ice three balloon flights during three deployment peri- loading could cause vertical motion rates that are ods in 1997: 17 April to 15 May, 24 June to 13 of the same order. These viscoelastic effects must July, and 3 September to 27 September. These be known before crustal motion observations can measurements, along with computer models of the be used to help constrain the mass balance of the atmosphere, meteorological data and satellite data, ice caps. Theoretical arguments suggest that this are being used to understand the seasonal behavior can be done by combining vertical motion meas- of Arctic stratospheric ozone as it changes from urements with simultaneous observations of time very high concentrations in spring down to very variation in gravity. low concentrations in autumn due to chemistry Multi-year simultaneous measurements of and transport at high latitudes. This behavior has absolute gravity and GPS crustal motion are being been attributed to an increased role of NOx cata- made at two bedrock sites at the edge of the Green- lytic cycles for ozone destruction during periods land ice sheet: Kangerlussuaq and Kulusuk. Con- of prolonged solar illumination, such as occur at tinuous GPS measurements have been made at high latitudes during summer. Thus, the detail with Kangerlussuaq since July 1995, and three two- which current photochemical models can describe week occupations with an absolute gavimeter have this large natural signature in ozone serves as an also been carried out. GPS results indicate that the indication of how well the role of increased strato- crust is subsiding at a secular rate of about 6–8 spheric NOx from anthropogenic sources, a possi- mm/yr. The absolute gravity measurements are ble consequence of future supersonic transport, consistent with the GPS measurements. These pre- can be quantified. liminary results suggest that the ice sheet may be Measurements of the distribution of total ozone thickening at the rate of a few tens of centimeters over the Arctic are measured with the Total Ozone per year averaged over a few hundred kilometers Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) series of instru- from Kangerlussuaq; however, a longer data span ments. Two TOMS instruments have provided data is required to support this interpretation. in the last two years. One, launched aboard NASA’s Earth Probe (EP) satellite in July 1996, has been operated routinely since launch. Another, Atmospheric Chemistry and Ozone aboard the Japanese ADEOS satellite, operated from shortly after its launch in August 1996 until NASA supports a number of tasks related to the failure of the ADEOS satellite in June 1997. measuring and understanding chemical and dy- Although they were launched into different orbits, namic processes in the Arctic atmosphere from the which affected their spatial coverage in the tropics upper troposphere through the stratosphere and and midlatitudes, both satellites have provided full lower mesosphere. Such studies include the mea- daily coverage of the sunlit Earth at high latitudes surements and subsequent data analysis using (poleward of approximately 50°). space-, aircraft-, balloon- and ground-based instru- The TOMS observations have proved useful in ments. These activities are accomplished through showing unusual ozone distributions over the Arc- NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Program tic in the winter of 1997. In particular, there was a (UARP) and Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling region of large ozone depletion over the Arctic and Analysis Program (ACMAP), as well as a that winter, prompted largely by the presence of number of space flight missions. A particular focus low temperatures throughout much of that winter of the work supported by these programs is on the and a lack of wave activity that allowed for a sta- seasonal, annual and long-term changes in Arctic ble polar vortex to last well into March. At that stratospheric ozone and the atmospheric constitu- time of spring, there is enough sunlight for photo- ents and processes that affect this change. chemical ozone-depleting processes, such as those The 1997 Photochemistry of Ozone Loss in the that take place over the Antarctic during Septem- Arctic Region in Summer (POLARIS) aircraft ber, to occur over the Arctic. The lowest ozone campaign primarily used the NASA ER-2 and bal- column amounts seen over the Arctic in the winter loon platforms based in Fairbanks, Alaska, to mea- of 1997 were as much as 40% below comparable sure selected species within the reactive nitrogen amounts seen early in the TOMS record (1979– (NOy), halogen (Cly) and hydrogen (HOx) fami- 1980), when the Nimbus 7 satellite provided lies, aerosols and other long-lived species in the TOMS data. The region of ozone depletion was lower and middle stratosphere. The POLARIS centered over the pole for most of its existence,

72 which lasted until the breakdown of the polar vor- ments are those of the microwave limb sounder tex in the stratosphere. In 1997 this did not occur (MLS) instrument, which measures O3 and ClO. until April. MLS measurements have been very useful in point- The lowest ozone column amount seen in the ing out the abundance of high levels of ClO in the Arctic in 1997—219 Dobson Units (DU, 1 DU = 1 Arctic. Record high ClO and low ozone values milli atm cm, or corresponding to 2.67 × 1016 were recorded at high northern latitudes in 1997. molecules cm–2)—are still much above the corre- Because of slightly higher temperatures and less sponding amounts seen over the Antarctic in Sep- persistent confinement, Arctic ozone losses have tember/October, and the region of low ozone seen not been as severe as in the Antarctic. Interannual in the Arctic is appreciably smaller (roughly three- variability in the dynamical conditions of the Arc- fold) than that seen in the Antarctic (which has tic vortex is in general greater than in the Antarctic, lower ozone amounts). Demonstration that this and ozone distributions in the winter and spring ozone depletion takes place in the lower strato- will therefore have much greater interannual vari- sphere was provided by data from the Upper ation than in the Antarctic. A slight cooling of the Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), as well as stratosphere due to increasing concentrations of from balloon-borne ozonesondes and ground-based radiatively active gases has the potential to exa- lidars. The lowest ozone values observed in 1996 cerbate ozone depletion in the Arctic through the (for which TOMS data were not available, but formation of increased amounts of polar strato- which were obtained using the solar backscatter spheric clouds. ultraviolet instrument aboard NOAA’s NOAA-9 Ground-based Fourier transform spectrometer operational meteorological satellite) were also (FTS) measurements at Sondre Stromfjord, appreciably lower than in prior years, but not Greenland, (67.02°N, 50.72°W) had been made nearly so low as in the winter of 1997 (maximum by researchers from the National Center for Atmo- depletion some 24%, rather than 40% as in the lat- spheric Research from October 1994 to April 1995. ter year, and centered in the region northeast of A new instrument (Bomem 120-M) was installed in Greenland rather than over the pole as in 1997). the summer of 1997 at Thule, Greenland, (76.53°N, Ozone levels in the Arctic winter in 1998 were not 68.74°W) and has begun obtaining data. Con- nearly so low as in 1997 because of the very dif- ducted under UARP support, these measurements ferent meteorological conditions those two years. are a component of the international Network for Evidence for downward descent in the winter- Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC) and time northern hemisphere polar vortex has been have yielded column abundances for HCl, HF, O3, obtained from analysis of spaceborne data, espe- HNO3 and N2O. The results have been compared cially that from the Atmospheric Laboratory for with similar observations made during the Second Applications and Science (ATLAS) and UARS. For European Stratospheric Arctic and Mid-latitude example, analysis of data obtained during the sec- Experiment (SESAME) and have been presented in ond ATLAS flight (April 8–16, 1993) showed that a special issue of the Journal of Atmospheric in the winter of 1992-93, average descent rates Chemistry. Another recent NDSC Arctic activity ranged from 0.8 km/month at 20 km to 3.2 km/ was the ozone and aerosol lidar intercomparison month at 40 km. These descent rates are compara- held in Ny Ålesund, Spitsbergen, (78.92°N, ble to those observed over the Antarctic during the 11.93°E) during the winter of 1997-98. third ATLAS mission (November 1994), but the NASA’s UARP and ACMAP continue to sup- overall descent distance in the Arctic is smaller be- port measurements and multidimensional models cause the vortex does not persist as long there. In for atmospheric chemistry and transport needed the ATLAS-2 observations, a clear distinction to study the global atmosphere. The mission could be seen in the distribution of long-lived trac- results presented above underscore the necessity to ers inside and outside the vortex in the middle and include the full range of dynamical, radiative and lower stratosphere. chemical processes in models that are used to pre- Measurements of trace chemical species in the dict future ozone losses given prescribed scenarios Arctic stratosphere are made regularly using the for emission of CFCs, their substitutes and other UARS. A particularly important set of measure- chlorine- and bromine-containing compounds.

73 Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA performs research in the high-latitude regions of the planet in connection with its environmental assessment, monitoring and prediction responsibilities. Individual research programs focus on scientific questions addressing the Arctic environment and its relation to the global environment. NOAA also conducts research in support of services it performs, such as weather forecasting and fisheries management.

National Marine Fisheries Service Funding (thousands) FY 96 FY 97 National Marine Mammal Laboratory Atmospheric Trace Constituents 423 34 The Protected Resources Management Division Fisheries Assessment/Management 7,145 5,960 Marine Mammal Assessment 2,318 2,237 and the National Marine Mammal Laboratory Coastal Hazards 78 50 (NMML) of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Ocean Assessment 154 150 Service (NMFS) are responsible for the protection, Stratospheric Ozone 92 32 management and research for 22 species of marine Satellites/Data Management 749 312 mammals that occur commonly in that state, includ- Remote Sensing 449 230 Aircraft/Vessels 1,606 1,457 ing five endangered species (bowhead, fin, hump- Climate and Global Change 409 478 back, northern right and sperm whales), one threat- Arctic Ice 57 115 ened species (Steller sea lion) and one depleted spe- Weather Research 256 210 cies (northern fur seal). Protection involves the Western Arctic/Bering Sea Ecosytem 0 2,331 implementation of recovery plans for the Steller Barrow Observatory 211 Undersea Research 16 sea lion and the humpback whale, the implementa- Arctic Research Initiative 1,000 tion of the Northern Fur Seal Conservation Plan, Total 13,736 14,823 the development and implementation of a conservation plan for the harbor seal, and cooperation with The NMFS’s Alaska Regional Office (AKR) has the International Whaling Commission regarding developed a program to determine subsistence subsistence takes of bowhead whales. In 1994, Con- takes of Steller sea lions, harbor seals and beluga gress amended the Marine Mammal Protection whales. Through contracts with the Alaska Depart- Act (MMPA), adding several new sections, includ- ment of Fish and Game and the Cook Inlet Marine ing one pertaining to cooperative agreements in Mammal Council, comprehensive data on num- Alaska. The amended MMPA notes that “the Sec- bers of animals taken for subsistence, or struck retary may enter into cooperative agreements with and lost, each year from 1992 through 1996 have Alaska Native organizations to conserve marine been collected. These data are critical in determin- mammals and provide co-management of subsis- ing whether these animals should be listed as tence use by Alaska Natives.” The amendments “strategic” under the Marine Mammal Protection specifically provide NMFS with the authority to Act. For several years the AKR has supported and provide grants to Alaska Native organizations to: partially funded the Alaska Native Harbor Seal • Collect and analyze data on marine mammal Commission and is working to help establish a populations; Native commission for the management of Steller • Monitor the harvest of marine mammals for sea lions. The AKR continues to work with the subsistence use; Indigenous People’s Commission for Marine • Participate in marine mammal research; and Mammals, the Pribilof Islands Joint Management • Develop co-management structures with Board, the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee and Federal and state agencies. several other groups to further conservation of

74 marine mammals taken for subsistence. The AKR animals in rookeries and haulout sites within most of has also continued the systematic collection of tis- Alaska showed a rapid decline between the 1970s sue samples from Steller sea lions, harbor seals and 1989 and a continued decline (but at a slower and beluga whales in Alaska to determine whether rate) from 1989 to 1996. The causes for the de- contaminant levels in tissues intended for human cline have not been identified. consumption are at acceptable levels and also to In 1990, Steller sea lions were listed under the aid in stock determination. The AKR has also been Endangered Species Act as threatened throughout instrumental in spearheading efforts to try to over- their range; no evidence existed then to separate come the negative impacts of development on the the species by stock. Subsequently NMML and Pribilof Islands by working with the Coast Guard, university scientists conducted joint studies that EPA, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Alaska state have shown genetic differences supporting a sepa- agencies and the residents and governments on St. ration in the Gulf of Alaska. These genetic data, Paul and St. George Islands. Finally, the AKR has along with supporting data on the size of pups, been working with Russian and American marine movement patterns, fidelity to birth sites and pop- scientists to support additional research on local ulation trends, were judged sufficient to warrant problems and on the health of the overall Bering separation of the species into two management Sea ecosystem. units, a western stock and an eastern stock. The Some of the changes to the MMPA in 1994 sig- population of the eastern stock has remained sta- nificantly affected research on marine mammals in ble over the past 20 years, but the western stock Alaska. In addition, the general trend to downsize continues to decline, culminating in its status programs within the Federal government has erod- changing to endangered in June 1997. The eastern ed support for several long-term research projects. stock remains as threatened. For example, NMML’s bowhead research program Beluga whale research has taken place annually has been terminated. One of the primary accom- over the last five years. The primary focus of plishments of NMML scientists in recent years NMML-supported beluga whale surveys has been was the summary of the status of all stocks of in the Cook Inlet region. Here, in cooperation with marine mammals that occur in the waters off the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee, the Cook Alaska. This volume, titled Alaska Marine Mam- Inlet Marine Mammal Council, the Alaska Depart- mal Stock Assessments 1996, is available at no ment of Fish and Game and the AKR, NMML sci- cost and includes summaries for each species on entists have attempted to determine the abundance the following topics: stock definition, population of a relatively small and isolated population. size, minimum abundance, current trends in abun- Aerial surveys have indicated an abundance of dance, maximum productivity, potential biological whales, on the order of 1000 animals. Research removal levels, human-caused mortality and status. has also been directed toward catching and radio- Field research at the NMML on marine mam- tagging animals to determine movement patterns mals in waters off central and northern Alaska has and correction factors for aerial surveys. Efforts concentrated on five species in recent years: are underway to determine if the number of ani- Steller sea lions, harbor seals, northern fur seals, mals in Cook Inlet is sufficient to support recent beluga whales and gray whales. In FY 97 a survey subsistence harvests of approximately 50 animals was initiated to determine the abundance and dis- per year. tribution of cetaceans within 200 miles of the In the past 10 years, NOAA funding to support coastline. The FY 97 survey was the first of three research on ice seals has generally not been avail- planned surveys and covered southeast Alaska. able. At present, reliable estimates of abundance The breeding range of the Steller sea lion for ringed, bearded, ribbon and spotted seals are extends from the Kuril Islands and Okhotsk Sea, not available, although the current level of subsis- eastward through the Aleutian Islands and Gulf of tence use of these animals is thought to number in Alaska, and then south to central California. The the thousands annually. Therefore, the NMFS is number of sea lions throughout the range has tentatively planning to initiate surveys to deter- declined by over 66%, from about 300,000 in the mine the abundance for these species in 1998 and 1960s to 116,000 in 1989; the first range-wide sur- again in 2010. These surveys will be done in coop- vey in 1994 coordinated by the NMML indicated a eration with the Alaska Department of Fish and further decline. At present the area from southeast- Game, Native organizations, local residents and ern Alaska through Oregon is the only region where the AKR. In FY 97, NMML cooperated in year two the number of animals is not declining. Counts of of a three-year study on ringed seals. This work,

75 funded by the Minerals Management Service • Ongoing studies to determine the impact of through a grant to the Alaska Department of Fish contaminants on marine mammal health. and Game, has as its objective to ascertain the In FY 96 and 97, over 500 samples were acquired extent to which ringed seal distribution is affected or analyzed for chlorinated hydrocarbons and by industrial activities along the North Slope. A essential and nonessential elements. final report will be prepared after the final survey in The Department of Commerce’s National Insti- FY 98. Annual reports are available from ADF&G tute of Standards and Technology (NIST) serves as on request. the repository for the archived tissues and sera The Marine Mammal Health and Stranding from Arctic animals. These samples are cryogen- Response Program (MMHSRP) was established in ically frozen and stored for future analyses as 1992 to facilitate the collection and dissemination needed when new methods are developed or as of data on the health of marine mammals and new questions are asked. In FY 96 and 97, samples health trends in marine mammal populations in the were collected from 37 pinnipeds (8 species), 34 wild, to correlate these trends with available data cetaceans (2 species), 28 polar bears and 3 sea otters. on physical, chemical and biological environmental Currently the National Marine Specimen Bank con- parameters, and to coordinate effective responses to tains tissues from 124 pinnipeds, 88 cetaceans, 28 unusual marine mammal mortalities. In 1987 the polar bears and 3 sea otters. A quality assurance Minerals Management Service provided funds to component spearheaded by NIST monitors the col- NOAA to establish and conduct the Alaska Marine lection and analyses of these samples to ensure the Mammal Tissue Archival Project (AMMTAP) for consistency and accuracy of data. Two interlabora- the collection and long-term storage of tissues tory comparisons were performed during these from Alaska marine mammals. AMMTAP contin- budget years, and tissues were collected and anal- ues now in conjunction with the MMHSRP with yzed for a new beluga whale liver control material. funding provided from NMFS and DOI’s National Finally, health issues in these marine mammal Biological Service (now the Biological Resources populations are addressed through cooperation with Division of the U.S. Geological Survey). The pro- the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and the gram involves the participation and cooperation of Department of Agriculture. Tissues from these ani- Federal agencies, state organizations, international mals are being analyzed for evidence of disease agencies, universities and Native American orga- and will be stored for future analyses as needed. nizations. Samples continue to be collected to Sera from these animals have been banked for determine the levels of contaminants in Alaskan future studies of the presence of antibodies to marine mammals, to determine the health of popu- specific diseases. In addition, specific analyses lations, and to examine correlations between are being performed to monitor the presence of health and contaminant levels. In addition, the diseases of current concern. data are being used by public health organizations All of the data collected are centralized into a to examine circumpolar patterns of chlorinated database that can be accessed by researchers and hydrocarbon concentrations and the potential risk managers. The information collected will help to people who eat marine mammals as subsistence managers make risk assessment and impact deci- foods. sions regarding marine mammal populations in the MMHSRP has involved the evaluation of health Arctic. In addition, these data will contribute to our and contaminant issues through the analysis and current state of knowledge about the presence and banking of marine mammal tissues from subsis- possible effects of anthropogenic contaminants tence hunting activities. The NMFS’s Environmen- present in this fragile ecosystem. tal Conservation Division has spearheaded the analyses of these tissues for contaminants in col- Resource Assessment and laboration with the National Institute of Standards Conservation Engineering Division and Technology and other international research Marine Fisheries Assessment. NOAA’s NMFS laboratories (Department of Fisheries and Oceans, continued its long-standing commitment to assess- Canada, and Karl-Franz University, Austria). These ment studies of U.S. living marine resources tissues were analyzed for a variety of projects: (LMRs) in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and • Ongoing monitoring (Steller sea lions and Gulf of Alaska during 1996 and 1997. This effort beluga whales); includes fishery-independent resource surveys, col- • Specimen banking activities (beluga and lection of data from commercial fisheries through bowhead whales and harbor seals); and fisheries observers, collection of recreational and

76 commercial harvest statistics, and basic population bottom trawl survey of Gulf of Alaska groundfish. biology and ecological research. The scientific Winter and summer echo integration/trawl (EIT) information generated by these activities supports surveys of pollock in the Bering Sea and a winter Federal fishery conservation and management survey of pollock in Shelikof Straits in the Gulf responsibilities in the 200-mile U.S. Exclusive of Alaska were also conducted. In 1997 the AFSC Economic Zone (EEZ). triennial survey effort was directed at the Bering The Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) in Sea and Aleutian Islands, where bottom trawl Seattle continues to annually assess the stock con- surveys of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands dition for most species of marine finfish and shell- were conducted, as well as a summer EIT survey fish having commercial, recreational or ecological of pollock in the Bering Sea. Winter EIT surveys significance in western U.S. Arctic waters (the of pollock in the Bering Sea and Shelikof Straits Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska). were also conducted. These assessments provide measures of population Recruitment indices and processes that generate abundance independent of those derived from variations in abundance are studied to improve analyses of catch and landing statistics, and they prediction through the Fisheries-Oceanography also address the status and health of the marine Coordinated Investigations (FOCI). FOCI is a ecosystem as a whole. Information syntheses cooperative program between the AFSC and incorporate identification of stock units, short- NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory term prediction of abundance trends, biological (PMEL) in Seattle. To increase the accuracy and interaction of species and species groups, and gen- precision of these assessments, AFSC scientists eral ecosystem response to environmental change. conduct biological research to define recruitment When combined with data from the commercial processes, develop computer models to simulate fleet (that is, fishing effort, location, catch compo- interactions and dynamics of population change, sition, fish size/age, etc.) collected through the and conduct or collaborate in extramural studies to AFSC’s Observer Program, AFSC stock assess- improve sampling methods and survey designs. ments provide recommendations for managing the Pacific Salmon. The five species of Pacific sal- fisheries and conserving the supporting resource mon in the Alaska region are one of the Nation’s base. most valuable resources. The salmon in the vast LMR populations are sampled at sea aboard marine areas off Alaska are managed via a com- NOAA ships, chartered fishing vessels and cooper- plex mixture of domestic and international bodies, ating foreign research vessels. Significant area- treaties, regulations and agreements. Research extensive survey efforts rotate every three years objectives are to: between the eastern Bering Sea, the Aleutian • Assess interception rates of U.S. stocks in Islands and Gulf of Alaska, and the west coast of boundary fisheries associated with the Pacific the U.S. During intervening years, standardized Salmon Treaty; AFSC assessment surveys are conducted within • Assess impacts on North American stocks each region. Annual estimates of stock abundance from large releases of Asian hatchery stocks; are completed for commercially important species, • Support the Ocean Carrying Capacity such as walleye pollock, Pacific cod, sablefish, Program; and yellowfin sole and king and Tanner crabs. Dedi- • Determine the origin of salmon incidentally cated scientific cruises are also conducted to study caught in domestic groundfish fisheries. biological and physical processes that affect stock Ocean Carrying Capacity. Auke Bay Labora- assessments. tory’s Ocean Carrying Capacity Program contin- The principal survey methods include bottom ues the NMFS role in the stewardship of living trawls for demersal fish and crabs, hydroacoustic marine resources of the North Pacific. Early and midwater trawls for semipelagic fish, and research efforts focused on measuring and assess- special-purpose nets for eggs, larvae and juvenile ing the effects of various high-seas fisheries such fish and shellfish. Trawl and acoustic surveys are as the Japanese mothership salmon fishery and the used to estimate biomass and define community high-seas driftnet squid fisheries. Much of the structure; biological collections are taken to exam- expertise, biological methodology and working ine variability in growth, mortality and stock relationships developed while addressing those recruitment. In FY 96 the AFSC continued the issues is now directed towards understanding the annual bottom trawl survey effort of Bering Sea effects of environmental and biological interac- groundfish and crab and conducted the triennial tions on the productivity of the North Pacific. This

77 research program bridges the gap between ongo- as oil spill trajectory and weathering models, seis- ing coastal ecosystems studies in Prince William mic exposure analysis models, avian energetics Sound and the high-seas Carrying Capacity and models and many innovative research protocols, Climate Change study developed by the North are largely responsible for expanding our under- Pacific Marine Sciences Organization (PICES) and standing of both the physical environment and bio- North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission logical resources of coastal and offshore Alaska. (NPAFC) scientists from Canada, Japan, Russia Interpretation and synthesis of OCSEAP still con- and the U.S. For the past two years the research tinue to identify and delineate a number of envi- activities have included: ronmental and resource management issues, for • Salmonid growth studies, using scale patterns example, elevated levels of metals, notably cadmi- as an indicator of freshwater and ocean um, in sediment and biological tissues, particularly growth patterns of salmon; in reference to Pacific walruses. • Salmon energetics studies, linking basic Since 1984, NOAA’s National Status and Trends physiology and behavior with habitat condi- (NS&T) program has sampled sediment and biota tions to evaluate the effects of changes in (mussels and demersal fish) at several sites in temperature and predator/prey densities on Alaska to determine the levels and temporal trends growth, consumption and ultimately trophic of contaminants, including toxic trace elements, a interactions; variety of pesticides, petroleum hydrocarbons and • Field and laboratory studies of oceanographic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and a conditions, phytoplankton and zooplankton number of chlorinated industrial chemicals, such abundance and salmon abundance, distribu- as polychlorinated biphenyls. The sampling sites tion and stock origins; and are located in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, • Stock identification studies, which are part of Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea. Although sampling an international, multi-agency program to frequency was low, the results based on sampling develop comprehensive genetic, scale pattern, efforts during 1984–1992 have recently been com- parasite and tag recovery databases for stock piled in a report and are available electronically on identification of North Pacific salmonids. the Internet (http://seaserver.nos.noaa.gov). The Survey efforts in support of these activities have program is also in the process of establishing a ranged from inside waters of southeastern Alaska number of permanent sampling sites in the U.S. to the Aleutian Islands. Arctic. To that end, six sites in the coastal Beau- fort Sea were sampled in September 1997 in coordination with a larger study on the distribution of National Ocean Service petroleum hydrocarbons in the region under the sponsorship of the Department of the Interior. NOAA/NOS conducts environmental research More recently, since 1993 the NS&T program and monitoring, performs information synthesis, has been engaged in describing the spatial distri- and disseminates data and information products to bution and scales of contamination from radionu- support management decisions affecting coastal clides in surficial sediment and selected biota in and marine resources and environments in the the Arctic, including species that are harvested for U.S. Arctic. These activities date back to 1974 as subsistence use (anadromous fish, marine mam- part of the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental mals, seabirds and caribou). Using statistical Assessment Program (OCSEAP), which was estab- records of subsistence harvests in the North Slope lished under an interagency agreement between Borough and radionuclide activity in specific tis- NOAA and the Bureau of Land Management. The sues and whole animals, the study results demon- program was designed to plan, conduct and report strated there is a very small radiation dose from on a suite of multi-disciplinary studies responding typical consumption of caribou meat and a virtu- to the specific needs, goals and objectives of the ally negligible dose from consumption of marine Department of the Interior in its decisions on oil foods. These results were instrumental in alleviat- and gas leasing off the coast of Alaska. From 1974 ing widespread public concerns about the quality to 1992, OCSEAP produced a mammoth record of of traditional food resources in the region follow- research reports and other data products, culminating disclosure of widespread dumping of radio- ing in a 74-volume series of OCSEAP final reports active wastes in the Arctic seas by the former and a bibliography consisting of over 4000 entries. Soviet Union. In addition, separate reports have OCSEAP research and information products, such been prepared on the levels of radionuclides and

78 other contaminants in the Beaufort Sea, the Rus- es regulate the dynamics of biological production sian Far East and the eastern Bering Sea. A manu- in upper ocean ecosystems. Given appropriate real- script describing and interpreting the atomic ratio time biophysical oceanographic data from moor- of plutonium isotopes detected in Arctic sediments ings, ship and satellite observations, this model is nearing completion. predicts the larval pollock growth rate. This infor- NOAA, through ongoing cooperative efforts mation is vital to understanding the potential con- with the Environmental Protection Agency and tribution of the year class to the fishery. The NPZF the U.S. Air Force, is involved in preliminary con- model, when coupled with models treating larval tamination assessment and recommendations for mortality or juvenile growth and mortality, can pre- remedial action at several contaminated sites at the dict pollock recruitment strength, which will help Elmendorf Air Force Base, located near Anchor- NMFS manage the resource. age, Alaska. Similar cooperative efforts are also The recruitment component of BS FOCI focused envisaged during clean-up and remediation activi- on understanding the causes of the variable mortal- ties at other contaminated states in Alaska that are ity of pollock larvae in the various habitats of the included in the National Priority List. southeastern Bering Sea. The synthesis concludes NOAA/NOS staff took the lead role in synthe- that pollock spawning occurs in discrete concentra- sizing and reporting on data on petroleum hydro- tions during winter and spring in a variety of habi- carbon and PAH contamination in the Arctic. A tats, including oceanic (basin and slope) and shelf comprehensive review chapter on the subject is waters. The application of BS FOCI recruitment included in the State of the Arctic Environment studies in fishery management is in regard to the report that will soon be published under the aus- “Donut Hole” issue. This is a region in the deep pices of the international Arctic Monitoring and central Bering Sea that could be fished by foreign Assessment Program. A 188-page summary of the vessels. BS FOCI research shows that the food sup- report was published and distributed in June 1997. ply in this region is insufficient to sustain a local The staff is also organizing a special, multidisci- population. This means the adult fish in the region plinary session with international participation had to originate in U.S. and Russian waters and called “Arctic Contamination: Levels, Transport, would contribute to the spawning population on and Human and Ecological Effects” at the Joint the U.S. shelf. Based on BS FOCI and acoustic Meeting of the American Society of Limnology population estimates, fishing was curtailed in the and Oceanography and the Ecological Society of region by an international coordination group led America, scheduled to be held in St. Louis, Mis- by NMFS. souri, June 7–12, 1998. Southeast Bering Sea Carrying Capacity The Coastal Ocean Program initiated a regional Coastal Ocean Program ecosystem study in FY 96 in the Bering Sea. The objective of the Southeast Bering Sea Carrying Bering Sea Fisheries–Oceanography Capacity (SEBSCC) project is to study the southeast- Coordinated Investigations ern Bering Sea ecosystem and the role of juvenile Beginning in 1991, NOAA’s Coastal Ocean pollock in it, including the factors that affect their Program began funding the Bering Sea Fisheries– survival. Researchers will develop and test annual Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (BS indices of pre-recruit (age-1) abundance. In its first Further information on FOCI) to develop an understanding of stock struc- research cycle (FY 96–98), SEBSCC has conducted BS FOCI can be obtained by contacting NOAA Coastal ture and recruitment variation in Bering Sea wall- its first full year of studies that included modeling, Ocean Program (NCOP), eye pollock. This project was supported through monitoring, process and retrospective studies. 1315 East–West Highway, FY 97. Among the final products are a biophysical In FY 98, research will focus on contrasting the Room 15140, Silver Spring, model and a synthesis of recruitment process stud- environment of the Bering Sea shelf and slope MD, 20910; 301-713-3338; ies and stock structure. A coupled multi-species from observations made during 1996, 1997 and http://hpcc.noaa.gov/ cop/cop-home.html biophysical model, NPZF (nutrients, phytoplank- 1998 in order to understand the strong interannual or NOAA Pacific Marine ton, zooplankton, fish), was developed to investi- variability in this ecosystem. SEBSCC model simu- Environmental Laboratory, gate the production dynamics of the pelagic eco- lations will be used to compare circulation, its 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., system on the Bering Sea, especially in relation to effect on pollock survival, and upper-trophic-level Bldg. 3, Seattle, WA 98115- the early life history stages of walleye pollock. interactions in the southeastern Bering Sea for 0070; 206-526-6798; http://www.pmel.noaa. This work has led to a better understanding of how warm and cold years. The objective of SEBSCC is gov/bering and why variable physical and biological process- to provide a pollock recruitment index for incor-

79 Further information on poration into stock assessments in order to recom- satellite data streams in the analysis of mesoscale SEBSCC may be obtained by mend allowable biological catch estimates. oceanic process in Alaskan coastal waters and the contacting NOAA Coastal Bering Sea. This research is focused on advancing Ocean Program (NCOP), 1315 East–West Highway, Coastal Change Analysis Program, the methodologies to use synthetic aperture radar Room 15140, Silver Spring, Yakutat Bay Regional Study (SAR), the advanced very high resolution radio- MD 20910, 301-713-3338; Quantifying changes in the areal extent of wet- meter (AVHRR), and high-resolution ocean color http://hpcc.noaa.gov/ lands and adjacent uplands is critical for linking satellite imagery to detect and monitor oceanic cop/cop-home.html both natural phenomena and land-based human features such as fronts, eddies, internal waves, sea or NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, activities to coastal ocean productivity. The NOAA ice, oil spills and surface slicks. 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) uses Techniques and applications demonstrated by Bldg. 3, Seattle, WA 98115- satellite imagery and aerial photography to moni- this research will become available as data and 0070; 206-526-6798; http:// tor the areal extent, functional status and change in information products through the NOAA Coast- www.pmel.noaa. these critical habitats. C-CAP has developed a Watch network of regional nodes. The Alaska gov/bering standard, nationally accepted protocol for mapping CoastWatch Regional Node is located at the submerged aquatic vegetation, emergent coastal National Weather Service’s Alaska Region Office wetlands and adjacent uplands. Change detection in Anchorage. projects have been conducted in over a dozen Further information on states, including Alaska. NOAA CoastWatch C-CAP may be obtained by An analysis of change in coastal land cover COP’s support for this program ended in FY 94; contacting NOAA Coastal Ocean Program (NCOP), during the period between 1986 and 1993 was ini- this program is now part of the National Environ- 1315 East–West Highway, tiated in the Yakutat Bay region of southeast mental Satellite, Data, and Information Service Room 15140, Silver Spring, Alaska. The analysis quantifies land cover changes (NESDIS) operations. CoastWatch continues to be MD 20910; 301-713-3338; resulting from natural phenomena (such as coastal a collaborative effort with participation by NESDIS, http://hpcc.noaa.gov/ erosion, flooding, and advance and retreat of Hub- the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), cop/cop-home.html or NOAA Coastal Services bard Glacier) and anthropogenic activities (such as Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), the Center - C-CAP Program, logging and coastal development). Researchers National Weather Service (NWS) and the National 2234 South Hobson Ave., from the National Marine Fisheries Service Ocean Service (NOS). COP continues its participa- Charleston, SC 29405; (NMFS) Auke Bay Laboratory, NMFS Beaufort tion by supporting research to enhance the utility 803-974-6233; Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory of CoastWatch data products and advance the ap- or NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Auke Bay used Landsat thematic mapper imagery and the plications of remote sensing technology to coastal Laboratory, 11305 Glacier C-CAP protocol to classify land cover and detect monitoring, prediction and management. Highway, Juneau, AK 99801; change in the coastal habitat of Russell Fiord and Coastal managers, decision makers and re- 907-789-6000. Hubbard Glacier. This change detection analysis searchers require accurate and immediate informa- has been used by the Sealaska Timber Corporation tion concerning environmental processes and for guiding their logging strategies and identifying events that could affect the health and stability of salmon habitat, the U.S. Forest Service for aug- coastal resources. The NOAA CoastWatch pro- menting their wetlands survey and the City of gram supports those information needs by provid- Yakutat for guiding their stream restoration pro- ing rapid dissemination of satellite and other in- ject. Map products and the analytical comparison situ data and information for the entire coastal of imagery are available on a CD-ROM titled “C- U.S. through a network of regional nodes. Eight CAP—Changes in Land Cover in the Yakutat Bay, regional nodes have been established and distrib- Further information Alaska coastal monitoring may be Alaska Region: 1986–1993.” This product can be ute near-real-time satellite imagery and other envi- obtained by contacting ordered from the NOAA Coastal Services Center. ronmental information products to over 200 users. NOAA Coastal Ocean Pro- The Alaskan coastal region is served by the Alaska gram (NCOP), 1315 East– Coastal Remote Sensing Science, CoastWatch Node located at the National Weather West Highway, Room 15140, Alaska Coastal Monitoring Service’s Alaska Region Office in Anchorage. Silver Spring, MD 20910; 301-713-3338; The NOAA Coastal Ocean Program (COP), in http://hpcc.noaa.gov/cop/ cooperation with the National Environmental Sat- cop-home. html ellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), is Office of Oceanic and or NOAA NESDIS Office of investing in research to advance the applications Atmospheric Research Satellite Data Processing and of remote sensing technologies as tools for moni- Distribution, Federal Build- ing 4, Room 0122, 4401 Suit- toring phenomena in coastal waters and adjacent Aeronomy Laboratory land Road, Suitland, MD land. In FY 96, COP initiated a three-year program The stratospheric ozone layer protects the 20233; 301-457-5120. to investigate the applications of current and future Earth’s ecosystems from biologically harmful

80 solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Changes in the Laboratory researchers measured ozone, reactive nature of the ozone layer could alter the UV radia- nitrogen compounds and long-lived trace gases tion reaching complex ecological environments (the latter in collaboration with CMDL) with instru- such as those of the Arctic. ments that are specially designed for the ER-2 air- The abundance of stratospheric ozone is set by craft platform. Other POLARIS researchers made a balance of photochemical production and loss chemical and meteorological measurements from processes and transport of air within the strato- the ground and ballooons. The comprehensive sphere. The photochemical processes involve nat- suite of POLARIS measurements, comprising urally occurring chemicals in the stratosphere, measurements of key reactive chemical species, such as nitrogen species, and chemicals released at long-lived tracer species and meteorological vari- the Earth’s surface by human activities, such as ables, will be combined with satellite observations chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). In recent years, anthro- and computer modeling to make a quantitative pogenic emissions of CFCs have caused depletion of evaluation of the ozone changes due to chemistry the total column of ozone in several regions of the and transport and to discern the anthropogenic globe. For example, the springtime abundance of influences on the natural seasonal ozone decline. polar stratospheric ozone in Antarctica has been per- Insights from the measurements and modeling turbed because of the influence of anthropogeni- of POLARIS will greatly increase the ability to cally released chlorine in the special conditions of explain observed and future changes of ozone the Antarctic polar climate. Although the spring- abundances in the Arctic. In particular, POLARIS time Arctic ozone column has not reached the will enhance the scientific understanding of the same low values that have been observed in the effects of aviation on that region and will serve as Antarctic spring “ozone hole,” extremely cold key input to a special state-of-understanding assess- northern winters could lead to greater Arctic ozone ment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate losses. Some evidence of this was observed in the Change (IPCC) and the Montreal Protocol on the extremely cold Arctic winter of 1995-96. If current ozone layer. international control measures of the United In another research effort, AL scientists com- Nations Montreal Protocol are followed, CFCs pleted in FY 96 the final phase of a two-year series are expected to reach their peak in the stratosphere of ground-based measurements in the Arctic. in about the year 2000. Therefore, the Arctic Total-column measurements of ozone, nitrogen stratosphere will remain susceptible to the influ- dioxide, chlorine dioxide and bromine monoxide ence of elevated atmospheric abundances of an- were made at Kangerlussauq, Greenland (67°N, thropogenic chlorine for several more years. 51°W) and were aimed at increasing our under- Scientists in NOAA’s Aeronomy Laboratory standing of the seasonal, diurnal and long-term (AL) and Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics behavior of stratospheric ozone. A sustained period Laboratory (CMDL) in Boulder, Colorado, partici- of low temperatures that occurred over Kanger- pated in an international experiment to study the lussuaq during the Arctic winter of 1995-96 is seasonal loss of ozone that occurs during spring, providing researchers with a valuable opportunity summer and fall in the Arctic. The field campaigns to investigate how chlorine-mediated ozone destruc- of the Photochemistry of Ozone Loss in the Arctic tion is accelerated by the presence of polar strato- Region in Summer (POLARIS) experiment were spheric clouds and/or atmospheric aerosols. successfully concluded in September 1997 with the last of 33 flights of the NASA ER-2 high- Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory altitude research aircraft. POLARIS is a multi- Atmospheric Trace Constituents. NOAA’s Cli- agency/university effort that consisted of three mate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory deployments to Fairbanks, Alaska, in April/May, (CMDL), located in Boulder, Colorado, has oper- June/July and September 1997. The primary scien- ated a background atmospheric monitoring tific objective of the experiment was to understand observatory at Barrow, Alaska, since 1972. The the natural seasonal change of stratospheric ozone observatory is part of a larger four-observatory in the Arctic, where ozone peaks in spring and de- network with other stations at Mauna Loa, Hawaii; creases to a minimum value in late summer or American Samoa; and the South Pole. Continuous early fall. and discrete measurements of atmospheric trace The POLARIS deployments gave researchers constituents are taken to study their impact on three detailed snapshots of the seasonal behavior global climate. Moreover, these measurements of ozone photochemistry and transport. Aeronomy provide a long-term documentation of specific

81 quantities representing the background state and tober 1997. The new system provides measure- composition of the atmosphere. The Barrow station ments of additional aerosol properties with im- is a vital component of the network representing proved calibrations under tightly controlled sam- Arctic background conditions. pling conditions. The upgrade also includes an in- The program mission at Barrow, as at the other tegrated filter sampling system, which is being three NOAA/CMDL observatories, focuses on used as part of the NOAA Arctic Research Initia- research related to those atmospheric constituents tive to characterize the chemical composition of capable of forcing change in the Earth’s climate Arctic aerosols (a joint project with NOAA/PMEL through modification of the atmospheric radiative and the University of Alaska Fairbanks). These en- environment and those that may cause depletion of hancements provide much-needed data on the the global ozone layer. The mission is accom- chemical and radiative properties of atmospheric plished primarily through long-term measurements aerosols required by global climate models. The of trace atmospheric species such as carbon diox- enhanced aerosol monitoring system is function- ide, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sur- ally identical to the systems that CMDL is operat- face and stratospheric ozone, halogenated coming at regional sites at Bondville, Illinois; Lamont, pounds including CFC replacements, aerosols, and Oklahoma (DOE/ARM-sponsored); and Sable Is- solar and infrared radiation at baseline observato- land, Nova Scotia. ries and other sites spanning the globe. These Measurement of the UV Radiation Environment measurements document global changes in the key in the Arctic. Although considerable progress has atmospheric species, which are all affected by been made in predicting UV exposure for mid- mankind, and identify causes of interannual varia- latitudes, there are great limitations in predicting bility. The resulting data are used to assess climate or modeling ground-level UV in polar regions forcing and ozone depletion, to develop and test because of uncertainty in surface albedo due to predictive models, and to keep scientists, policy changing snow and ice conditions and persistent makers and the public abreast of the current state but changing cloud cover and because radiative of our chemical and radiative atmosphere. transfer models have more uncertainty at low solar A primary objective of CMDL is to determine elevations. The use of ground-based UV measure- regional-scale sources and sinks of several primary ments is, therefore, crucial for developing reliable trace species. Toward this objective a global net- algorithms for determining surface UV exposure work of flask sampling is undertaken at more than in the Arctic from satellite data. In FY 97, in col- 40 sites. The Arctic sites of this network are at Alert laboration with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Mould Bay, Canada; Cold Bay and Shemya, (UAF), CMDL used their observatory in Barrow, Alaska; Ocean Station “M”; Iceland; and Spitsber- Alaska, as a platform for establishing accurate, gen. Once per week, ambient air is collected in a reliable, portable yet inexpensive means of meas- pair of flasks for analysis of carbon dioxide and uring UV irradiance reaching the Earth’s surface nitrous oxide. The resulting data from this array of in the Arctic. Two instruments, one for broad-band measurements are analyzed, in conjunction with UV work (a Yankee UVB-1) and the other for two- and three-dimensional transport–diffusion narrow-band UV study (a Biospherical Instrument model results, for insight into the global and global field-of-view GUV-511), were mounted on regional carbon cycle. For example, a distinct the roof of the Barrow observatory in September slowdown of the global carbon dioxide growth rate 1997. Continuous 1- to 3-minute-resolution data during 1992-93 has been shown to be linked to an from 1-Hz sampling is received, which will allow abnormally strong terrestrial biospheric sink in the for good definition of variable cloud and aerosol temperate latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. influences, as well as diurnal, seasonal and annual Upgraded Aerosol Monitoring System at Bar- variations. The UAF will analyze the data to deter- row, Alaska. Monitoring of atmospheric aerosols at mine column ozone amount, UV doses and recon- NOAA’s baseline station at Barrow, Alaska, began struction of spectra. in 1974 and provides data useful for detecting changes in the sources of aerosols to the Arctic and Air Resources Laboratory for quantifying the radiative forcing of climate by During the summer of 1996 the Atmospheric aerosols. With financial support from the Depart- Turbulence and Diffusion Division (ATDD) of ment of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation NOAA’s Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) con- Measurements (ARM) program, the CMDL aerosol ducted measurement flights over the Kuparuk monitoring system was upgraded in September/Oc- basin of the Alaskan North Slope. The aircraft

82 system was equipped to determine trace gas and During the summer of 1997 the ATDD outfitted energy fluxes and meteorological parameters and and shipped a trace gas and energy flux measure- to gather video, spectral indices and air samples. ment aircraft with remote sensing instrumentation In addition to the airborne measurements, a site to the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) under the aircraft transects was instrumented to study site within the Arctic ice pack. The aircraft determine soil energy flux and temperatures for was operated by the ATDD over the pack ice dur- aircraft calibration and extrapolation to the ing mid-1998. remainder of the aircraft transects. Thirteen evacuated flasks were filled during the Environmental Technology Laboratory field study. These included flask samples repre- Using knowledge and experience learned dur- senting source and sink periods at San Diego State ing the 1992 Arctic Leads Experiment (LEADEX), University tower sites. Additional samples were NOAA’s Environmental Technology Laboratory taken within the oil field emissions plumes and (ETL) has prepared for and is currently participat- exterior to the boundary layer (within the free ing in the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic atmosphere). All flasks arrived intact at NOAA (SHEBA) field program. This interdisciplinary CMDL in Boulder, Colorado, where they were field program, primarily sponsored by the Arctic chemically and isotopically analyzed. Analyses of System Science (ARCSS) program of NSF and the the flask contents showed source/sink isotopic sig- Office of Naval Research (ONR) High Latitude natures and enhanced pollutants within the oil Program, is a 13-month deployment of instrumen- field plumes. tation to a site in the Beaufort Sea from October Aircraft operations in 1996 consisted of 15 day- 1997 to October 1998. Many agencies are partici- time and 12 nighttime transect flights over the pating, with additional field support provided by standard north–south transect, 12 daytime flights the Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Fisher- over the east–west transect and 17 daytime flights ies and Oceans. NOAA is also providing support over the new validation north–south transect. for the NOAA/ETL participation. These flights were distributed roughly evenly over The overall purpose of the SHEBA program is the study period. to collect the data necessary to document, under- Two NOAA ATDD deep soil temperature probes stand and predict the physical processes that deter- were placed in the coastal plain at the crossing mine the surface energy budget and sea ice mass point of the north–south and east–west aircraft balance in the Arctic. This will require addressing transects. These probes measured temperature the interaction between the surface energy bal- at logarithmically located depths in the soil. A ance, the atmospheric radiation and the clouds. battery-powered datalogger recorded the data. The field program is needed because there are From the probe, aircraft and wetness data were large discrepancies among global circulation used to estimate soil temperature, soil heat flux, model (GCM) predictions of present and future permafrost melting rate, soil thermal conductivity, climate in the Arctic and because there is uncer- heat capacity and apparent thermal diffusivity. As tainty concerning the role of the Arctic in climate with the fluxes the aircraft transect measurements change. The Meteorological Applications and can be used to determine the spatial variability of Assessment Division of NOAA/ETL, with support soil energy dynamics within the North Slope from the National Center for Atmospheric Research coastal plain. Atmospheric Technology Division (NCAR/ATD), Starting in October 1996 the ATDD designed is measuring the energy balance at the ice–atmo- and assisted San Diego State University with the sphere interface and the energy transports within set-up and operations of two year-round eddy- the atmospheric boundary layer so that these point correlation flux towers for continuous measure- measurements can be scaled up to be representa- ment of trace gas and energy fluxes in the Alaskan tive of GCM grid scales. Arctic. Design solutions focused on instrument The Beaufort Sea ice camp centers on a Cana- heating, insulation and ice-resistant coatings. The dian Coast Guard icebreaker, the Des Groseilliers, towers have operated continuously since Novem- which is being frozen into the Arctic pack ice and ber 1996, and the data have shown that the Arctic will drift with the ice during the year. NOAA/ETL tundra can be a significant source of carbon diox- has established one main measurement site close ide to the atmosphere during the early winter, to the ship and four remote sites within 5 km of when there exists a thawed soil layer under an the ship. These remote sites are located on differ- insulating snow cover. ent ice or surface types, so the energy balance at

83 each site will likely be different. At the main work is underway to collaborate with NASA along measurement site, measurements include broad- these lines. These advanced remote sensing tech- band short- and long-wave radiation; profiles of niques will be applied to the year-long SHEBA sensible heat, moisture and momentum fluxes; measurements to establish a baseline data set for detailed wind, temperature and humidity profiles; Arctic clouds. Data from these remote sensors will and surface precipitation. At the remote sites, one- soon be generally accessible over the Internet just level measurements of the same quantities are one day after they are collected in the Arctic. being made, with the exception of precipitation. The fluxes are being provided through several methods, including direct measurements using National Environmental Satellite, sonic anemometers, profile measurements using Data, and Information Service highly accurate temperature and relative humidity sensors, bulk methods and a spatially averaging Satellite and Data Management scintillometer. A Doppler sodar is providing NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, boundary layer wind and turbulence data. SHEBA and Information Service (NESDIS) in Suitland, collaborators will provide temperature profiles Maryland, manages the U.S. civil operational within the ice at each of these sites, providing Earth-observing satellite systems. NESDIS also has measurements of the subsurface heat flux. The the basic responsibility for collecting, archiving, measurements at the five sites will be combined to processing and disseminating environmental data; provide values useful for direct comparisons to developing analytical and descriptive products to satellite measurements and GCM model grid val- meet user needs; and providing specialized data ues. This will be a unique data set documenting analyses and interpretations. As part of this overall the air–ice energy balance throughout an entire responsibility, NESDIS maintains a variety of Arctic cycle of seasons at an array of surface stations. It environmental data sets. The data holdings of the should provide the necessary description of the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) in physical processes comprising the energy balance Boulder, Colorado, which includes the World Data throughout the Arctic seasonal cycle and the Center-A for Glaciology (Snow and Ice), are of understanding of the various feedback mechan- relevance to Arctic studies. Information on those isms associated with these energy balances. activities are provided under the National Snow and ETL is also operating a new millimeter-wave- Ice Data Center (NSIDC) below. length cloud radar as part of SHEBA. It has been Instruments carried on NOAA’s polar-orbiting joined on the ship by a new Doppler lidar with environmental satellites are a valuable source of dual-polarization capability for distinguishing Arctic environmental data. These include: water droplets from ice crystals. These remote • The TIROS operational vertical sounder sensors, developed and tested in Boulder during (TOVS), which provides vertical temperature 1997, will probe Arctic clouds, which have a and moisture atmospheric soundings for Arctic major influence on climate because of their strong weather analyses; control on the transfer of radiative energy through • The solar backscatter ultraviolet spectral the atmosphere. Clouds are the least understood radiometer, which produces total ozone but most significant atmospheric constituent in measurements and ozone profiles; processes governing radiative transfer. In spite of • The space environment monitor, which their great importance to climate change, Arctic determines the energy deposited by solar clouds are largely unmeasured because of the particles in the upper atmosphere and provides harsh Arctic environment. a solar warning system; Over the past several years, ETL has developed • The ARGOS data collection system, which col- new techniques that combine measurements from lects environmental information from in-situ multiple sensors, both active and passive, for mak- platforms such as the Arctic ice buoys; and ing quantitative measurements of radiatively • The advanced very high resolution radiometer important cloud properties such as cloud particle (AVHRR), which is used by the National Ice sizes, shapes, concentrations, ice water path/con- Center (NIC) for generating ice analyses and tent, liquid water path/content, number of cloud forecasts by interactive analysis of digital layers and their heights and thicknesses. Such data infrared and visible imagery. will prove invaluable in validating the retrieval of These satellite data sets, available since 1979, similar products from polar-orbiting satellites, and are archived by the NESDIS National Climatic Data

84 Center (NCDC) in Asheville, North Carolina, and (NCEP) into ice concentration maps using the copies can be obtained on magnetic tapes. AVHRR NASA Team ice algorithm. These maps provide and TOVS data from January 1996 to the present the NIC with a global all-weather data source that are available on-line via the NESDIS Satellite Ac- is integrated with other data to produce weekly tive Archive (SAA). Historical data are expected composite Arctic and Antarctic ice analyses. The to be added to the system in 1998, as system stor- World Data Center-A for Glaciology is responsible age capacity is increased. for archiving and distributing historical gridded NESDIS, in partnership with the U.S. Navy, SSM/I brightness temperatures and ice concentra- operates a near-real-time processing, communication products for the polar regions. Fine-resolution tions and access system for synthetic aperture (0.5 km) visible/infrared data from the DMSP Opera- radar (SAR) data from the Canadian Radarsat sat- tional Linescan System (OLS) are also used in the ellite. SAR data are high-resolution (10–100 m) ice analysis process at the NIC. These data have active microwave backscatter measurements that been delivered to NESDIS from ground stations via can be used for monitoring and studying the ocean a domestic communications satellite (DOMSAT). environment and for other applications of interest The delivery of these data was changed to an asyn- to U.S government agencies. Since February 1997 chronous transfer mode communications link from the National Ice Center (NIC) has routinely used the Air Force Global Weather Center located at Radarsat data to determine ice edge location, ice Offut Air Force Base, Nebraska, at the end of 1997. concentration, stage of development, and frequen- This transition will significantly increase the vol- cy and orientation of leads and polynyas in the ume of OLS fine data available for ice analysis at Great Lakes and frozen seas of the polar regions. the NIC. Arctic data are acquired, processed and delivered NESDIS also participates in the Search and Res- electronically in near real time (less than 6 hours) cue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) system, an to the NIC from satellite readout stations located international program using emergency position in Tromso, Norway; Gatineau, Canada; and West location instruments on polar-orbiting spacecraft Freugh, Scotland; and from the Alaska SAR Facili- to detect distress signals from emergency locator ty (ASF) located at the University of Alaska Fair- transmitters on aircraft and emergency position— banks. All U.S government organizations and/or indicating radio beacons on boats and ships. A new agencies sponsored by NOAA that have signed an experimental personal locator beacon that can be affiliated user agreement may submit operational carried by individuals is being tested in Alaska SAR data requests through NESDIS. NESDIS han- and has already been responsible for helping to dles the communications for ASF SAR data, while save over 100 lives. Emergency signals received Canadian SAR data are delivered to the NIC from from older analog beacons and transmitters by the the Canadian Ice Service (CIS) via a dedicated SARSAT satellite component are relayed to local communications link known as the North Ameri- user terminals (LUTs) in participating countries. can Ice Link (NAIL). NESDIS provides on-line Search and rescue coverage of part of the Arctic is electronic access to the SAR data for U.S. govern- provided by LUTs in Norway, Canada, the United ment agencies via the Satellite Active Archive Kingdom, Russia and Alaska. Emergency signals (SAA). from newer digital beacons and transmitters Instruments on the Defense Meteorological Sat- received by the satellites anywhere in the Arctic ellite Program (DMSP) satellites are also an im- are processed by the U.S. Mission Control Center portant source of Arctic environmental data for at the NESDIS facility in Suitland, Maryland, and NESDIS and the NIC. Passive microwave data communicated immediately to rescue units. from the special sensor microwave/imager (SSM/I) NESDIS is participating in a number of pro- are received on a near-real-time basis from the grams of solar wind observations for geomagnetic U.S. Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorological and storm warnings of interest in auroral studies and for Oceanographic Center (FNMOC) under the aegis protection of communications and electrical sys- of the Shared Processing Program (SPP). The SPP tems. In a joint program with the U.S. Air Force encourages the sharing of data between all of the (USAF), a solar X-ray imager (SXI) will be flown operational environmental data processing centers on the GOES-M satellite in the year 2000. NOAA of the U.S. government. SSM/I brightness temper- recently awarded a contract for at least two more atures, or sensor data records (SDRs), are con- SXIs to fly on the GOES N-Q series. The Advanced verted by the Ocean Modeling Branch of the Composition Explorer (ACE), a NASA research National Center for Environmental Prediction mission, was launched in August 1997 and is in

85 transit to the L1 point. NOAA will receive a subset via autodin to DoD users. Sea ice features of most of ACE data for real-time solar wind monitoring frequent interest to operational and research inter- (providing an hour’s warning of solar events) under ests include ice edge position, ice thickness, ice a cooperative program with NASA and the USAF. concentration, areas of compression or heavy defor- Operational use of the data is expected to begin in mation, and the location and orientation of open January 1998. NOAA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory water or thin-ice-covered leads and polynyas. (JPL) and the USAF have developed a mission con- Metadata, which detail the data sources integrated cept for a successor mission called Geostorm. This into routine ice analysis products, are available on satellite would use a solar sail to maintain an orbit the NIC web page. Historical (1972–1996) data of closer to the sun than ACE and thus provide more weekly ice analyses and multi-year climatologies than an hour’s warning time. The mission concept of ice extent and coverage are also available from is a candidate for the Deep Space Five mission of the NIC. the New Millennium program and if selected would Approximately 95% of all data used in produc- fly in 2003. ing ice analyses at the NIC are derived from satel- Since FY 94, NESDIS has managed the NOAA lites. The largest sources of these remotely sensed CoastWatch program. This cooperative NOAA pro- data are visible and infrared imagery from the gram has participation from NESDIS, the National TIROS very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) Marine Fisheries Service, the National Weather and the DMSP operational linescan system (OLS) Service, the National Ocean Service, and Oceanic instruments. These data are of sufficient resolution and Atmospheric Research. The goal of Coast- (1.0 and 0.6 km, respectively) to produce regional- Watch is to provide coastal managers, decision- scale maps of ice conditions and produce rough makers and researchers with timely satellite ship track route recommendations. Unfortunately imagery and other NOAA environmental data and these data suffer from the limitation that cloud information for the entire coastal U.S. through a cover imposes on ice detection. DMSP SSM/I pas- network of regional nodes. The Arctic regions of sive microwave data provide an all-weather detec- Alaska are served by the Alaska CoastWatch Node tion capability but of relatively coarse resolution located at the National Weather Service’s Alaska (25 km) for all applications except for global-scale Region Office in Anchorage. Alaska CoastWatch ice mapping. Over the past two years the NIC inte- users have access to near-real-time AVHRR, grated SAR data in ScanSAR wide mode (100-m DMSP, GOES and Radarsat data. resolution; 500-km swath width) into select operational ice analysis products. SAR imagery is the National Ice Center only high-resolution remotely sensed data source The National Ice Center (NIC) is a cooperative, that is capable of penetrating the perpetual cloud interagency organization responsible for providing cover and restricted illumination conditions charac- Arctic, Antarctic and Great Lakes ice information teristic of the polar regions. to U.S. and allied armed forces, U.S. government NIC has found SAR data to be extremely useful agencies and various segments of private industry. in classifying ice types (first-year vs. multiyear ice) Manpower and fiscal resources for the NIC are pro- and in detecting new ice and ice surface deforma- vided by the U.S. Navy, NOAA NESDIS and the tion. Ongoing SAR research to aid NIC operations U.S. Coast Guard. Real-time global, regional and includes the development of an automated knowl- tactical-scale ice guidance products are generated edge-based ice classification system, a multiyear in support of mission planning, safety of navigation ice detection algorithm, an automated ice/no ice and climate research. Routine products include sat- detection algorithm and an ice motion tracking sys- ellite-derived sea ice analyses of current ice condi- tem. The NIC established a chief scientist research tions and forecasts depicting future changes to the position mid-year in 1997 to facilitate the transition sea ice pack. All ice products are available in ana- of polar research to operations. Priorities of the new log (paper) format via a dial-up autopolling fac- science program focus on several key topics, in- simile system. Beginning in 1997 the NIC began cluding: producing routine Arctic ice products in a digital • Improved efficiency of data processing and format. Analyses are distributed in graphics inter- analysis through data fusion techniques; face format (gif) and as geographic information • Automated analysis and classification of SAR system (GIS) compatible files via the NIC World data; Wide Web page (http://www.natice.noaa.gov). Tai- • Improvements in operational ice forecasting lored support messages are also sent electronically models;

86 • SSM/I ice product improvement through NASA to operate a Distributed Active Archive algorithm optimization; and Center (DAAC) and receives funding for research • Development of new ice guidance products and data management activities from NOAA, NSF through the use of new techniques and data and other agencies. from future operational sensors. The Former Soviet Union Hydrological Snow Drifting buoys are also an important source of Surveys are a new snow data set available on-line surface meteorological data and ice drift informa- from NSIDC. The data set is based on observations tion in the Arctic. Since its inception in 1991 the made at 1345 sites throughout the former Soviet mission of the U.S. Interagency Arctic Buoy Pro- Union. These observations include snow depths gram (USIABP) has been to establish and maintain and snow water equivalent from 1966 through the a network of 40 evenly spaced meteorological end of 1990. The source of the data is the Institute buoys on the drifting Arctic ice pack. As manager of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, of the USIABP, the NIC achieves this goal through Moscow. The station coverage and the inclusion of coordinated deployments and international cooper- snow water equivalent makes this an important ation by participants in the International Arctic data set for corroborating satellite passive micro- Buoy Program (IABP). During 1996-97, nearly wave snow algorithms. 95% of all Arctic drifting meteorological buoys During 1950 to 1991 the U.S.S.R. maintained reported data in real time over the Global Tele- two, and sometimes three, drifting ice stations in communications System (GTS). Real-time buoy the Arctic Ocean. In addition to supporting scien- data are used to initialize operational weather and tific studies, these manned ice camps operated as ice forecast models. All buoy data are quality con- synoptic meteorological stations reporting posi- trolled within six months of receipt and then assem- tion, surface weather, atmospheric soundings, bled into a historical (1979–1996) database, which is solar radiation and snow conditions. NSIDC, in archived by the Polar Science Center of the Univer- collaboration with the University of Washington’s sity Washington (http://iabp.apl.washington. edu) Polar Science Center (PSC) and the Arctic and and the NSIDC. These data have been found useful Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), St. Peters- in the intialization of global circulation models burg, Russia, released a CD-ROM containing these and in climate change research. Buoy data are also observations. Rescue and organization of the data used to generate a three-hour spatially and tempo- took place at AARI and PSC; ESDIM funding con- rally interpolated data set of surface pressure and tributed to CD-ROM development at NSIDC. temperature. A recent accomplishment of the The mass balance of the world’s glaciers is an USIABP was the completion of buoy performance important topic to the global change research com- field tests conducted at the NOAA Climate Moni- munity. The Eurasian Glacier Inventory contains toring and Diagnostics Laboratory in Barrow, information for over 35,000 glaciers within the Alaska. The objective of this test was to conduct former Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of a dynamic long-term evaluation of the ability of China. Inventory parameters, accessible through a unattended buoys to accurately measure ambient web page interface, include geographic location, temperature and pressure to satisfy operational and area, length, orientation, elevation and classifica- research requirements. Of specific interest was the tion of morphological type and moraines. These ability to accurately measure surface (2 m) air data are the digital version of thousands of hand- temperature. A USIABP-designed buoy with an written records from the Institute of Geography, external thermistor performed favorably when Moscow, and the World Data Center-D for Glaci- compared to the weather station standards and dra- ology in Lanzhou, China. In FY 96 and 97, NSIDC matically better than the five buoy designs used by acquired digital inventories for New Zealand, the other IABP participants. The results (specifically, Alps and Norway. NSIDC is working with the levels of long-term error) are being used to gener- World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) in ate improved Arctic surface temperature fields. Zurich to release these data simultaneously at NSIDC and WGMS. National Snow and Ice Data Center Sea ice parameters for the period 1953 through The National Snow and Ice Data Center 1990 from the AARI are now available electroni- (NSIDC) was established by NOAA in 1982. It is cally in gridded form. The AARI data set provides operated under the auspices of NGDC through a hitherto inaccessible information on ice condition- cooperative agreement between NOAA and the ss and their spatio-temporal variations in the Eura- University of Colorado. NSIDC is funded by sian Arctic. In addition to its use for basic research

87 NSIDC’s data products, docu- on trends in ice extent and concentration, the com- Additional data sets archived or updated through mentation and publications bined AARI data set is useful for comparing with NOAA ESDIM support are Arctic and Southern can be viewed or requested estimates of ice concentration from satellite pas- Oceans sea ice, Great Lakes ice charts, Great Lakes through NSIDC’s User Ser- vices pages on the World sive microwave data. The data were provided to cooperative ice observers ice gage reports, Interna- Wide Web (WWW) using NSIDC as part of the World Meteorological Organi- tional Ice Patrol iceberg reports, U.S. Coast Guard URL http://www- zation’s Global Digital Sea Ice Data Bank (GD- Great Lakes surface ice reports, the International nsidc.colorado.edu or by SIDB), a project that supports the interests of the Arctic Buoy Program archive, sea ice melt pond calling 303-492-6199. World Climate Research Program. Other nations characteristics, Canadian snow depth, Estonia snow that have agreed to contribute data to the GDSIDB cover 1892–1990, Chinese snow depths from 1979 are Canada, Denmark, Japan, Germany, Finland to 1990, and South Cascade Glacier mass balance and Sweden. Japanese data were received by data. In addition over 100 canisters of film data of NSIDC under the program in FY 97 and are being aerial observations of sea ice from the U.S. Navy re-gridded to an easy-to-use format. Birdseye program for 1970 through 1986 were NSIDC’s project to develop cryospheric indices acquired from the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research for NOAA’s Global Climate Perspectives System and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, N.H. recognizes the need for data sets that enhance skill in detecting climate change and applying climate models. The focus for this project is snow cover University of Alaska Cooperative and sea ice extent, because of the importance to Institute for Arctic Research modelers of the positive temperature–albedo feed- The Cooperative Institute for Arctic Research back mechanism regulated by these variables. (CIFAR), a NOAA–University of Alaska Fair- Regionally complete data sets are needed to pro- banks cooperative arrangement, continued to pur- vide essential snow and ice boundary conditions sue its objectives of facilitating and managing joint and ultimately to understand how model output research projects between NOAA and universities compares with observed changes in climate. Two and promoting research among organizations and cryospheric products have been produced from programs active in the western Arctic. data acquired for the project. The first, Historical Soviet Daily Snow Depth—1874 to 1984, contains NOAA Arctic Research Initiative data from 280 stations as well as monthly clima- The NOAA Arctic Research Initiative (ARI) tologies. The original data were provided to NSIDC started in FY 97 with the overall goal to address the by NCDC via a NOAA bilateral agreement with following national Arctic policy objectives: the U.S.S.R. The second product, Northern Hemi- • Protecting the Arctic environment and conserv- sphere Weekly Snow Cover and Sea Ice Extent— ing its biological resources; 1978 to 1995, provides input for climate model • Assuring that natural resource management boundary condition and validation studies. This and economic development are environmen- product was created by mapping weekly NOAA tally sustainable; snow charts from visible band imagery and NSIDC • Strengthening institutions for international ice extent estimates from passive microwave data to cooperation; and the same grid. Quality-checking includes direct • Involving the region’s indigenous people in comparison with surface station data. The data set decisions that affect them. was released on CD-ROM in 1996. The scope of the ARI program is broad, focusing NSIDC/WDC-A is implementing a Global on two major scientific areas and five major sub- Geocryological Database that assembles priority topics: permafrost and frozen ground data sets. Under the U.S.–Russia Bilateral Agreement, Working Group 1. Natural variability of the Bering Sea/western VIII, ground temperature data have been trans- Arctic ecosystem ferred from Russian archives to the WDC-A at • The Bering Sea green belt: process and NSIDC. NOAA ESDIM support is contributing ecosystem production; to the development of a Cryosols–Active layer– • Atmosphere–ice processes that influence Permafrost System (CAPS) CD-ROM containing ecosystem variability; rescued permafrost data and bibliographic infor- • Atmospheric, cloud and boundary layer mation. The CD-ROM was released at the 7th processes; International Conference on Permafrost, in 2. Anthropogenic influences on the Bering Sea/ Yellowknife, N.W.T., June, 1998. western Arctic ecosystem

88 • Arctic haze, ozone and UV flux; Water density observations analyzed aboard ship • Contaminant sources, fate and effects on the gave the scientists a preliminary indication of the ecosystem. Bering Slope Current’s location and strength. It The number of proposals received (and funded) in flows just seaward of the shelf break transporting FY 97 were as follows: 4–7 million cubic meters per second northwest- • Green belt biology: 15 (6) ward. Modern acoustic Doppler current profiler • Air–ice–ocean interactions: 12 (2) (ADCP) and global positioning system (GPS) mea- • Atmospheric, cloud and boundary layer surements will be used to reference water-density- processes: 4 (1) based geostrophic currents and provide much more • Arctic haze, ozone and UV-B: 10 (4) accurate data on currents in this region than has • Contaminant sources, fate and effects: 15 (2). been possible in the past. Chlorophyll measure- The FY 98 program is similar in objective ments revealed heightened photosynthetic activity and scope; an Announcement of Opportunity was seaward of the shelf break. These await further released in October 1997. Research in FY 98, where analysis in conjunction with nutrient and primary possible, also embraces research needs identified in productivity observations in order to map the loca- the science planning by the Arctic Monitoring and tion of the Green Belt and its relationship to the Assessment Program (AMAP) and the International Bering Slope Current. Arctic Research Center (IARC) that fall within the NOAA mission. This includes monitoring, data col- Other Arctic Research Projects lection, exchange of data on the impacts and assess- Other research projects conducted under the aus- ment of contaminants and their pathways; increased pices of CIFAR and funded by NOAA included five UV-B radiation due to stratospheric ozone depletion; projects in fisheries oceanography, several of them and climate change effects on Arctic ecosystems. on salmon; two projects on hydrographic studies and sea ice dynamics; two projects on atmospheric Joint Bering Sea Cruise research dealing with atmospheric forcing and A major accomplishment of the ARI was a joint mesoscale modeling; four projects on environmen- cruise in the Bering Sea in partnership between tal assessment, monitoring and numerical model- NOAA and the University of Alaska Fairbanks to ing, including assessments for AMAP; and several investigate the basis for the rich productivity of the modeling projects using the Arctic Regional Super- eastern Bering Sea. An underlying cause for the computer facilities at the University of Alaska enormous populations of higher trophic level spe- Fairbanks. cies is thought to be the Green Belt lying along the outer edge of the continental shelf and over the slope, where enhanced and prolonged production Office of NOAA Corp Operations apparently occurs. Until recently, however, a map- The Office of NOAA Corps Operations (ONCO) ping of water properties, currents, nutrients and supported Arctic research during the past two fiscal primary production had never been undertaken. years primarily through the operations of the NOAA Even the nature of the current over the slope, ship Miller Freeman and secondarily through con- known as the Bering Slope Current, has not been tinuing aircraft operational and research projects. well described or understood. Yet, it is this feature ONCO’s fisheries and oceanographic research that is the source of nutrients for primary produc- vessel Miller Freeman is a 215-ft, 1920-ton stern tion and may seed the outer shelf with pollock lar- trawler that operates a variety of biological and vae and other plankton. oceanographic sampling gear. The Freeman’s pri- From March 28 to April 13, 1997, the NOAA mary Arctic accomplishments have been as a work- ship Miller Freeman conducted a research cruise ing platform for the study of the Arctic Ocean’s liv- along the Bering Sea shelf break crossing the Green ing resources. Belt on seven oceanographic transects from the ONCO’s ships and aircraft are run by a combin- U.S.–Russia Convention Line in the north to the ation of NOAA commissioned officers and wage Aleutian Islands in the south. The 215-ft research licensed civilians. On ships the wage marine per- ship provided a safe platform for the combined sonnel include licensed engineers and other mem- physical and biological oceanographic work in a bers of the engine, stewards and deck departments. notoriously inhospitable ocean at exposed locations Aviation personnel are licensed as engineers and over 400 nautical miles from the nearest ice-free technicians by the Federal Aviation Administration. refuge in the Pribilof Islands. Administrative duties and navigation of the ships

89 and aircraft are performed by the commissioned primarily by scientific questions regarding the Arc- officers. The aircraft and ship’s complements pro- tic’s role in global climate change. Coupled ocean– vide mission support and assistance to embarked atmosphere models in the U.S. and Europe have scientists from various NOAA laboratories as well suggested that the planet’s response to increased as the research academic community. greenhouse forcing will fundamentally involve The Freeman conducted hydroacoustic surveys changes in the thermohaline circulation of the in the Arctic during the past two years, especially ocean, popularly described as the “conveyor belt.” the Bering Sea. Hydroacoustics are used by NOAA’s In the modern ocean, dense water is formed in very National Marine Fisheries Service for fisheries limited areas of the global ocean, with the Green- management. The principal objective in hydro- land/Norwegian and Labrador Seas being the pre- acoustics is to collect target strength data used in dominant Northern Hemisphere regions of deep scaling echo integration data, thereby estimating water formation. As northward-flowing surface the absolute abundance of a particular target fish water in the Atlantic cools, it releases heat (thus species. Winter–spring assessment operations were warming northern Europe) and sinks to form a deep completed during the past two years, with a specific water mass identifiable throughout the global focus on the eastern shelf and Blogoslof areas of ocean. The rate of this thermohaline circulation var- the Bering Sea. ies dramatically in models with different scenarios A special cooperative Bering Sea survey ranging of greenhouse gas forcing. These model runs are from the U.S. Bering Sea to the Russian coast was given some credence by observations from the completed with the assistance of Russia and Japan. paleoclimate record, which indicate strong thermo- The project consisted of intership calibration of the haline variability as recent as 10,000 years ago. The acoustic systems aboard the Freeman and the Japan- strongest control on the thermohaline circulation is ese research vessel Kyowa Maru and completion of the amount of fresh water coming into the North Bering Sea hydroacoustic transit lines. Scientists Atlantic from the Arctic Ocean. from Russia, China, Poland and South Korea par- The Arctic interests of the Climate and Global ticipated in various capacities aboard both vessels. Change Program have thus been driven by the NOAA’s aircraft have completed several routine desire to observe and model these hypothesized ongoing Arctic projects during the past two years. Arctic–Atlantic interactions. An array of instru- The WP3D research aircraft completed aerosol and ments to measure the flux of fresh water from the pollutant studies for NOAA’s Environmental Re- Arctic, including sea ice, has been deployed in search Laboratories. NOAA’s charting and survey air- Fram Strait since 1991, in cooperation with Euro- craft have completed endangered species assessment pean investigators. Downstream in the Greenland surveys over and near the Arctic coast of Alaska and Sea, annual measurements of salinity and transient collected survey and mapping data for the revision of tracers have provided a time series of deep water nautical and aeronautical charts of Alaska’s Arctic. formation in this region, demonstrating the response of deep convection to changes in fresh- Office of Global Programs water input. Several atmosphere–ocean–ice modeling efforts on varying scales are being used to NOAA’s Climate and Global Change Program examine the mechanisms at work in the long-term maintains a small program in the Arctic, driven variability of this component of the climate system.

90 Department of Agriculture The Department of Agriculture supports and conducts research to improve understanding, use and management of renewable resources at high latitudes. Research is directed toward solving problems in agriculture, forestry and the environment and improving technology for enhancing the economic well- being and quality of life for Alaskans.

Forest Service Funding (thousands) FY 96 FY 97 The northern boreal forest of Alaska—the Forest Service - Environment 700 700 taiga—lies in the zone of discontinuous perma- Cooperative State Res - Environment 725 725 Cooperative State Res - Food/Safety 793 793 frost. The more than 100 million acres of Alaska’s Natural Resources Conservation northern boreal forest is a heterogeneous mix of Svc S - Global Change 560 560 warm, productive sites supporting white spruce, Total 2,778 2,778 paper birch, aspen and balsam poplar stands, inter- mingled with permafrost-underlain black spruce The PNW Long-Term Ecological Research pro- stands and shrub, riparian and wetland vegetation. gram has been directed toward improving under- About one-third of Alaska’s taiga lies within the standing of biological, physical and ecological Arctic as defined by the Arctic Research and Pol- processes and components of terrestrial ecosys- icy Act; some two-thirds occupies sites that, by tems. PNW Ecosystems Processes scientists sta- virtue of elevation, slope and aspect, have climatic tioned at the Institute of Northern Forestry were conditions equivalent to those of the Arctic. actively involved in research into forest succession The USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest on highly productive forest lands (flood plains and Research Station (PNW) has been responsible for warm slopes) and on cooler, less-productive perma- boreal forest research in Alaska. This research has frost terrain. The present level of effort is chiefly been directed toward improving the understand- aimed at safeguarding the LTER work, which has ing, use and management of Alaska’s natural been ongoing for over three decades. resources, especially the northern boreal forest. Ecosystems Processes scientists will continue PNW scientists have been stationed at the Institute to play an important role in the LTER program. of Northern Forestry in Fairbanks and the Forestry This work is centered on the 5000-ha Bonanza Sciences Laboratory in Anchorage. However, bud- Creek Experimental Forest (BCEF) near Fair- get cuts in 1996 forced the closure of the lab at banks. BCEF-LTER is led by co-principal investi- Fairbanks, terminating all research save the com- gators from the Institute of Northern Forestry mitment the Forest Service is maintaining toward (INF) Cooperative Research Unit and the Univer- the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) work sity of Alaska Fairbanks. The primary areas of conducted at the Bonanza Creek LTER site [spon- research in BCEF-LTER include: sored jointly by the National Science Foundation • Patterns and controls of primary production; (NSF), the USDA Forest Service and the Universi- • Spatial and temporal distribution of popula- ty of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF)]. This is being tions; accomplished through the Institute of Northern • Patterns and controls of organic matter Forestry Cooperative Research Unit at UAF. Work accumulation; in entomology has been sharply curtailed but con- • Inorganic contributions and transport of tinues to be sponsored by State and Private For- nutrients through soils, groundwater and estry out of Anchorage, while work in silviculture, surface waters; and genetics, harvesting and sustainable development • Patterns and frequency of disturbance in has been discontinued. Alaskan ecosystems.

91 Current LTER research in BCEF addresses vegeta- and second-order streams in CPCRW has been tion succession in floodplain and uplands, herbi- monitored for more than a decade and will con- vory, and resource availability to specific vegeta- tinue to be monitored. The broad objectives of con- tion communities in relation to climate, nutrient tinuing research at CPCRW are to develop an availability and biogeochemical processes, but understanding of hydrologic, climatologic and the research program is undergoing a thorough environmental relationships in taiga ecosystems, re-examination of long-term goals to provide for to support catchment-scale experimentation on the the development of new paradigms of boreal for- effects of resource management practices on these est successional dynamics. This will be done by relationships, and to support multi-disciplinary establishing a PNW research cooperative unit at long-term environmental monitoring of the stream/ the University of Alaska Fairbanks, permitting the landscape biological and physical system. participation of 1.5 PNW scientists, and attempting Many general circulation models of climate to integrate the terrestrial research described above change indicate that regions north of 60° latitude with the aquatic work described below. may be subjected to major warming in coming dec- PNW Aquatic/Land Interactions research at the ades, producing increased permafrost thaw, altered Institute of Northern Forestry has been terminated. vegetation distribution, altered biological produc- The research has addressed landscape-scale pro- tivity, altered wildfire regime, and perhaps the cesses affecting watershed stability, streamflow release of large quantities of stored organic carbon patterns, stream quality, and stream productivity into the global carbon cycle. Soils in the taiga are and ecological relationships in Alaska’s boreal for- rich in organic carbon, much of which is stored in ests. However, research centered on the 10,400-ha permafrost. In the event that central Alaska were to Caribou–Poker Creeks Research Watershed experience 4–8°C of warming over the next cen- (CPCRW) near Fairbanks will be integrated into tury, much of the permafrost (currently at –0.5 to the LTER program shared between the University –2°C) would thaw, potentially releasing large of Alaska Fairbanks and the new INF research amounts of carbon to the atmosphere and hydro- cooperative unit. The composite BCEF/CPCRW sphere. It is unclear what continued research in this LTER site encompasses more than 150 km2 and important arena will be permitted under the present includes environmental settings varying from support. It might have been possible to construct a highly productive floodplain forests and perma- model of the effect of discontinuous permafrost on frost-free coniferous and hardwood forest stands organic carbon dynamics in streams. An ongoing on south-facing slopes, to low-productivity perma- experiment is testing the effects of elevated atmo- frost-underlain coniferous woodland on north- spheric CO2 concentration and +4°C soil tempera- facing slopes and in poorly drained cold valley tures on the carbon and nitrogen balance of a model settings. Research includes determining the effects white spruce and soil ecosystem. of permafrost on catchment hydrologic regime, Wildfire is a major determinant of boreal forest and analysis of hydrologic behavior of periglacial pattern and productivity in central Alaska. Research land forms. Included are studies of the ecological at INF is continuing into fire ecology and fire relationships of headwater streams, and the link- effects on ecosystem processes, forest succession age between landscape (catchment slopes), ripar- in relation to wildfire, and forest productivity ian zone and stream channel. Hydrogeochemical including the stability and productivity of forest monitoring of headwater streams in CPCRW pro- streams affected by fire. Pre-burn and post-burn vides the foundation for process research, which research has continued in the Yukon Flats National has already documented the influences of perma- Wildlife Refuge, on the 1988 Selawik fire in north- frost on streamflow patterns, on steam biota and west Alaska, and on the 1950 and 1985 Porcupine on sub-Arctic hydrologic phenomena including River fires, providing pioneering information on aufeis and pingos. This work, if supported by the the long-term consequences of wildfire in Alaska’s PNW research cooperative unit and the National boreal forest. Detailed study of wildfire history Science Foundation, will furnish a basis for (Project Frostfire) has been initiated at BCEF and assessing terrestrial/aquatic (watershed) ecosystem CPCRW in support of the expanding LTER program change in response to changing climate or envi- and has been funded by the Department of Energy. ronmental contamination. It is anticipated that the Prescribed burning of an experimental site will be nationwide National Atmospheric Deposition Pro- initiated in 1998, and research is expected to peak gram (NADP) in Caribou–Poker Creeks Research in that year and the following two. Watershed will continue. Water quality of first- An Ecosystem Processes scientist at the Forestry

92 Sciences Laboratory, Anchorage, has terminated areas extending from non-permafrost zones to areas research on the population dynamics of moose in of intermittent permafrost to areas of continuous the Copper River Delta—a non-Arctic biome—due permafrost. Studies are also being conducted on the to funding constraints but is continuing research on active layer in the permafrost zone. The information moose population and behavioral ecology in Denali gathered from these transects and similar ones in National Park. This work will be expanded and Canada and Russia has allowed a group to develop redirected to encompass the feedback relationship a new soil order in soil taxonomy: Gelisols. This between ungulate herbivory and successional proposal has been finalized and is ready for inclu- responses of the tundra floral associations in sion in the next additions of the Keys to Soil Taxon- Alaska’s interior. At the Copper River Delta, omy. Its implementation will greatly help in map- research had concentrated on defining the basic ping and interpreting soils in Alaska and other parts seasonal movement patterns and seasonal use pat- of the world where there is permafrost. This will terns in relation to habitat, determining seasonal allow the transfer of technology from region to foraging habits, defining sexual activity and repro- region. In the last couple of years more soil mois- duction, and determining winter habitat and possi- ture and temperature sites have been added along bilities for habitat enhancement. While the field the Haul Road at Happy Valley, Toolik Lake and work has been brought to a close, publication of the Coldfoot. Also, sites were added near Fairbanks, at analytical results is continuing for the near term. Barrow and at Atquasuk. New dataloggers have PNW Environmental Health and Protection been added to record soil moisture and temperature Research has been terminated under the anticipated data, and new sensors that work over a wider range funding for FY 97 and beyond. of conditions and hold up under extreme tempera- PNW Inventory and Economics Research scien- tures have been tested and put on line at these sites. tists at the Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Anchor- The NRCS is also actively working with the age, are responsible for the inventory and analysis National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Arctic Sys- of the boreal forests of Alaska. A state-wide cooper- tem Science (ARCSS) program on the North Slope ative soils and vegetation inventory was initiated in of Alaska, where greenhouse gas fluxes and chang- 1981 and is continuing. Satellite imagery and aerial es to carbon sequestration may be subject to poten- photography are used in classifying land cover tial changes from global climate change. This work types; analysis addresses timber, understory vegeta- has added more sensors for soil moisture and tem- tion, biomass, soils and wildlife habitat. The project perature south of Deadhorse along the Haul Road has completed inventorying nearly two thirds of the and also at Barrow. Sites were sampled in 1995, state and has produced numerous resource bulletins 1996 and 1997 at various locations related to NSF describing the resources. Additional scientific projects and other projects of UAF. These sites papers covering wildlife, biomass, forest products were sampled in conjunction with scientists from and inventory techniques have also been published. UAF. Complete characterization is being run on these samples in the laboratory in Lincoln, Nebraska. The information gathered from this sampling and others Natural Resources will help develop a much larger soil database for Conservation Service Alaska. Earlier work showed up to 30% or more carbon storage in the sensitive permafrost area than The Natural Resources Conservation Service was previously thought. The data from these and (NRCS) cooperates and coordinates with state, vil- other samplings will be used in many soil process lage, regional and Federal land owners; NRCS field models being developed. These areas in the Arctic office personnel in Alaska; and other agencies in may be either sources or sinks of carbon if there is Alaska to provide technical resource planning and global warming. Estimates of the amounts and pos- application assistance to these landowners, users sible changes cannot be made by modelers, how- and planners. Coordinated resource management ever, until the baseline information is gathered. plans, allotment management plans or interim plans NRCS soil scientists and a group of university sci- are developed. Soil maps are made of Native lands entists will be using ground-penetrating radar to see along with other private and government lands in if it can help determine the amount of carbon in the Alaska. permafrost. The NRCS has continued to work in conjunction NRCS is also working with a new NSF proposal with UAF and Agriculture Canada to measure soil to look at soil and vegetation changes from Barrow moisture and temperature along several transects in to the Seward Peninsula. Planning work is under-

93 way, and field work will start in the summer of are being made and data collected. Also, with the 1998. National Park Service, extensive work was done in The NRCS, with the University of Alaska and Denali National Park. in cooperation with the Forest Service and Park Service, has established some new sites to study soil processes in wetlands. The same parameters Cooperative State Research, that have been monitored at the sites established Education, and Extension Service several years ago will be measured (soil temperature, moisture, redox properties, depth of the water The Cooperative State Research, Education, table etc.). Wetlands are a major component of soils and Extension Service (CSREES) funds research in Alaska, and this work will help NRCS and others projects at the University of Alaska’s Agriculture better understand, identify and manage these criti- and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES). AFES cal areas. Selected sites were sampled in the sum- research projects are aimed at solving problems mer of 1996 to look at the effects of biological related to agriculture, forestry and the environ- activities. This is part of a broad NRCS project to ment. The AFES research objectives are to provide look at wetland sites from the warm south (Texas) new information for managing renewable resources to cold northern areas (Alaska). at high latitudes and to improve technology for A joint cooperative activity has been estab- enhancing economic well-being and quality of life lished between cryopedologists from the NRCS, the at high latitudes. AFES is part of the School of University of Alaska, Agriculture Canada and the Agriculture and Land Resources Management at International Permafrost Association, as well as the University of Alaska Fairbanks. This associa- many other scientists from the U.S. and Europe. A tion provides direct linkage between research and draft circumpolar map has been produced showing teaching in forestry, agriculture and natural soils in Canada, Alaska and far-eastern Russia resources. Scientists who conduct research at the Copies of the Proceedings within the limits of northern discontinuous perma- experiment station also teach, sharing their exper- of the International Meeting frost. The map is in a GIS environment at a scale of tise with both undergraduate and graduate stu- on Permafrost Affected Soils 1:10,000,000. The map units contain the classifica- dents. published in 1995 are still available and may be tions of the U.S., Russia and Canada. There will be In identifying local Alaskan research needs, obtained by writing to a supporting database that contains the polygon experiment station scientists regularly meet with John M. Kimble, NSSC- identification, percentage of each component in the land managers, foresters and farmers from NRCS-USDA, Federal Build- polygon, parent material, drainage, local surface throughout the state to discuss specific needs and ing, Room 152, MS 33, form, soil classification, texture, vegetation and soil problems. AFES researchers also work directly 100 Centennial Mall North, Lincoln, NE 68508-3866 code. Other items could include carbon and nitro- with producers through farm forums, agricultural (email [email protected]. gen contents and particle size distribution. A variety field days, greenhouse workshops, vegetable con- usda.gov). This publication of maps can be made from this information to help ferences, reindeer herder workshops and forestry contains the papers that understand and manage areas containing continu- workshops. Because of these contacts, most AFES were presented at the ous permafrost. The draft map has been presented research projects in the plant and animal sciences meeting in 1993. at meetings in the U.S. and Russia, and modifica- and resources management program were devel- tions are being made and more information added oped in cooperation with industry and state and based on comments received. There has been wide- Federal agencies. Research results are frequently spread interest in the map from many sources. It is reported in Agroborealis, a journal of AFES. also being expanded to include the soils area of In one recent project Jay McKendrick has been Greenland and parts of northern China. studying long-term tundra revegetation and con- A joint soil carbon map of North America was tinuing changes in plant communities on gravel produced by scientists in the U.S., Canada and pads in the Prudhoe Bay vicinity. The application Mexico. This map has shown where there are data of 7–8 cm (3 inches) of topsoil provided the best problems in Alaska, as the Alaskan part shows results, with significant increases in both vascular much lower carbon values than found in adjoining plant cover and moss cover on abandoned explora- areas of Canada. The map shows the large amount tion pads. Revegetation experiments that began in of carbon at the high latitudes that is at risk of min- 1972 have provided valuable information for long- eralization if there is global warming. term management decisions. Conclusions and rec- NRCS soil scientists started soil survey work in ommendations drawn from the first 10 years of the summer of 1997 on Fort Wainwright under con- study have now been reversed as more infor- tract to the Defense Department; preliminary maps mation has become available. More value and bet-

94 ter management decisions should provide a better could act as a large positive feedback to global understanding of the natural potential that tundra warming. Initial results from studies by Ping and has for accelerating the rehabilitation process. G.J. Michaelson indicate that previous estimates More detailed results can be found in the spring of carbon storage in the Arctic tundra were under- 1997 issue of Agroborealis. estimated by a factor of two. The carbon content C.L. Ping has been studying the characteristics in their samples ranged from 24 to 52%, which is of permafrost soils along a north–south transect in lower than the 58% reported for soils in the tem- the Kuparuk River Basin of Arctic Alaska. He perate region. studied the morphological, chemical and physical Such long-term studies are the result of a via- properties of the cryogenic soils and estimated the ble partnership between the Land-Grant system and carbon storage in soils of different ecosystems. the Federal government. Formula funding from Permafrost soils are significant in that they account USDA’s CSREES allows high-priority state needs to for almost 30% of the total terrestrial carbon and be met.

95 Department of Energy The Department of Energy has responsibility for providing for the long-term energy security of the United States. To carry out this responsibility, DOE’s Arctic activities support the DOE mission by expanding our understanding for predicting the consequences of continued dependence on fossil fuels, including the potential effects on global and regional greenhouse warming.

DOE’s Arctic research studies include investi- Funding (thousands) gating the role of Arctic ecosystems in the global FY 96 FY 97 flux of carbon, measuring greenhouse gases, Environmental Measurements 40 40 developing a research site on the North Slope of Nat Inst Global Env Change 186 186 Alaska for studying the influence of clouds on Carbon Balance/Tundra Ecosystem 132 132 radiation transport, and measuring radionuclides in Atmos Radiation/Planning 3,812 3,400 the Arctic atmosphere and deposition as a tool for Total 4,170 3,758 quantifying long-term migration pathways of energy-related contaminants. DOE researchers also models, but secondarily on the basis of cost and collaborate with other Federal agencies such as logistics. Three research installations known as NOAA, EPA and NASA in investigations of the Cloud and Radiation Testbeds, or CART sites, sources and levels of energy-related contaminants were selected for ARM. The site locations and cur- in the Arctic environment. rent status are as follows: • The Southern Great Plains site in Oklahoma has been operating since 1992. Atmospheric Radiation • The Tropical Western Pacific site, covering an Measurements Program area from near Indonesia to near Christmas Island, began phased operations in 1996 and The Atmospheric Radiation Measurements is planned to be fully operational by 2001. (ARM) program is part of DOE’s effort to resolve • The North Slope of Alaska adjacent to the scientific uncertainties about global climate Arctic Ocean (NSA/AAO) site became change with a specific focus on improving the per- operational in December 1997. formance of general circulation models (GCMs) The CART sites have a planned life of ten used for climate research and prediction. The years. The rationale for their long duration is that ARM program focuses on one critical feature of virtually all process-focused meteorological and the GCMs: the transport of solar and thermal radi- climatological efforts to date have been based on ation (sunlight and radiant heat) through the short-term field efforts (a few weeks to a few Earth’s atmosphere to and from the Earth’s sur- months). During these brief periods, particular face. Within this area the greatest uncertainties are meteorological phenomena of interest occur at associated with clouds: their formation, quantita- most a few times. This restricts these efforts to one tive description, behavior and optical characteris- or two case studies, which, while they produce tics as influenced by atmospheric and underlying important qualitative understanding, are limited by surface conditions. the statistics of small numbers in the accuracy and The ARM approach is to create long-term, precision with which the relevant phenomena can highly instrumented climate research sites in care- be quantitatively described. With all of its poten- fully selected locations around the world. The site tial economic and other societal impacts, global locations proposed and under development were climate change is nevertheless the result of small selected primarily on the basis of what needs to be radiative effects—a difference of a few watts per learned about clouds and radiation to improve the square meter in the energy balance out of an aver-

96 age energy flow of several hundred. To improve kilometers for characterizing the cloud field over our ability to predict climate change, the physical the central facility. The larger area surrounding the effects that must be measured and accurately mod- central facility and the auxiliary stations (the ex- eled are small. Doing this requires the statistics of tended CART site) will eventually be instrumented large numbers—many cases, not just a few. with a sparse network of automated surface weath- On the other hand, climate monitoring efforts er stations similar to those used at many small air- have been ongoing for decades. However, these ports but augmented with radiometric instrumenta- efforts focus on measuring a few important climate- tion and systems for measuring surface fluxes of For more information about related variables, not the full range needed for the water vapor and sensible heat. On the boundaries NSA/AAO, visit the web at http://www.arm.gov/docs/ process studies necessary to improve the GCMs. of the extended CART site, small versions of the sites/nsa/nsaaao.html The ARM program fills the critical gap between central facility are needed. For about 12 months, field campaigns and monitoring. the ice island in the Arctic Ocean perennial ice On July 1, 1997, the NSA/AAO CART site was pack, instrumented as part of the SHEBA project, formally dedicated in a ceremony symbolizing our will be one of the NSA/AAO boundary facilities. partnership with the local community in develop- In addition to ground-based instrumentation for ing the ARM facilities. Martha Krebs, Director of characterizing the atmosphere and the Earth’s sur- the DOE Office of Energy Research; Ben Nageak, face, it will also be necessary to make occasional Mayor of the North Slope Borough; and Max instrumented aircraft flights to measure conditions Ahgeak, President of UIC (Ukpeagvik Inupiat Cor- aloft, primarily over the central facility, and to de- poration, ARM’s engineering, construction and pend heavily on data from polar-orbiting satellites. support contractor) jointly cut the ribbons releasing Coordination with NASA, NOAA and other agen- The general point of contact a weather balloon. Barrow Technical Services (a cies regarding both the aircraft and satellite com- for the ARM program is subsidiary of the UIC) has been contracted to proponents is underway through FIRE (First ISCCP Wanda R. Ferrell, Manager, Atmospheric Radiation Meas- vide continuing liaison with the North Slope com- [International Satellite Cloud Climatology Pro- urement Program, Environ- munity. The NSA/AAO site began operation in gram] Regional Experiment) and other programs. mental Sciences Division, December 1997 as a phased deployment in con- ER-74, U.S. Department of junction with SHEBA (Surface HEat Budget of Energy, Washington, DC the Arctic Ocean), a multi-agency program led by Responses to Carbon Dioxide and 20585; 301-903-0043. the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Concomitant Climate Change Office of Naval Research (ONR). The NSA/AAO site is in close proximity to the High-latitude ecosystems (Arctic, boreal forest National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s and northern bogs) contain vast stores of carbon— (NOAA) high-latitude climate monitoring facility about 500 Gt, mostly in the soil active layer and near Barrow. This placement allows ARM to take upper permafrost. This is equivalent to about two- advantage of NOAA instrumentation already in thirds of the carbon now in the atmosphere. Arctic place and avoid unnecessary duplication. NSA/ ecosystems alone contain about 180 Gt of soil car- AAO currently includes a 130-ft meteorological bon, or 12% of the global soil carbon pool, even tower, a 40-ft-long instrument shelter and three though they make up only 6% of the total land For the North Slope of instrumentation decks, all on pilings (because of area. Alaska/Adjacent Arctic the permafrost). In addition, laboratory and office DOE-sponsored research on ecosystem Ocean CART site, the points space are also located in the former Naval Arctic responses to carbon dioxide and concomitant cli- of contact are Bernard Zak, Research Laboratory (NARL) complex a mile from mate change is designed to determine the com- North Slope of Alaska/Adja- cent Arctic Ocean CART Site the NOAA Barrow site. The site data system is also bined effects on ecosystem function of elevated Program Manager, Sandia located at NARL. levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and likely National Laboratories, A generic fully developed CART site includes changes in other environmental variables. The PO Box 5800, Albuquerque, facilities spread over a large area; an area of roughly effort includes documentation of the current net NM 87185-0755; 200 km2 is being considered for NSA/AAO. The ecosystem carbon dioxide flux, compared with 505-845-8631, and central facility will have the largest concentration values from the historic and recent geologic past Knut Stamnes, North Slope of of instrumentation, which will rely heavily on (Holocene), and development of an experimental Alaska/Adjacent Arctic upward-looking remote sensors to determine the base for predicting future fluxes. Ocean CART Onsite Scien- characteristics of the clouds, winds and atmosphere Over the past two annual cycles (both summer tist, Geophysical Institute, as a whole above the site on a continual basis. and winter fluxes), daytime carbon gain in undis- University of Alaska, Fair- banks, AK 99775-0800; Around the central facility, two to four auxiliary turbed ecosystems in the Siberian forest tundra 907-474-7368. stations are planned at a distance of one to a few zone (forest tundra, bog, wetland and shrub tun-

97 The point of contact for the dra) was balanced by a similar seasonal pattern of ated dibenzofurans, and coplanar polychlorinated Carbon Dioxide Program is nighttime CO2 efflux. Consequently the average biphenyls into lake sediments in the U.S. under the Roger Dahlman, Environ- net daily flux was relatively small throughout the EPA Dioxin Exposure Initiative. In this study, sam- mental Sciences Division, ER-74, U.S. Department of year. Disturbed sites differed from undisturbed ples obtained in the ACRP were used to investigate Energy, Washington, DC sites during summer in having greater daytime deposition in Arctic Alaska. 20585; 301-903-4951. CO2 influx (2.1–2.5 fold), greater nighttime CO2 The approach used for reconstructing the his- efflux (1.8–2.6 fold), greater average daily CO2 torical deposition of contaminants was the collec- influx (1.6–3.0 fold), and a six-week shorter sea- tion and analysis of sectioned lake sediment cores. son of positive daytime carbon gain; winter respi- Material deposited directly into a lake or washed ration was also 4.3 times greater in disturbed than in from the drainage basin becomes incorporated in undisturbed sites. Thus, the seasonal amplitude into the sediment. Refractory materials are pre- of CO2 exchange (integrated summer uptake served at greater depths in the sediment as more minus integrated winter efflux) was 2.3–3.3 times sediment continues to accumulate over time. Lake greater in disturbed than in undisturbed sites. sediments were collected from ten lakes in Alaska Regional extrapolation of these results shows that during the ACRP. Sediment cores were dated by the greater seasonal amplitude of CO2 exchange standard radiometric techniques, and the samples due to increased disturbance at high latitudes were analyzed for target contaminants, thereby accounts for most of the recent increase in ampli- developing a chronological record of contaminant tude of atmospheric CO2 observed at high-latitude deposition. Because of the slow sedimentation rate monitoring stations. This provides an alternative in the lakes studied, the temporal resolution is to Keeling’s 1996 hypothesis that this increased coarse compared to other lakes studied by this amplitude reflects increased production in method. response to high-latitude warming. Sediment cores from two lakes have been analyzed for PAH—Wonder Lake in Denali National Park and Lake Schrader in the Arctic National Organic Contaminants in the Wildlife Refuge. Two classes of PAH were found: Alaskan Arctic and Siberia parental PAH produced from combustion, and bio- genic PAH derived from natural precursors. The The DOE’s Environmental Measurements Lab- composition of parental PAH resembles those oratory has been investigating the presence and observed in other environmental samples but the chronological record of atmospherically deposited, levels were two to four orders of magnitude lower combustion-produced, potentially toxic and/or car- than those found in sediments from other lakes in cinogenic organic contaminants such as polychlor- the contiguous U.S. The concentrations of bio- inated dibenzo-p dioxins and dibenzofurans genic PAH were one to three orders of magnitude (PCDD/F), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons higher in concentration than those of combustion- (PAH) and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls produced PAH. The data do not reveal any sub- (c-PCB) in Alaska. This effort came about through stantial increase in PAH contamination to the Alas- two collaborations with the EPA. The first was kan Arctic as has been observed in other regions participation in the EPA’s Arctic Contaminants of the U.S. Research Project (ACRP). The main emphasis of PCDD/F and c-PCB were also analyzed on two the ACRP was evaluating the depositional history sediment cores. One core was from Wonder Lake on the North Slope of Alaska, an area over and the other from Chandler Lake in the Gates of 200,000 km2 bounded by the Brooks Range to the the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Deposition south and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Most of of PCDD/F and c-PCB is several orders of magni- the region is wilderness tundra with several small tude lower than values measured in other regions The point of contact for infor- villages scattered throughout. The only potentially of the U.S. Even so, it appears that the deposition mation on Organic Contami- nants in the Alaskan Arctic is significant source of these contaminants within of these contaminants has more than doubled in Matthew Monetti, Environ- this region is the oil-processing activities at Prud- the past 40 years. Detectable concentrations of mental Sciences Division, hoe Bay, Alaska. Prudhoe processing is unlikely to PCDD/F were measured in preindustrial sections U.S. Department of Energy, have an impact on the entire North Slope region. of these Alaskan cores. It is possible that some Environmental Measurements The more recent collaboration was on a study synthesis is occurring, resulting in the formation Laboratory, 201 Varick Street, NY, NY 10014; 212- of the chronology of atmospheric deposition of of PCDD/F from chemically unrelated natural pre- 620-3625. polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorin- cursors together with a chlorine donor.

98 For the Global Measure- Global Measurements of Collaborating with DOE’s Environmental Measure- ments of Radionuclides in the ments Laboratory in this research was a consortium Atmosphere and Deposition Radionuclides in the Atmosphere of several DOE laboratories (Oak Ridge National projects, the points of contact and Deposition are John Kada and Matthew Laboratory, Argonne National Labora-ory and Monetti, Environmental Sci- Pacific Northwest Laboratories) and the IsoTrace ences Division, U.S. Depart- The objective of this program is to characterize, Laboratory of the University of Toronto. ment of Energy, Environmen- quantify and model the environmental pathways, The results of measurements made by the con- tal Measurements Labora- and to evaluate the environmental and human sortium in 1994 and 1995 have led to the following tory, 201 Varick Street, NY, health impacts on regional and global scales, of NY 10014; 212-620-3524 and conclusions: 212-620-3625. natural and anthropogenic radionuclides deposited • 129I concentrations in the western Arctic on the Earth’s surface. A component of this pro- Ocean are generally 5–10 times lower than gram is the operation of a high-quality global concentrations seen in the Barents and Kara radioactivity sampling network by DOE’s Envi- Seas. Sellafield-derived 129I has been advected ronmental Measurements Laboratory, which into the Laptev Sea, and there is increasing includes stations in the Arctic and sub-Arctic evidence of its transport to the Beaufort Sea at (Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland and Nor- depths between 200 and 400 m. way). Through the global network, DOE is poised • There is evidence from sediment analyses that to react instantly to any new introduction of atmo- 237Np, in excess of that expected from global spheric radioactivity. fallout, has entered the Arctic Ocean. It is likely that the mechanism for import was via Arctic Waste Assessment Program the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. Preliminary measurements of 237Np in a small suite of seawater This Office of Naval Research (ONR) program, samples collected from the Beaufort Sea show which terminated in 1996, included research on easily measurable concentrations of this the occurrence of selected radionuclides in water, radionuclide at levels that exceed those For the DOE Collaboration sediment and biota collected from the Arctic expected from global fallout input. in ONR’s Arctic Waste Ocean Basin. These investigations were part of a • Sediments raised from the Canadian Basin Assessment Program, the larger U.S. effort to determine if radioactive waste show the presence of fuel reprocessing Pu point of contact is Thomas management practices of the former Soviet Union whose release date to the environment Beasley, U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Meas- have compromised fisheries resources in the Arc- approximates 1957, the date of the large urements Laboratory, 201 tic Ocean or have, in any way, led to radioactivity chemical explosion at the Mayak Complex, Varick Street, NY, NY 10014; levels of concern in this ecosystem. The program which released high-level radioactive waste 212-620-3636. was under the direction and sponsorship of ONR. over more than 20,000 km2.

99 Department of Health and Human Services The Department of Health and Human Services supports and conducts Arctic health research through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

Funding (thousands) Centers for Disease Control FY 96 FY 97 and Prevention National Institutes of Health 3,576 7,620 Centers for Disease Control/Prevent. 2,851 3,080 Arctic research programs of the Centers for Total 6,427 10,700 Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are conducted by the National Center for Infectious Dis- eases (NCID), the National Center for Environ- (ANMC); and the State of Alaska. To further mental Health, the National Center for Injury Con- increase the participation of American Indian and trol and Prevention, and the National Institute of Alaska Native community members in infectious Occupational Safety and Health. These programs disease prevention research, priority setting and represent an excellent example of interagency training opportunities, the first emerging infec- cooperation and collaboration with the State of tious diseases cooperative agreement program Alaska Division of Public Health, the Alaska was initiated in Alaska in 1997. Native Medical Center (ANMC), the Alaska Area The prevention and control of infectious dis- Native Health Service (AANHS) of the Indian ease uses a strategy that includes the application Health Service (IHS), local and regional Native of traditional and innovative epidemiologic and health corporations, universities and other state laboratory methods to determine the etiology of and local agencies and organizations. disease, the establishment of surveillance systems to determine diseases rates in the affected popula- National Center for tion, the identification of risk factors for disease acquisition and transmission, the evaluation of Infectious Diseases established or new intervention methods, and the The Arctic Investigations Program (AIP) implementation, promotion and long-term moni- located in Anchorage, Alaska, is one of the field toring of successful prevention and control pro- stations operated by the National Center for Infec- grams. This approach has been successfully used tious Diseases (NCID). The mission of AIP is the by AIP for the prevention and control of hepatitis prevention of infectious diseases among residents B and Haemophilus influenzae type b in the of the Arctic and sub-Arctic, with a focus on dis- Alaska Native population. This strategy serves eases of high incidence and concern among the as a model for the prevention and control of other indigenous populations of these regions and more diseases of high incidence in Alaska. As one of recently emerging and re-emerging diseases. Re- CID’s three field stations in the U.S., AIP is search on the prevention and control of infectious uniquely positioned to facilitate or augment the diseases in these remote and widely scattered pop- development of emerging infections prevention ulations with limited resources is accomplished programs, not only in Alaska but also within through the development of partnerships with Arctic populations residing in other circumpolar local communities; local regional and Native countries. Priority diseases currently targeted for health organizations; universities; other divisions, prevention by AIP in the Arctic include those programs and centers within CDC; the National caused by hepatitis A, B and C, Haemophilus Institutes of Health; the Alaska Area Native Health influenzae type b, Streptococcus pneumoniae, res- Service; the Alaska Native Medical Center piratory syncytial virus and Helicobacter pylori.

100 Hepatitis A subsequently has fallen to less than 1% in 1996-97. Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection is a major This demonstrated that community-based mass disease problem for Alaska Natives. The disease immunization can effectively reduce acute sympto- typically follows a pattern of cyclic recurrences matic hepatitis B virus infection in at least 90% of every 10–12 years. The latest statewide epidemic susceptible persons in a hyperendemic population. began in late 1986 and peaked in 1988-89. By the The hepatitis B control program in Alaska be- end of 1990 the epidemic included over 1100 doc- came the first successful program to halt the spread umented cases of disease in Alaska Natives. How- of hepatitis B in a large geographic area. Since it ever, during 1992 the incidence of disease was has greatly decreased the number of acute cases of again increasing in several areas throughout the hepatitis B, it is likely that the long-term sequelae state, and the disease peaked again in 1993, with a such as vasculitis and hepatocellular carcinoma steady decline since then. The recurrence of vil- will also decline in this population over time. The lage outbreaks depends on the presence of a young strategy used in this program has been integrated susceptible population. into control programs in other countries. The alpha The focus of AIP’s HAV Arctic research pro- fetoprotein screening program for hepatitis B carri- gram has been to understand and describe the ers is a model for hepatocellular carcinoma control population of Alaska Natives susceptible to HAV in other parts of the world, and the information infection and to test candidate HAV vaccines in the gathered on the long-term efficacy of the hepatitis population. Testing of banked serum samples from B vaccine is being used to develop policies for previous statewide serosurveys for antibody to revaccination schedules. A recent study in conjunc- HAV has enabled assessment of susceptibility to tion with other divisions of NCID and an Alaska HAV infection. In conjunction with the ANMC and Native corporation determined the prevalence of private industry, a study demonstrated the useful- hepatitis B in six villages in southwest Alaska ness of one dose of vaccine without concurrent where routine hepatitis B vaccination was imple- immune globulin in an outbreak setting. In addi- mented ten years previously. The prevalence of tion, a safety and immunogenicity study of a can- hepatitis B carriage was zero in children 2 to 10 didate hepatitis A vaccine was conducted among years of age compared to 15% of age-matched con- Alaska Native preschoolers and adults and non- trols tested in 1983. This demonstrates that similar Native adults, and the vaccine is currently under- results could be accomplished in other endemic going trials in Alaska Native infants. This study areas using childhood vaccination programs. Cur- has allowed comparisons of various vaccination rent research is focusing on long-term follow-up schedules in children, examination of potential age of infants and adults immunized with hepatitis B trends in response to vaccine in Alaska Native vaccine and responses to booster immunizations, adults, and comparisons of Native adults with non- which will allow recommendations to be devel- Native adults. A six-year follow-up of this group oped regarding revaccination schedules. will enable assessment of antibody persistence. Hepatitis C Hepatitis B Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important cause Infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. and many serious health problem in many parts of the world. other parts of the world. The prevalence of hepati- In the Alaska Native population the prevalence of tis C in the general U.S. population is between hepatitis B has been very high. In 1982 a collabo- 1 and 2%. HCV has also been associated with rative AIP, ANMC and State of Alaska Division of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Anti-HCV was Public Health statewide program was instituted to found in 65, 75 and 86% of patients with HCC, immunize all susceptible Alaska Natives. Between respectively, from Italy, Spain and Japan, areas 1982 and 1987 over 52,000 Alaska Natives were with a moderate prevalence of HCV in the general screened for hepatitis B markers, and over 43,000 population. More importantly, HCC has been susceptibles were identified and vaccinated. In the associated with end-stage cirrhosis. In the U.S., one region of Alaska where surveillance was HCV-associated cirrhosis is the number one reason established prior to the hepatitis B control pro- for liver transplant (OLT). In Alaska Natives, HCV- gram and where 90% of susceptibles were vaccin- associated cirrhosis is also the prime reason for ated, the incidence of acute symptomatic hepatitis referral for OLT. The Alaska Native Medical Cen- B cases decreased from 215 cases per 100,000 ter (ANMC) laboratory has identified over 500 per- population to 6 per 100,000 within five years and sons who are positive for anti-HCV.

101 In collaboration with the ANMC and the Uni- with increased fecal blood loss had chronic active versity of Washington Molecular Biology Labora- gastritis due to H. pylori. To determine the preva- tory, AIP is studying the natural history of HCV in lence of H. pylori in Alaska Natives, over 2000 Alaska Natives. The risk factors associated with serum samples collected in the 1980s in Alaska acquiring HCV and the factors associated with the Native communities were assessed for H. pylori progression of liver disease are being identified. IgG antibodies. Overall, 75% were positive for H. These factors relate to both the host and the infect- pylori, with rates increasing from 32% among 0- ing microorganism. The investigation of the HCV to 4-year-olds up to 86% in those 20 years or virus includes such properties as the viral geno- older. There was a marked regional variation, type and the level of virus in the blood. To enable which was most pronounced among the youngest this investigation a retrospective serum bank children (0–4 years), where rates ranged from 5% search is being performed for consenting patients. in south-central (Anchorage vicinity) to 65% in The earliest and most recent sera that are positive interior Alaska. Ferritin determinations on the for anti-HCV are sent for testing for HCV-RNA same samples supported an association between and genotype. In addition, a prospective analysis H. pylori infection and iron deficiency, especially of patients with HCV will be performed to deter- in those under 20 years of age. mine the rate of development of complications The high rates of anemia, gastritis and gastric such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. In cancer in Alaska Natives are likely related to the another study, persons with HCV who might bene- high rates of infection with H. pylori. The overall fit by currently licensed anti-viral therapy are be- impact in terms of the potential health and eco- ing identified. Currently 300 persons are enrolled. nomic costs resulting from chronic H. pylori infection in this population is still unknown, but it Helicobacter pylori could be substantial. Current research is focused Helicobacter pylori, one of the most common on establishing laboratory-based surveillance sys- infections of humans, causes chronic active gastri- tems that allow evaluation of diagnostics, monitor- tis and primary duodenal and gastric ulcers. In the ing antimicrobial resistance, determining rates of general U.S. population the seroprevalence of IgG re-infection following treatment, and determining antibodies to H. pylori is 30–40%, with the rate of the extent and clinical impact of this infection on seroconversion estimated at 0.5% per year. What the residents of Alaska. appears to be the increasing frequency of seroposi- tivity in older adults in developed countries is Streptococcus pneumoniae mostly due to the cohort effect, with the preva- Alaska Natives have experienced unprecedented lence of antibody in adults actually reflecting rates of invasive disease due to Streptococcus acquisition of disease earlier in life. In developing pneumoniae that are among the highest reported in countries and in lower socioeconomic classes, the world. In southwest Alaska, for example, the there is a higher prevalence of infection; seroprev- annual incidence of invasive pneumococcal dis- alences often approach 100%, with most persons ease from 1980 through 1986 was 108 per 100,000 in these circumstances becoming infected before persons per year, and in those over 59 years the 10 years of age. Increased transmission of infec- age-specific rate was 145 per 100,000. The highest tion occurs in these disadvantaged socioeconomic rate was in children under the age of 2 years: 1195 groups because of crowding or poor hygiene. per 100,000. This attack rate in the children under Although the actual route of transmission is 2 years is twice as high as in Alaska Native chil- unknown, oral–oral or fecal–oral transmission is dren the same age living elsewhere and 20 times suspected. The contamination of drinking water the rate for Alaska non-Natives. The incidence and may play a role. Man is the only known reservoir. mortality rates of invasive pneumococcal disease Attention focused on H. pylori in Alaska among all age groups of Alaska Natives are five Natives when it was discovered that anemia due to times higher than among Alaska non-Natives. fecal blood loss appeared to be associated with H. Pneumococcal serotypes associated with inva- pylori. High rates of iron deficiency anemia had sive disease are also reflected in the organisms been observed among Alaska Natives dating back carried by healthy individuals. This held true in a to the 1950s, despite adequate intake of nutrients 1992 survey of nasopharyngeal carriage isolates offering optimum iron nutrition. Therefore, gas- from healthy children that were representative of trointestinal blood loss was examined as a cause of the invasive strains in the region. In addition, the anemia, leading to the discovery that 99% of those proportion of invasive organisms that were resis-

102 tant to at least one drug did not differ from the conducting statewide surveillance for Hib disease nasopharyngeal isolates from asymptomatic chil- in 1980, when the rate of Hib meningitis and all dren. Twenty-nine percent of pneumococcal isolates invasive Hib disease in Alaska Native children from the nasopharynx of asymptomatic children 5 under 5 years of age was 264 per 100,000 and 601 years old were intermediate or resistant to penicillin. per 100,000, respectively, and the rate of invasive The capsular serotype 6B organism was the etiolo- disease in those under 1 year was 1,700 per gy of 22% of the invasive disease in infants under 100,000. Subsequent AIP studies have character- 24 months of age from 1982 to 1991, a substantial ized the epidemiology of Hib disease in Alaska. proportion (77%) of which had intermediate levels Although the Native population represented only of penicillin resistance compared to an expected 16% of the population, they experience 51% of all 4.7% in the U.S. population. Also, all of the invasive Hib disease in Alaska. The rate of inva- multiple-drug-resistant organisms were type 6B. sive Hib disease in Alaska Native infants in south- The case-fatality rate for Alaska Natives with western Alaska was ten times that of non-Natives invasive pneumococcal disease is relatively low in Alaska and in the rest of the U.S. Early and (8%), the same as the Alaska non-Native rate, and intense exposure to Hib increased the risk of Hib compares favorably with rates of 5–33% else- disease in the Alaska Native population, and where in the U.S. This is noteworthy considering breastfeeding offered protection. The disease was that the proportion of pneumococcal cases with more likely to occur in younger infants, with 25% pneumonia and meningitis is high in Alaska Natives of all Hib disease and 35% of meningitis occurring and that this is a remote, isolated population living before six months of age, compared to 15% and in a harsh environment with difficult travel. 17%, respectively, in Alaska non-Natives. Alaska The reason for the unprecedented rates of pneu- Native children also suffered greater neurological mococcal disease in the Alaska Native population morbidity as a result of Hib meningitis than non- is not entirely clear, but there appear to be several Native children. contributory factors, such as crowded living con- Believing that active immunization of infants ditions, poor ventilation and exposure to smoke, was the most promising way of preventing dis- which are common conditions in rural Alaska. The ease, AIP conducted immunogenicity trials of vari- emerging type 6B pneumococcus, which exhibits ous Hib vaccines among Alaska Natives beginning multiple resistance to commonly used antibiotics, in the 1970s, which yielded valuable information coupled with increased use of antibiotics, confers on the response to vaccines in this high-risk popu- extra risk to the pneumococcal infection problem. lation. In 1991, universal active Hib vaccination of There are potential opportunities for controlling infants was begun with a Hib conjugate vaccine pneumococcal disease in this population by vacci- (PRP-OMP) that AIP had shown to be superior to nation and by limiting the prescription of antibiot- other Hib conjugate vaccines. It was the only vac- ics to those of proven effectiveness. The groups at cine that induced a response after the first dose, high risk for invasive pneumococcal disease are at and it also remained the most immunogenic after both ends of the age spectrum. Alaska Natives two doses. Since the age distribution of Hib infec- over the age of 55 years are now routinely offered tions was much younger in Alaska Natives than in a 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine. the U.S. population, the AIP-generated immunoge- However, effective pneumococcal vaccines are not nicity information was especially important in licensed for the high-risk group under 2 years of helping the AANHS and the state choose an appro- age. Research is in progress on promising new priate vaccine for routine use. The incidence of conjugate pneumococcal vaccines in the Alaska invasive Hib disease in Alaska Native children Native population. Research is also underway in under 5 years, which had reached 75 per year in educating providers and consumers in the appro- the 1980s, began to decline dramatically, and by priate use of antibiotics to see if this can impact the mid-1990s, incidence had decreased to two to carriage rates of resistant pneumococcal strains. three annually. In January 1996 the statewide vaccine program Haemophilus influenzae replaced the PRP-OMP vaccine, which had been In the 1960s and 1970s Alaska Native children used for five years, with a new combination vac- had the highest endemic rates of meningitis in the cine of a Hib conjugate component (HbOC) with U.S. Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) was the DTP. Because of the dramatic drop in Hib disease, leading cause of the meningitis and of the other in- it was postulated that the decrease was partially vasive infections in these children. The AIP began attributable to a decrease in nasopharyngeal Hib

103 carriage, and Alaska could safely switch to a differ- age of hospitalization was 4.5 months, similar to ent Hib conjugate vaccine. Studies in the U.S. and the U.S. peak age of 2–5 months, but the peak for Finland showed a dramatic decrease in Hib carriage the southwestern region infants was 2 months. Six- from a prevaccine rate of 3–5% to 0% in Finland teen percent of the hospitalized children from the and 0.3% in Georgia. In the prevaccine era in southwest were less than 1 month of age, compared Alaska, Hib colonization was as high as 7% in one to less than 5% for Anchorage Alaska Native and region and fell to 2% in 1992 in the same region. U.S. infants. The more severe disease also occurred From 1992 to 1996 there were one to three invasive in younger infants. Despite the similarities of An- Hib infections per year in Alaska Native children chorage Native infants to the U.S. population, the under 5 years of age. However, between May and hospitalization rate for these infants was 33 per June of 1996 there were five cases of invasive Hib 1000, among the highest reported in the world. The disease in Alaska Native children. In response to rate was even higher in southwestern Alaska, with the increase in invasive Hib disease, AANHS, in one in ten infants requiring hospitalization for RSV. consultation with CDC’s Division of Bacterial and There are known risk factors for serious RSV Mycotic Diseases, recommended that the IHS offer disease. Young age, prematurity, cardiac disease, the PRP-OMP Hib conjugate vaccine as an initial chronic pulmonary disease or immunodeficiency dose for Alaska Native infants in high-risk regions, increase the risk of complications. Since the dis- a practice that was also recommended to the Ameri- ease itself provides limited protective immunity, can Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on repeated infections can also occur. Certain environ- Native American Child Health. Between January 1, mental conditions also place young infants at in- 1996, and September 1997, there were 16 cases of creased risk. Environmental smoke has been well Hib disease in Alaska Native infants. A carriage documented as a risk factor. The presence of a study was performed in six villages of southwestern wood-burning stove increases the risk of Navajo Alaska. Among children under 5 years the carriage children to lower respiratory illnesses. Passive rate of Hib was 9.5%, indicating that in this highly smoke is also an important risk factor for Alaska immunized population, conjugate vaccines had not Native infants, since 50% of Alaska Native men reduced oropharyngeal carriage of Hib. This study and women smoke, which usually occurs indoors has implications for Hib disease prevention in other and especially during the winter months. Another countries with high rates of invasive disease caused risk factor is crowded households. by Hib. A prospective case-control study among Alaska Native infants in southwestern Alaska, carried out Respiratory syncytial virus by AIP, AANHS, an Alaska Native health corpora- Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most tion, and Johns Hopkins University, has confirmed important cause of acute lower respiratory infec- the increased severity of RSV disease associated tions in infants in the U.S. It occurs in annual out- with young age and pre-existing medical condi- breaks that usually peak in February and is respon- tions. The study also demonstrated that the hospi- sible for one-fourth to one-third of all pediatric talization for any viral respiratory illness is a risk hospitalizations for pneumonia and one-half of the factor for hospitalization with RSV within the same hospitalizations for bronchiolitis. Native American year. The study also demonstrated that some pro- children suffer from greater morbidity and mortali- tection against RSV is afforded by breastfeeding. ty from acute respiratory infections in general than Assessment of antibody levels suggest a trend that other children in the U.S. The mortality from pneu- maternal antibody may provide some protection to monia for all Native American infants is twice that the younger infant. of infants in the general U.S. population. Hospitalization rates for RSV disease for Alaska Native children from 1986 through 1992 were ten National Institute of Occupational times higher than for other U.S. populations. An Safety and Health intense review of hospital records for Alaska Native infants from Anchorage and southwestern Alaska The National Institute of Occupational Safety helped characterize the epidemiology of the Alaska and Health (NIOSH) found that for the ten-year Native RSV disease. The hospitalized Anchorage period between 1980 and 1989, Alaska experi- infants appeared more similar to those in the gener- enced 34.8 worker deaths for every 100,000 al U.S. population than did the infants from the workers employed in the state, a rate approxi- southwest region. For Anchorage infants the peak mately five times the national rate of 7.0 per

104 100,000. After identifying Alaska as the highest- relationships, formalized within the Alaska Inter- risk state in the U.S. for job-related traumatic agency Working Group for the Prevention of Occu- fatalities, NIOSH responded by establishing a pational Injuries, have fostered injury surveillance, research field station, as part of its Division of a broader understanding of occupational injuries Safety Research, in Anchorage in 1991. in the state, and an opportunity to effectively influ- The major research questions addressed by the ence the immediate response to emerging occupa- project are: tional injury problems (such as helicopter logging • How many severe occupational injuries occur fatalities, drowning from man-overboard events, in Alaska? and occupational homicides) in the state. In addi- • In which Alaskan industries and occupations tion to surveillance and investigation activities, do severe occupational injuries occur? in-depth studies have been focusing on identifying • What risk factors are identifiable for these and reducing risks associated with commercial events? fishing, logging and air transport in Alaska. • Which of these risk factors can be eliminated Between 1990 and 1996, 508 Alaskan work- or mitigated? ers died, an average of one every five days, from • How can this most effectively be accom- job-related injuries, including 160 commercial plished? fishermen, 82 pilots, 44 military personnel, 23 fish The objectives of the program are: processors and 21 loggers. The leading causes of • To characterize and reduce occupational risks these deaths were drowning (175), aircraft crashes in workplaces and industries by using epide- (162), being crushed (44), falls (22), motor vehicle miologic surveillance and analytic methods crashes (22) and homicide (21). Many of the and engineering hazard and task analysis deaths were among young people, resulting in techniques; over 14,500 worker-years of potential life lost • To establish and refine statewide occupational before age 65. The dollar cost to society in lost injury and fatality reporting systems; future productivity (wages) due to these 508 pre- • To conduct prevention-oriented research mature, work-related deaths is estimated to be addressing high-risk operations and popula- $536,320,000. tions (for example, commercial fishing, air transport and logging); Progress • To use the on-site location as a “living labora- The combined efforts of many agencies and tory” for conducting state-of-the-art injury individuals have resulted in the following: Alaska surveillance, intervention trials and demon- experienced a 30% decline in work-related deaths stration projects; and in 1996 compared to 1991; commercial fishing • To promote worker injury prevention technol- deaths in 1996 were down 33% from 1991; in ogy transfer to and from Alaska. 1996, 89% of commercial fishermen survived ves- The NIOSH Alaska Field Station designed and sel sinkings/capsizing, whereas in 1991 only 73% implemented a comprehensive surveillance system survived. NIOSH published Commercial Fishing for fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries, the Fatalities in Alaska: Risk Factors and Prevention Alaska Occupational Injury Surveillance System Strategies in September 1997 to foster further (AOISS). AOISS obtains risk factor information progress in this area. and permits quantitative epidemiologic analyses to For the 18-month period of January 1, 1992, to be used for sound public health and prevention June 30, 1993, helicopter logging pilots had the planning. The AOISS database contains over 500 highest-risk occupation in Alaska. In July 1993 fatality records, as well as over 2400 non-fatal NIOSH facilitated an interagency intervention injury records from the Alaska Trauma Registry that resulted in a marked decrease in helicopter- (which is partially supported by Alaska Field Sta- logging-related fatalities. tion funds). As a result of epidemiologic and process analy- The Alaska Field Station has established strong sis of severe injury events, the Alaska Field Station relationships with many other Federal, state, muni- has proposed a number of technological innovations cipal and non-governmental agencies that are (such as log truck stake extensions and fishing ves- engaged in detecting, investigating and/or prevent- sel retrofit sponsons) and procedural innovations ing occupational injuries and fatalities. Included in (such as redundant or fail-safe communications in this group are the jurisdictional agencies oversee- logging transport operations and encouraging the ing the highest-risk industries in Alaska. These wearing of personal flotation devices during com-

105 mercial fishing operations) to improve worker the ice while traveling via snowmobiles. A paper safety in Alaskan industries. pertaining to drowning in Alaska for 1988–1992 The surveillance technology developed by the was published in the November/December 1996 NIOSH Fatality Assessment and Control Evalua- issue of Public Health Reports. tion (FACE) program has been transferred to the The NIOSH Alaska Field Station, in conjunc- Alaska Department of Health and Social Services tion with the AANHS, has developed a surveil- (ADHSS), Division of Public Health, Section of lance definition for subsistence activities, including Epidemiology, Occupational Injury Prevention hunting, fishing and trapping. This case definition Program via the state-based FACE program, with is being used by the Alaska Field Station, working technical assistance and collaboration by the with the AANHS, to gather subsistence-related Alaska Field Station. injury and fatality information for Alaska Natives. This surveillance for severe subsistence-related Alaska Trauma Registry injuries and their risk factors in Alaska is forming The following data are for the industry in which the basis for future prevention strategies for these hospitalized injuries occurred, as recorded in the events. During 1991–1995, there were 82 subsis- Alaska Trauma Registry. In January 1997 the tence-related injuries requiring hospitalization of occupation field in the registry was reworked to Alaska Natives occurring in the following settings: NIOSH specifications, which will permit future 47 during subsistence hunting, 28 during subsis- classifications of injuries by occupation as well. tence fishing, 4 during subsistence whaling, and 3 during subsistence gathering activities. The causes Injuries Injury rate of these injuries included the use of tools and im- Industry 1991–1995 per 100,000 plements such as knives (24), guns (18) and snow- Logging 215 2,500 mobiles (7), as well as exposure to cold (5). These Water transportation 118 1,300 data have been recently shared with the Alaska Wood product manufacturing 30 940 Native Epidemiology Center and will be used by Construction 365 630 AANHS injury practitioners in community-based Mining 30 540 Fishing 390 460 injury prevention activities. Land transportation 84 370 Seafood processing 136 260 International and Circumpolar Collaboration Oil and gas 99 210 NIOSH Alaska continues its active international Air transportation 69 190 collaboration in circumpolar health research Military 202 180 through direct interagency relationships and via the Injury Prevention and Occupational Safety and Special Populations: Alaska Natives Health Working Groups of the International Union Alaska Natives have a drowning rate that is for Circumpolar Health. This collaboration led to a more than 17 times the national average. The special session on cold injury and hypothermia at NIOSH Alaska Field Station has worked in con- the Tenth International Congress on Circumpolar junction with the Alaska Area Native Health Ser- Health in Anchorage in May 1996. From May vice (AANHS) of the Indian Health Service (IHS) through August 1996, Juhani Hassi, Director, Oulu to set up a surveillance system for drowning in Regional Institute, Finnish Institute for Occupa- Alaska. As part of this effort, Alaska death certifi- tional Health (FIOH), was a visiting scientist in cates are reviewed annually to abstract demo- the Alaska Field Station. He continued his own graphic information. Follow-up reports are research on cold-related injury during his stay. requested from the state troopers, police depart- Also, the FIOH began a collaborative effort with ments and medical examiner offices to collect risk the Alaska Field Station to provide technical assis- factor information such as personal flotation tance in occupational injury and hazard surveil- device usage and alcohol involvement. The data lance and prevention to the Barents Sea region from this system are used by the AANHS to evalu- of northwestern Russia and northern Norway, ate their “floatcoat” programs in the different ser- Sweden and Finland. This led to George Conway, vice units. Alaska Natives have a high drowning Chief of the NIOSH Alaska Field Station, being rate (particularly young adult males) because the detailed to the FIOH for August 1997 to provide rivers are used as highways in bush Alaska. Doz- technical assistance in injury surveillance and ens of Alaska Natives drown each year, mostly prevention activities and to collaborate in the from boating incidents and from breaking through development of a Barents surveillance agenda and

106 comparative mortality projects. Dr. Conway also access to the hospital discharge data from the provided training in surveillance and epidemiolog- state’s two largest private hospitals and to the files ic techniques to a group of Finnish, Russian and of two pediatricians in private practice who are Norwegian scientists in Haukipudas, Finland, in considered referral physicians for FAS. late August 1997. NIOSH has also participated as a Of the 630 potential cases identified, 568 had co-sponsor in planning for the International Sym- medical charts available for review, of which 248 posium on Problems with Cold Work, held in had a chart notation of “FAS,” which included Stockholm in November 1997. “possible FAS,” “probable FAS” and “suspect FAS.” NCEH and ADHSS epidemiologists used a Conferences and Workshops five-criteria surveillance case definition to ascer- The NIOSH Alaska Field Station sponsored he- tain cases. The findings indicate a high prevalence licopter logging safety workshops in 1995, 1996 among Alaska Natives; the observed rate is 3.0 per and 1997 in response to an epidemic of helicopter- 1000 live births for five-criteria cases and 5.2 per logging-related deaths. The workshop proceedings 1000 live births for FAS-noted cases for Alaska were published and disseminated widely. Native children born between 1977 and 1992. The The NIOSH Alaska Field Station conducted the 1977–1992 rates for the state’s non-Native popula- Second Fishing Industry Safety and Health (FISH tion were 0.2 per 1000 live births for five-criteria II) Workshop in Seattle, Washington, on Novem- cases and 0.3 per 1000 live births for FAS-noted ber 21–22, 1997. The two-day workshop consisted cases. Project epidemiologists found substantial of presentations from scientists, researchers, regu- under-reporting of FAS in each of the 16 data lators, educators, health care providers and com- sources examined, indicating that multiple data mercial fishermen, and from working groups sources and active screening programs are needed tasked with identifying root causes of specific to enhance case ascertainment. injuries (fatal and non-fatal) and corresponding Project staff obtained birth certificate data for countermeasures. The FISH II Workshop presenta- 102 cases, which showed that 63% of FAS moth- tions and working group recommendations will be ers were not married at the time of delivery, 41% published and disseminated through a proceedings had not completed high school, and 69% had volume. either no prenatal care (33%) or began prenatal care after the first trimester (36%). These mothers are older women, many of whom had previous National Center for children. Medical charts and birth certificates doc- Environmental Health umented an average maternal age of 29±5. In addition, project staff documented that 14 of the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome mothers gave birth to more than one FAS case, Between 1991 and 1995 the National Center averaging 2.3 FAS children each. for Environmental Health (NCEH), the AANHS The results of the project’s activities have been and the ADHSS entered into formal agreements widely disseminated in Alaska and were presented to establish the Alaska Fetal Alcohol Syndrome at the Xth Congress of the International Union for Prevention Project. The project’s purpose was to Circumpolar Health in Anchorage in 1996. An develop a surveillance methodology for fetal alco- FAS Working Group was formed through the hol syndrome (FAS) that could be used by other International Union after the IXth Congress in states and countries to provide the epidemiologic 1993. The Working Group received a grant from data for developing and implementing prevention NCEH to offer a workshop on diagnosing FAS at efforts. the Xth Congress to improve case ascertainment The project, staffed by NCEH personnel, among circumpolar nations. In addition, the pro- worked closely with ADHSS epidemiologists to ject’s results have been accepted for publication link multiple data sources and evaluate the useful- in the Journal of the American Public Health ness of each for purposes of FAS surveillance. In Association. all, 16 data sources were used, including data from The state’s DHSS commissioner has established the Alaska Native Medical Center and from two a statewide coordinator for the prevention of FAS. Alaska Native regional health corporations. Other The associated risk factors for FAS as documented sources included state programs for children with by the project will be used in developing preven- special needs and state data sets such as Medicaid tion strategies. and vital statistics. The project was also provided In 1997, NCEH awarded DHSS a five-year

107 cooperative agreement (one of five awarded National Institute on Aging nationwide) for conducting enhanced surveillance In FY 97 the National Institute on Aging (NIA) for FAS. In developing the request for proposals initiated funding of a five-year center core grant for the FAS surveillance cooperative agreements, to establish and maintain the Native Elder Research NCEH addressed the constraints to surveillance Center (NERC). The center will be located within documented by the Alaska project. All recipients the Division of American Indian and Alaska Native are required to link multiple data sources and to Programs of the Department of Psychiatry, School use the same surveillance case definition. NCEH of Medicine, at the University of Colorado Health has also awarded ADHSS a three-year cooperative Sciences Center in Denver. It will serve to incor- agreement to develop an Alaska Birth Defects porate American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native Registry. Enabling legislation has been passed to (AN) members and culturally relevant priorities require reporting specified birth defects, among into local systems of health care and aging research them FAS, to public health officials. NCEH is pro- processes. The center will also recruit and equip viding both financial and direct assistance under AI/AN investigators for successful research careers the cooperative agreement. at the interface of aging, health and culture. The expected outcome is improved health status and Endocrine Disrupters access to care for this special population. The NCEH epidemiologists collaborated with the Indian Health Service, the National Cancer Institute and the Alaska Area Native Medical Cen- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse ter to study the health effects among Alaska and Alcoholism Native women exposed to environmental chemicals such as organochlorines, which may act as The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and endocrine disrupters. Some of these chemicals Alcoholism (NIAAA) is the lead Federal agency have the potential to mimic female hormones and responsible for supporting and conducting bio- thus have been theorized to increase women’s medical and behavioral research on the causes, risks for breast cancer. This was an ideal popula- consequences, treatment and prevention of alcohol- tion for such a study because endocrine disrupters related problems affecting the Nation’s health. tend to concentrate in colder climates, and many The NIAAA continues to support research projects of the women in the study consumed a subsistence in Alaska. In 1994 a five-year grant was awarded diet rich in fish, which contain high levels of sev- to the University of Connecticut Health Center eral endocrine-disrupting chemicals. For the study, to conduct a collaborative study with the Univer- serum samples were analyzed that had been previ- sity of Alaska Anchorage to examine the genetic, ously collected and stored in the Arctic Investiga- biological and behavioral characteristics of Native tions Serum Bank. The results of this study will Alaskans receiving treatment for alcoholism. The soon be published in the scientific literature. project has begun its fourth year and has met several objectives. Research assistants who are Alaska Natives have been trained in procedures National Institutes using standardized methods to obtain clinical of Health assessment and laboratory data. To date, 330 subjects (168 women and 162 men) have been The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is one recruited into the study. Preliminary analyses of of eight health agencies of the Public Health Ser- data collected to date indicate that subjects are vice, which is part of the Department of Health typically affected with a very severe form of alco- and Human Services. Comprising 24 institutes, hol dependence. The age of onset of DSM-III-R centers and divisions, NIH is headquartered in (alcohol dependence) ranges from 12 to 49 years Bethesda, Maryland, and has satellite facilities in of age. However, most males have an onset around North Carolina, Montana and New Mexico. The 18, while the onset age for females is about 20 NIH’s mission is to uncover new knowledge that years of age. will lead to better health for everyone. NIH sup- The clinical assessment battery used in this ports research on Arctic-related health issues study is identical to that used in the Collaborative through grants and contracts to non-Federal scien- Study on Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA), which tists and through the projects carried out by scien- will contain a sample of approximately 10,000 tists in NIH laboratories. subjects collected at six sites in the continental

108 U.S. The COGA sample represents a range of alco- in Moscow. Over a period of five years, U.S. inves- hol problems and contains a sufficient number of tigators from the NIAMS and the IHS collected Hispanic and African–American subjects for com- cross-sectional data from Inupiat and Yupik Eski- parison across different ethnic groups. Compari- mos in four Alaskan regions, and Russian investi- sons with the sample of Native Alaskans can help gators collected data from four settlements of to determine if there are specific differences in the Siberian Eskimos and Chukchi Indians on the development of alcohol problems among these Chukotka Peninsula. Both groups of investigators groups. used the same data collection methods and disease A second project was supported by a grant criteria. awarded to the Prevention Research Center in The objectives of this project were: 1997 to determine whether alcohol availability • To determine the prevalence of SpA disorders control can change alcohol-related outpatient in circumpolar populations, which are known visits at the area hospital in an isolated geographic to have a high frequency of HLA-B27; community. Findings from this project, Impact of • To describe the spectrum of SpA disease, Banning Alcohol on Outpatient Visits in Barrow, including clinical manifestations, natural his- Alaska, were recently published in the Journal tory, sequelae and severity; and of the American Medical Association. During a • To lay the groundwork for investigating the 33-month period, possession and importation of role of specific genetic and environmental alcohol were legal, banned, legal again and banned factors in the pathogenesis and expression of again. Based on review and analyses of outpatient the disease. records, there was a substantial decrease in alco- The prevalence and spectrum of SpA were found hol-related visits during the ban periods. When the to be similar in the U.S. and Russian study popula- ban was lifted, alcohol-related visits showed a tions, and no predisposition to a particular form of substantial increase. In a geographically isolated spondyloarthropathy was observed. Among adults community, control of alcohol availability may be who were positive for the presence of HLA-B27, an effective public health intervention in reducing the prevalence of all types of SpA was estimated problems associated with alcohol abuse. to be 4.5% for all the populations combined, and the prevalence of ankylosing spondylitis was estimated to be 1.6%. In these circumpolar populations the risk of developing ankylosing spondylitis National Institute of Arthritis and for persons with HLA-B27 appears to be much Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases lower than the rates that have been observed in other Indian populations in different geographic From 1989 to 1996 the National Institute of regions. No difference in disease frequency was Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases found between men and women, although women (NIAMS) supported research on spondyloarthrop- tend to have slightly milder diseases. More athies (SpA) in circumpolar populations, through research is needed in other defined populations an interagency agreement with the Indian Health to determine the difference in prevalence for the Service (IHS) in Anchorage, Alaska. The SpA entire spectrum of spondyloarthropathic diseases. include Reiter’s syndrome, ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthritis, arthritis associated with inflam- matory bowel disease, psoriatic spondylitis, idio- National Cancer Institute pathic seronegative enthesopathy and arthropathy syndrome in children, and undifferentiated SpA. The National Cancer Institute coordinates the The etiology and pathogenesis of the SpA are National Cancer Program, which conducts and poorly understood, although it is clear that both supports research, training, health information dis- genetic and environmental factors are involved. semination and other programs with respect to the All spondyloarthropathic diseases appear to be cause, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of can- associated to some degree with Class I histocom- cer, rehabilitation from cancer and the continuing patibility antigen HLA-B27; some are clearly trig- care of cancer patients and the families of cancer gered by infection. patients. Through a variety of programs, NCI: Collaborative studies were conducted with Rus- • Supports and coordinates research projects sian investigators from the Institute of Rheumatol- conducted by universities, hospitals, research ogy of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences foundations and businesses throughout this

109 country and abroad through research grants Filipino, Hawaiian, Hispanic, Japanese, Korean, and cooperative agreements; Vietnamese, White (total), White Hispanic, and • Supports education and training in fundamen- White non-Hispanic populations. Age-adjusted tal sciences and clinical disciplines relating to mortality rates are also shown for these groups, cancer through career awards, training grants with the exception of Koreans and Vietnamese, for and fellowships; whom national data are not yet available. The • Supports research projects in cancer control; SEER program uses mortality data from the Nation- • Supports a national network of cancer centers; al Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) to compare • Collaborates with voluntary organizations and with SEER incidence data. other national and foreign institutions engaged in cancer research and training activities; EBV Expression in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma • Encourages and coordinates cancer research The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill by industrial concerns where such concerns is conducting research to determine the role of evidence a particular capability for program- the Epstien–Barr virus (EBV) in the etiology of matic research; and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), an epithelial • Collects and disseminates information on malignancy that develops with high incidence in cancer. southern China, in northern Africa and among Eskimos. The viral genes that are expressed in NPC Surveillance, Epidemiology and include the latent membrane proteins LMP1 and 2 End Results Program and a new family of mRNAs, transcribed through The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End the BamHI A fragment. Glutathionein transferase Results (SEER) program is an important component fusion proteins will be synthesized to produce for epidemiologic and surveillance research at the monospecific antisera to identify the proteins in NCI and across the U.S. The SEER program col- transfected cell lines and in NPC tumor tissues. The lects and publishes cancer incidence and survival proteins will be tested for interactions with cellular data from ten population-based cancer registries. proteins and for transactivation of the LMP1 pro- The geographic areas comprising the SEER promoter. To investigate the high incidence in specific gram’s database represent approximately 14% of populations and to explore a possible genetic con- the U.S. population. Currently 25% of the Ameri- tribution to NPC, additional NPC samples will be can Hispanic population, 41% of the Asian/Pacific obtained from Chinese, Caucasian, Black and pos- Islanders population (43% of all Chinese Ameri- sibly Inuit Americans. cans and 60% of all Japanese Americans), 27% of American Indian and Alaska Native populations, Community Clinical Oncology Program and 12% of the African American population reside The Virginia Mason Research Center (VMRC) in SEER areas. Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) Over the past several years NCI has funded has a component in Anchorage, Alaska. This com- two interagency agreements with the Indian Health ponent allows Alaskans with cancer to have access Service, one for the support of the Alaska Native to the NCI Clinical Trial Network. The VRMC Tumor Registry for the surveillance of the cancer CCOP brings the advantages of state-of-the-art burden among Alaska Natives and an earlier, cancer treatment and cancer control trials to more complex project to describe not only cancer patients in metropolitan Seattle and in smaller incidence and mortality in Alaska Natives and communities in western Washington and Alaska by American Indians but also the patterns of care, risk strengthening and expanding both the core institu- factors and cultural entities that form barriers to tion participation in the activities of the CCOP and early detection and treatment. SEER investigators their relationship with the component institutions, have provided technical assistance to the registry. Valley Medical Center (Renton, WA), Evergreen The SEER program has recently completed a Medical Center (Kirkland, WA), Olympic Mem- monograph entitled Racial/Ethnic Patterns of Can- orial Hospital (Pt. Angeles, WA) and Providence cer in the United States 1988–1992, which provides and Humana Hospitals (Anchorage, AK), and the a concise description of the occurrence of the major physicians who practice in these hospitals. cancers among most racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. Age-adjusted incidence rates are shown graph- Data-Based Cancer Intervention Research ically by age group and sex for Alaska Native, The State of Alaska Department of Health and American Indian (New Mexico), Black, Chinese, Social Services has entered into a cooperative

110 agreement with NCI to develop a project that will Exposure to Organochlorines in serve as a model of data use in planning and eval- Alaskan Native Females uating statewide cancer prevention and control Recent studies have reported associations interventions. The specific goals of this project are between breast cancer and elevated levels of to: organochlorines (such as DDT and PCBs) in adi- • Reduce Alaska’s age-adjusted cancer mortality pose tissue and serum. Alaska Natives may be at rate by 50% by the year 2000; increased risk of exposure because their diets are • Develop and institutionalize a comprehensive disproportionately high in protein and fat from cancer prevention and control program in the marine sources established as having high concen- Alaska Division of Public Health; and trations of organochlorines. Alaskan Natives are • Assure a mechanism to implement state-of- covered by a cancer registry and are further defined the-art techniques to translate research find- by the existence of a banked serum repository of ings into public and private practice and to samples collected since 1967 in conjunction with assure that services are available to prevent a variety of health investigations. NCI, in collabo- and control cancer. ration with the Centers for Disease Control and Extending over a seven-year period, the project Prevention, the Alaska Area Native Health Service will be accomplished in four phases: data appraisal, and the Indian Health Service, has initiated a pilot planning, implementation of model interventions study to assess the Alaska Native population, the and evaluation. Priority areas for the initial phase variability of organochlorine levels in the serum, of this project are cessation and prevention of and the extent and quality of data in the Indian tobacco use, cervical cancer detection and breast Health Service medical records on known breast cancer detection. cancer risk factors. Components of the pilot study include analyses of previously collected serum Cancer Risk Assessment samples and a medical records review for 60 NCI is supporting research at the Mayo Founda- breast cancer cases and 60 controls; new collection examining the origins of colon cancer among tions of serum, urine and adipose tissues from Alaskans. Alaskans have the highest incidence and Alaska Native women undergoing breast biopsy/ the highest mortality of colon cancer of any racial/ surgery at the Alaska Native Medical Center; and ethnic group in the U.S., and colorectal cancer is a quality assessment/quality control evaluation one of the leading causes of cancer mortality in the beneficial to the Alaska Area Native Health Ser- U.S. today. Although the underlying etiology is still vice. Sera that participating women may have not fully understood, it is increasingly apparent that stored in the Indian Health Service/CDC Serum genetic susceptibility plays a prominent role in a Bank will be acquired and used. These data will be subset of these patients. Hereditary non-polyposis analyzed to determine if the amount of organo- colon cancer (HNPCC) may account for the major- chlorine chemicals in a woman’s serum and adi- ity of the inherited forms of colon cancer, and it is pose tissue is associated with biopsy outcome. estimated that as many as 1 out of every 200 indi- Data collected in this pilot project will guide deci- viduals in the general population may be a carrier. sions regarding a proposed future full-scale inves- This frequency makes HNPCC one of the most tigation of breast cancer among Alaskan Natives. common inherited genetic disorders in humans. Until recently a strong family history of cancer was the only measure available to the clinician to National Institute of Child Health decide which patients were at great risk. However, and Human Development two types of molecular genetic markers have recently been identified that may enhance the abil- The National Institute of Child Health and ity to define colon cancer risk for families and indi- Human Development (NICHD) continues to sup- viduals. These include the demonstration of tumor port research at the Institute of Arctic Biology, microsatellite instability (“mutator phenotype”), University of Alaska, on the role of the endocrine which is indicative of defective DNA mismatch system in hibernating mammals and on mechan- repair, and the direct analysis of the genetic sus- isms by which Arctic ground squirrels spontane- ceptibility loci responsible for this particular ously adopt subzero body temperatures without phenotype. One of the goals of this research is to freezing. Investigations have explored the role of determine the frequency of tumor microsatellite the reproductive endocrine system in influencing instability in an Alaska Native population. the seasonal timing of hibernation, the neural sub-

111 strates of this system in influencing the seasonal A second grant is to the University of Alaska timing of hibernation, and the neural substrates of Fairbanks, titled Sympathetically Mediated Gene this system and the role of the circadian clock in Activation in Brown Fat. Several factors contrib- controlling the weekly and daily timing of hiber- ute to the onset of obesity, including molecular nation. The most recent work focused on how imbalances in energy metabolism. Mammals in decreased brain temperatures in ground squirrels their native environments are protected from obe- and black bears influence the kinetics of sleep reg- sity and the cold by adaptive thermogenic survival ulation. These studies are the first ever done that mechanisms. The objective of this research is to make continuous physiological and neurological further delineate the relationship between thermo- measurements on bears during hibernation. genesis, energy imbalance and obesity by elucidat- ing the control mechanisms underlying the activation of thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue. The National Institute of Diabetes and major effector of thermogenesis is the brown- Digestive and Kidney Diseases adipose-tissue-specific mitochondrial uncoupling protein. The working hypothesis is that several The National Institute of Diabetes and Diges- DNA-binding proteins control the onset of tive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) supports two thermogenesis following cold exposure by regulat- research grants addressing the health of residents ing the rate of mitochondrial uncoupling protein in the Arctic. One is being conducted by the Uni- gene transcription in brown adipose tissue. By elu- versity of Alaska Anchorage. This collaborative cidating the signaling mechanisms controlling research project, entitled Diabetes Prevention in thermogenesis and energy expenditure, this Yupik Eskimos, is designed to determine to what research will result in a better understanding of extent intervention can decrease the prevalence of defective energy expenditure, energy imbalance diabetes, hyperinsulinemia and cardiovascular risk and obesity. factors among Yupik Eskimos living on St. Law- rence Island and the west coast of Alaska. The project would also investigate dietary patterns, National Institute on Drug Abuse physical activity levels and anthropometric data NIDA supports over 85% of the world’s and attempt to correlate these with the occurrence research on behavioral, psychological, biological, of diabetes, cardiovascular risk factors, diabetes medical and sociological aspects of drug abuse complications and insulin levels. As part of the on- and addiction, including the correlates and con- going Alaska–Siberia Medical Research Program, sequences of drug abuse, such as HIV and other identical baseline data are being gathered in the infectious diseases, violence and crime. population of Yupik Eskimos across the Bering From 1991 to 1997, NIDA funded a cooperative Straits on the Chukotka Peninsula in Siberia. agreement with the University of Alaska Anchor- The age-adjusted prevalence of non-insulin- age (UAA) as part of its AIDS community-based dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) among outreach/intervention research program. The Alaska’s Eskimos, Indians and Aleuts overall objectives of this research project were to monitor increased 11%, from 15.7 to 17.4 per 1000 over the HIV status of injecting drug users and crack the two-year period from 1985 to 1987. Rates in cocaine users in Alaska and to evaluate the effec- 1987 varied from 6.7 to 40.8 per 1000 in various tiveness of an innovative, culturally sensitive pro- Indian Health Service units in Alaska. These esti- gram in reducing AIDS risk behaviors among drug mates are based only on clinically recognized users relative to the NIDA standard intervention cases. Comparing preliminary rates to Chukotka (which consists of four components: street-based Natives 15 years and older, the St. Lawrence outreach, HIV risk reduction education and coun- Island rate is 9.7 per 1000, while the Chukotka seling, HIV antibody testing, and post-test or rate is 1 per 1000. Since Siberian Yupik Eskimos booster counseling and education). This project of Chukotka and Alaska are genetically closely extended beyond HIV and studied other medical related, one hypothesis is that dietary and lifestyle conditions such as hepatitis and Streptococcus differences account for the difference in diabetes pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae). prevalence. This represents a unique opportunity Drug users are at high risk for HIV, as well as for research since these populations were essen- S. pneumoniae, which can cause pneumonia and tially one until 1948, when contact ceased due to meningitis. Drug users participating in the study political reasons, and lifestyles diverged as a result. were encouraged to take the S. pneumoniae vac-

112 cine, which can greatly reduce their chances for • A First Independent Research Support and developing an opportunistic infection if they con- Transition grant has been awarded to UAA to tract AIDS. The vaccine can also prevent S. pneu- study the ecologies of risk in order to develop moniae in non-HIV-positive drug users. a model to predict and identify subgroups of Important findings from the UAA cooperative women and their risk behaviors relative to the agreement project include: use of drugs and condoms. • Female drug users (including Alaska Natives, The NIDA-supported research at UAA has also Whites and Blacks) are at especially high risk benefited from UAA’s Telemedicine Project, which of HIV infections, as indicated both by high helps to bridge the great geographic expanse of levels of certain diseases, such as hepatitis B Alaska in a series of “research at a distance” pro- (HBV), and also by various high-risk sexual jects. These projects use desktop video teleconfer- behaviors. encing technology to investigate the transformation • With female study participants, for every of epidemiological and health-related research from increase of five sex partners, a woman was a model based on physical proximity to one that 1.4 times as likely to report having had HBV. can be shared over great distances. In collaboration • Women with a history of trading sex for with the NIDA-supported research, the Telemedi- money or for drugs were also more likely to cine Project is continuing to explore the uses of report a history of HBV. narrow-band telecommunications and information • Among women, Alaska Natives were more technology to improve the delivery of health care likely than either Black or White women to to all citizens of Alaska. report having had gonorrhea or chlamydia. In other Arctic-related research matters, NIDA • Alaska Native women report significantly less staff, in conjunction with National Institute of use of condoms than any other sex/race group. Allergy and Infectious Diseases staff and Russian • The unique combination of Alaska Native counterparts, organized the first U.S.–Russian women with White men (a frequent sexual pair meeting on Emerging and Reemerging Infectious in Anchorage) is associated with less condom Diseases (EREIDS). The meeting was held in St. use. Petersburg, Russia, in December 1996 with the This latter finding is of particular interest given express purpose of developing joint EREIDS that the White men (independent of any other sex/ research teams comprising scientists from the U.S. ethnic group) being studied are more likely to be and the former Soviet Union (FSU). Support for the injecting drug users (IDUs) and that Alaska Native meeting was provided by the U.S. (the Fogarty women have the highest percentage of sex part- International Center and the NIH Office of AIDS ners who are IDUs. Research), the Civilian Research and Development More recently NIDA funded several new research Foundation for the FSU, and the Russian Ministry initiatives at the UAA. These include: of Science. The meeting and collaborative process • A study to develop interventions for reducing that came out of it were recognized as an important HBV, HCV and HIV. This is both an efficacy part of the Vice President Gore/Premier Cherno- study and a feasibility study design of a two- myrdin accords for greater cooperation between the group randomized clinical trial in which IDUs U.S. and the FSU. The St. Petersburg meeting was are assigned to a syringe exchange condition also recognized as helping to implement the Presi- or a pharmacy sales condition. Data to be dential Decision Directive on EREIDS, which was monitored include the results of urine testing released in June 1996 by Vice President Gore and for amphetamines, cocaine metabolites and which emphasized greater focus on EREIDS, morphine, as well as serological testing. It is including focus in an international context. FSU estimated that approximately 80–85% of participants at the St. Petersburg meeting included current injectors are positive for hepatitis C researchers from Siberia and the Russian Far East. (HCV). Estimates are not yet available Discussions included, but were not limited to, Arc- regarding the HBV status of current injectors. tic EREIDS research and future U.S. and FSU col- • A new fellowship grant that deals with the laborations. relationship of HCV and depression among Future NIDA Arctic research plans include drug users will help to provide a foundation expanding the substance abuse and health and on which effective HCV treatment, interven- social consequences research portfolio, including tion and prevention policies can be developed. infectious diseases, violence and crime.

113 National Institute of Environmental tal neurotoxicants. Cadmium is also a concern Health Sciences because it accumulates in the kidneys and may produce nephrotoxicity later in life. The National Institute of Environmental Health The objective of the studies is to determine if Sciences (NIEHS) supports studies relating to the prenatal exposure to these toxins is at levels that may mechanisms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention impair development. Related NIEHS-supported of diseases and disorders caused by environmental research projects are focused on determining mini- chemicals and other factors. NIEHS has instituted mal toxic levels of these pollutants, data that will a number of activities that address the potential be applied in evaluating the health risks to Alaska human health consequences of environmental con- Native children. tamination for the Alaska Native population. Pro- jects directly related to health include a survey Support for Scientists in Alaska program to identify prenatal exposure to environ- NIEHS has provided the University of Washing- mental pollutants, a study of the health conse- ton Environmental Health Sciences Center with quences of methyl mercury exposure, and an envi- supplemental funding to enable scientists in Alaska ronmental justice grant program to establish an to perform mercury analyses of biological samples. environmental awareness program for Alaskan This project will equip laboratories with state-of- Natives living in the Yukon Flats. In addition, the-art instrumentation in Fairbanks, train Alaskan beginning in FY 97, NIEHS has been planning a investigators in its use and design a population- conference, under the auspices of the Arctic Moni- based study to evaluate hair mercury levels in a toring and Assessment Program, on environmental subgroup of Alaska Natives. Native peoples of biomarkers that will address new methodology for Alaska are at risk from methyl mercury because of detecting the effects of environmental pollutants in their consumption of marine mammals and fish and the Arctic and approaches for integrating such because of mercury contamination of streams and measurement into public health programs. river sediments as a consequence of gold mining.

Prenatal Exposure to Environmental Pollutants Environmental Justice Grant to the The NIEHS is supporting a survey of umbilical University of Alaska cord blood for environmental pollutants among A grant has been awarded to the Council of Alaska Natives. Environmental pollutants of major Athabascan Tribal Governments as part of the concern among Native people of Alaska are per- NIEHS Environmental Justice Program to establish sistent organic pollutants (POPs) and toxic metals, an environmental awareness program in the Yukon particularly prenatal exposure to methyl mercury. Flats. This area contains 1500 rural residents in Exposure to the pollutants is from the consump- scattered, isolated villages distributed over 55,000 tion of traditional foods, particularly marine mam- square miles. This population is composed of mals. The pollutants are persistent in body fats and Alaska Natives (Eskimo, Aleut and Indian) who cross the placenta, resulting in fetal exposure, and rely on traditional hunting, fishing and trapping they may impair neurological development. The for survival. Environmental concerns include blood samples are collected by the Alaska Depart- radioactive and hazardous wastes at military and ment of Health, and analyses are done through an mining sites, landfills, and oil spill contamination. interagency agreement between the NIEHS and the This project is surveying communities to form an CDC with funding from the NIEHS National Toxi- inventory of environmental health concerns and cology Program. Analyses of 50 umbilical cord preparing a community profile for each village. blood samples from a fish-eating population in The program provides continuing training for local southeast Alaska to date show increased levels of regional health care providers and environmental DDE, a degradative product of the pesticide DDT, health planning and training workshops in the com- in 100% of the samples and increased levels of munities’ schools. It is also planned to establish a hexachlorobenzene in 60% of the samples. Other geographic information system for the region to POPs were below the limits of detection. Analyses compile existing data on environmental health haz- of these samples is still in progress. Additional ards and develop a capacity to monitor potential umbilical cord blood samples will be obtained in hazardous environmental conditions locally. The FY 98. Analyses will include POPs, chlorinated overall aims are to form partnerships among com- hydrocarbons and toxic metals, particularly methyl munity members, village-based health providers mercury and lead, both of which are developmen- and environmental health researchers and to

114 empower the villages to conduct assessments and care of patients with primary and secondary pul- develop and implement prevention strategies. monary hypertension will be based in a focused clinic at the University of Washington Medical Conference on Biomarkers Center, with multispecialty care facilitated by a NIEHS, in association with the Arctic Monitor- nurse coordinator. ing and Assessment Program (AMAP-2), has pro- University and community physicians are posed an international conference on the role of developing local clinical practice guidelines for biomarkers in identifying susceptibility to the the evaluation and care of patients with primary health effects of environmental pollutants, espe- pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary hyperten- cially among Alaska Native populations. The con- sion secondary to airflow obstruction and for the ference will integrate environmental medicine and prevention, evaluation and treatment of pulmonary epidemiology with newer technologies in molecular thromboembolism. At the School of Medicine, biology as an approach to identifying the various new curriculum elements are proposed, including environmental, cultural and genetic factors that a problem-based learning exercise in pulmonary determine the health status of inhabitants of the hypertension for second-year students and a clini- Arctic. cal decision making analysis of prevention of pul- Arctic populations provide an opportunity to monary thromboembolism in hospitalized patients apply new molecular technologies to identify for third-year students. Opportunities to pursue a health factors not presently recognized. As Arctic project in pulmonary vascular science are also lifestyles undergo change, it is important to iden- being provided for students involved in the school’s tify and pursue research opportunities inherent in Medical Student Research Training Program. this population. There are unique factors in the Educational programs are also directed toward Arctic climate that enhance exposure and suscepti- housestaff and fellowship trainees at the affiliated bility to pollutants. While many of the pollutants hospitals and community physicians throughout in the Arctic are common in other climates, the the Washington–Alaska–Montana–Idaho region. A role of subsistence diets is important as a route of regional newsletter is distributed emphasizing exposure, particularly toxic metals and persistent progress in pulmonary vascular science and cur- organic pollutants. Nutritional deficiencies may rent patient management issues. Communication is alter susceptibility to health effects. The confer- increased among individuals conducting clinical ence will introduce molecular biomarkers that may and basic research relating to pulmonary vascular be used in epidemiological studies for early detec- disease from several disciplines and affiliated tion of health effects and identify genetic polymor- institutions. Pulmonary vascular research is also phism that has enabled these populations to adapt highlighted annually at a new regional meeting, to the extreme climate and traditional diets. Appli- The John Butler Symposium in Pulmonary Vascu- cation of the evolving molecular tools may pro- lar Science, honoring the memory of the founding vide insight as to whether past adaptive changes Pulmonary Division head at the University of will influence risk to future lifestyle changes. Washington and an international figure in the study of the pulmonary circulation. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute National Institute of Mental Health

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute NIMH supports a variety of research projects (NHLBI) conducts research on matters relating to that have an impact on Arctic populations. The the cause, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Institute’s goals and objectives include support heart, blood vessel, lung and blood diseases; the of mental health services research as it relates to use of blood and blood products and the manage- Arctic, ethnic, minority and other rural popula- ment of blood resources; and sleep disorders. tions. Many of the Arctic mental health research NHLBI has made an Academic Career Award to activities supported by NIMH are part of general the University of Washington Pacific Medical American Indian and Alaska Native programs. Center to develop and improve the clinical, educa- They include: tional and research activities relating to pulmonary • Continued support of an American Indian and vascular disease in Alaska and the Pacific North- Alaskan Mental Health Research Center; west. A comprehensive clinical program for the • Support of a five-year, large-scale assessment

115 of the prevalence rates for major mental disor- sion education efforts through television and radio ders among Native Americans, their mental public service announcements, live interview, print health service utilization patterns, the impact articles and print ads that reached over 110,000,000 on psychiatric morbidity of selected risk fac- people. tors, and the cross-cultural generalization of the results; • The D/ART (Depression/Awareness, Recogni- National Library of Medicine tion and Treatment) program; and • Program announcements on Research on The mission of the National Library of Medicine Mental Disorders in Rural Populations and (NLM) is to aid in the advancement of medicine American Indian, Alaska Natives and Native and to improve public health through effective dis- Hawaiian Mental Health Research. semination of the results of research. As part of this The D/ART program, a public and professional broad mission, during FY 96 and 97, NLM contin- education campaign sponsored by NIMH in col- ued to index and catalog the published reports of laboration with private organizations and citizens, health-related Arctic research. In 1996, NLM pub- is based on over 40 years of research on the diag- lished a Current Bibliographies in Medicine on nosis and treatment of depressive disorders. Its American Indian and Alaska Native Health, with goals include the alleviation of symptoms through over 2000 citations, including many relevant to early intervention and effective treatment for indi- Arctic health. NLM continued to enhance access by viduals who suffer from depressive disorders. Arctic health researchers and practitioners to the Through a variety of information sessions, health relevant health literature via on-line database ser- fairs, screenings, referrals and consultation, the vices. In June 1997, NLM initiated free access to program directly reaches approximately 4000 Medline via NLM’s web site, with the intent of im- Alaskans each year. Media activities reached an proving availability of such information, especially estimated 109,000,000 people. Activities during in rural and remote areas such as the Arctic. NLM 1997 included lectures to faculty, Alaska Commu- continued its support of the National Network of nity Mental Health Services Association, leaders Libraries of Medicine, which includes the Pacific of Anchorage’s human service agencies, a grand- Northwest Regional Medical Library at the Univer- parents club, church groups, and staff of a senior sity of Washington in Seattle and the Alaska Health home health care program. A statewide video Sciences Information Service at the University of teleconference sponsored by the Alaska Mental Alaska Anchorage. Both have a mandate to serve Health Board featured D/ART and its success in health professionals in Arctic areas. establishing local community support groups. An During FY 96 and 97, NLM supported the Uni- innovative “talking circle” video conference on versity of Washington’s Alaska outreach subcon- women’s issues, which involved 181 schools tract with the University of Alaska. This project across Alaska, was hosted through the University includes ongoing efforts to train Alaskan health pro- of Alaska Anchorage. Depression information and fessionals in rural and remote areas, including the screening were part of the conference program. Arctic, on accessing and using health and medical D/ART staff participated in health fairs at a information resources from a variety of sources. major business firm and the Mat-Su Community The emphasis is on the use of Internet-based access Mental Health Center and sponsors ongoing from remote villages and some regional medical weekly support groups for people with depression. centers and includes site visits as well as telephone Depression screening programs and workshops, and on-line consultation. The villages selected for important elements in D/ART’s Alaska-based outreach include Arctic and sub-Arctic sites such activities, are offered on National Depression as Talkeetna, Healy, Galena, Bethel, Nome and Screening Day and throughout the year, with spe- Barrow. Also, the University of Alaska outreach cial efforts planned in the deep winter months fol- staff participated in the Tenth International Confer- lowing the holiday season. For additional rural ence on Circumpolar Health and the Sixteenth outreach, people from rural Alaska received de- International Polar Libraries Colloquy, both held in pression information by mail and were referred to Anchorage. local mental health centers for screening. Educa- NLM has initiated two additional projects, tion materials were shared with village health through the University of Washington, that will also aides and village priests as well as primary care benefit Arctic Alaska. These include a project that is physicians. Also, a media blitz expanded depres- intended to develop and test a resource book for

116 planning and conducting outreach to health infor- care organization. As such, research is clinically mation professionals and users, and a tribal connec- oriented, designed to investigate identified prob- tions project that will analyze and upgrade Internet lems, and almost always undertaken with other connectivity in selected American Indian reserva- governmental agency and tribal collaborators. tions and Alaska Native villages. These projects Additional activities just getting underway include: will help improve the information access training • A pilot study of 50 umbilical cord blood and the Internet connections available to rural specimens from Alaska Native infants in health professionals in remote and Arctic Alaska. western Alaska to assess the level of exposure These will in turn enable health practitioners and to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) via researchers in remote areas to communicate more subsistence food contamination; effectively with colleagues throughout the region, • A long-term monitoring program to examine the country and the world. Finally, NLM is support- maternal and umbilical cord blood in a yearly ing telemedicine projects at the University of sample of Alaska Native residents on the Washington and the University of Alaska. These Arctic and Bering Sea coasts to follow trends projects will develop, test and evaluate the use of in POPs and heavy metals and to examine the telecommunications and computers for delivery of data for association with child health out- medical care and consultations at remote locations, comes; and including rural Alaska. • A joint proposal from AANHS, ANEC, the Arctic Slope Native Association and the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies of the Indian Health Service University of Alaska to operate a Children’s Environmental Health Center to investigate The mission of the Alaska Area Native Health the health effects of environmental pollutant Service (AANHS) of the Indian Health Service is to exposure including prenatal exposure on raise the health status of Alaska Natives to the high- Alaska Native infants born to residents of the est possible level. The AANHS is primarily a health Arctic coast.

117 Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution’s mission in Alaska is primarily carried out through the Arctic Studies Center, which opened an office in Alaska in 1993 and which has produced a wide range of programs serving both the northern research community and Native interests.

The Arctic Studies Center (ASC) was created by Funding (thousands) the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural FY 96 FY 97 History (NMNH) in 1988 to promote the study of Anthropology 450 450 Arctic peoples, cultures and environments. Build- Arctic Biology 50 50 ing on 150 years of Smithsonian Arctic exploration Total 500 500 and science, its mission lies in cultural, biological and environmental studies in the Arctic and sub- • Interdisciplinary approach. More than other Arctic, particularly in Alaska but also throughout the inhabited regions, the North still remains a circumpolar North. This year, the occasion of the natural ecological system made up of ele- Center’s tenth anniversary and the fifth year since ments that cannot be studied in isolation. ASC the establishment of ASC Regional Office in programs use cross-disciplinary approaches Anchorage, affords an opportunity to review the that integrate social, biological and natural history and status of the Center’s programs. science data. The Arctic Studies Center is the only significant • Circumpolar scope. Unique features of the Federal program devoted to Arctic cultural research holarctic region, such as the lack of signifi- and education. In keeping with the Smithsonian’s cant geographic barriers, make the circumpo- commitment for “the increase and diffusion of lar world ideal for long-term studies of knowledge,” the Center conducts field research and human–environment interactions on a truly museum studies; produces exhibition and outreach global scale, historically and in the modern programs for Smithsonian visitors, regional audi- day. ences and national media; and maintains a variety • International character. Because a circumpolar of educational programs. Training museum profes- perspective requires international collabora- sionals and conducting outreach to enhance the leg- tion, the ASC maintains close relationships acies of northern peoples are central to its mission. with scholars and local peoples throughout It is the sole U.S. agency with a stable institutional the Arctic and participates in international setting for cultural studies in the Arctic, and unlike organizations and agencies. most Federal agencies, because it is a trust instru- • Community focus/local access. Research and mentality, it is chartered to work internationally. public programs are planned with local The ASC has developed a close collaboration with a participation and community access in mind. number of northern Native communities and orga- Training, resource access and multi-level nizations through joint exhibition and research ini- reporting provide access for a wide range of tiatives. interest groups and education levels. • Preservation of cultural legacies. An overarching guide is the enhancement and Guiding Principles preservation of cultural legacies of northern peoples. Building on 150 years of Smithsonian enterprise, three program components—research, collections development and public programs—are essential to Research Programs the signature “Smithsonian” blend of scholarship and public education. Additional guidance is pro- Research, including its conduct, analysis and vided by the following overarching themes: reporting, is central to the ASC program and has

118 been a Smithsonian guiding principle since its work with Smithsonian collections in Washington, foundation in 1846. ASC research includes field-, D.C. Special projects and grants bring more north- laboratory- and museum-based projects that explore ern Natives to Washington and Anchorage for a significant problems and topics of the Arctic and variety of reasons, including collection study, train- sub-Arctic world. Both individual and team-based ing and consultation. Collaboration with U.S. and work is conducted, often in an international setting. Alaska state government research and education The Center staff emphasizes anthropological programs provide further channels for affiliation. archeology, ethnology, ethnohistory and related aspects of biology, geography, geology and ecology. Research problems of interest to ASC staff and Collections research associates fall into a variety of culture change and transformation studies that focus on Having pursued northern studies since the 1850s, northern human–environment interactions from the the Smithsonian possesses one of the world’s finest Pleistocene to modern times. The ASC also inves- anthropological collections from Arctic regions. The tigates modern processes of culture contact and most important early collections are ethnological transformation from the perspectives of history, materials acquired by Smithsonian naturalists be- contemporary issues, demography, geography tween 1858 and 1890 from the Mackenzie District, and ecology. Over the past 20 years Smithsonian Ungava, Baffin Island, Coppermine, Alaska and Arctic and sub-Arctic studies have concentrated Siberia. In the early 1900s, with northern cultures on research in three circumpolar regions: being transformed by Western contact, Smithsonian • Native cultural history, environmental relations researchers turned to archeology to explore the his- and Inuit–European transformations in the tory of Arctic peoples and cultures. Inspired by the eastern Canadian Arctic; quest of finding the origins of Eskimo culture and • Trans-Beringian contacts and evolutionary the first traces of pioneering peoples out of Asia, systems in the greater North Pacific region; and Smithsonian archeologists obtained large collections • Culture history and cultural transformations in from Kodiak, the Aleutian Islands and the Bering the context of modernization and industrial Strait. Between 1927 and 1965 the Smithsonian’s development in the Yamal region of western Henry Collins excavated sites in Alaska and Can- Siberia (Russia). ada, rising to become the heralded “dean of Arctic archeology.” Recent work in Labrador, Baffin, the Aleutian Islands, the Gulf of Alaska and Siberia Staff have expanded ASC activities throughout the circumpolar region. Unlike many museum collections, The Center operates with a staff of anthropolo- the Smithsonian’s are comprehensive, systematic gists split between the National Museum of Natural and remarkably well documented. Archival hold- History in Washington, D.C., and the Anchorage ings, including field notes, photography, unpub- Museum of History and Art in Alaska. Although lished reports and other information gathered by the the staff is small, research associate appointments researchers who made these early collections, add add geographic and thematic depth and bring the substantially to the value of the Institution’s north- Center into contact with other scholarly constituen- ern collections. Today these records are valuable not cies. Current research associates include Anne only for scientific reasons but because they provide Fienup-Riordan (Anchorage), Ernest S. Burch, Jr., information on the context of early fieldwork— of Harrisburg, Douglas Siegel-Causey of the Uni- Native assistants, information about local condi- versity of Nebraska, and Norman Hallendy of Carp, tions, participation of private companies and the Ontario. Fellows, volunteers and interns are invalu- military, and governmental relations. able sources of assistance and receive research and In addition to its ethnological and archeological training opportunities during their tenure at the collections, NMNH natural science departments Smithsonian. The staff maintains wide-ranging also hold large collections of northern fauna, flora, contacts with researchers in Alaska, Canada, minerals and paleontological remains. These col- Greenland, Scandinavia, Russia and Japan. lections document North American Arctic and Each year the ASC hosts several visiting foreign sub-Arctic regions before the industrial age and scholars under its Visitor’s Research Program, are important resources for studies of global while the Community Scholars Program brings change, pollution baselines, food-chain pathways northern Native artisans and community scholars to and paleo-environments.

119 Relationships, Policy and Crossroads Alaska/Siberia The large Crossroads exhibition stimulated a Partnerships smaller traveling exhibit to present North Pacific collections to local audiences in Alaska and the The ASC nurtures relationships with other muse- Russian Far East. NMNH, the National Museum of ums, institutes and private and public organiza- the American Indian, the University of Alaska tions. While the basic ASC mandate lies in cultural Museum, and Russian Far East museums contrib- studies, Center programs range across the natural uted objects for this exhibition, which was funded sciences, humanities and arts and use resources of by NSF, the Smithsonian, the National Park Ser- other Smithsonian offices and departments. Outside vice, USIA and others. The exhibit toured 12 sites the Institution it maintains relationships with the in Alaska in 1993–1996 and in 1987 was the first National Science Foundation, National Park Ser- exhibition ever to travel in the Russian Far East. vice, State Department, NOAA and other Federal Color catalogues, educational materials and media and Alaska state agencies. Most ASC programs are programs were produced, and 5000 Russian lan- conducted as cooperative ventures with U.S. and/or guage volumes were delivered free to Siberian foreign partners, university groups and Native com- museums, Native associations, village schools and munities. local communities. The ASC represents the Smithsonian at various Federal agencies and on research boards such as the Jesup II Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee, the Conceived and launched in 1992 as an off-shoot Arctic Research Commission and the Arctic Re- of the Crossroads exhibition, Jesup II is a joint search Consortium of the United States. It helped effort of U.S., Russian, Canadian, Japanese and lobby to create the Arctic Social Science Program European scientists to explore the legacy of the in the Division of Polar Programs at the National Jesup North Pacific Expedition (1897–1902) and Science Foundation in 1990. The Center has a the current status of Native cultures of the greater prominent role in policy issues and takes seriously North Pacific region. In the past six years Jesup II its advisorship to government and international has produced four international conferences (1992, bodies. The National Museum of the American 1993, 1994, 1997) and two volumes by an interna- Indian, which recently became part of the Smith- tional research team. sonian, works together with the Center in northern research and education. Museum Partnerships in Alaska In 1993 the ASC established a regional office in Alaska in partnership with the Anchorage Museum Recent Programs of History and Art. Anticipating trends later recognized by the Smithsonian’s Commission on the As the principal venue for the Smithsonian’s Future (1996) and its derivative Affiliations Pro- Arctic enterprise, the ASC uses its resources for gram, the NMNH–Anchorage agreement provides the benefit of the Nation and the world at large. In research, education and training to Anchorage and recent years it has expanded its earlier focus on rural Alaskan communities. In 1996 the Smith- North America into international research, collec- sonian’s National Museum of the American Indian tion sharing, exhibition and public education. These joined the Arctic Center’s Anchorage effort by con- programs have brought Smithsonian programs to tributing to its public outreach activities. The first many foreign nations and local northern communi- five-year affiliation agreement expires in December ties for the first time. 1998 and is currently under renegotiation.

Crossroads of Continents Community Archeology and This first international joint venture with the So- Museum Training viet Union/Russia led to Crossroads of Continents: Since 1978 the ASC has worked to provide Cultures of Alaska and Siberia, a ground-breaking access to Smithsonian collections, archival data exhibition that toured North America in 1988– and staff expertise to northern institutions and resi- 1991. The project produced three international dents. Research programs and museum studies fel- symposia, and its catalog and educational publica- lowships and internships create opportunities for tions included Crossroads of Continents (1988) and northern residents and community scholars to work Cultures of the North Pacific Rim (1994). with museum collections and archives. In Anchor-

120 age, yearly museum training workshops have been Historical Archeology of Russian Contact held to train community scholars and Native The Center continued research and publication museum professionals. Together with a traveling on the interaction of Russian fur traders and indi- mini-exhibit series, these programs have helped genous populations of southern Alaska. Earlier stimulate local museums and culture center devel- research on the Russian Three Saints Harbor col- opment in Alaska, Canada and Russia. ony on Kodiak Island was published in 1997 as Archaeology and Capitalist World System: A Archeology of the Frobisher Voyages Study from Russian America (Aron Crowell, Archeological exploration of Martin Frobisher’s Plenum Press, 1997). Data from new contact “gold mines” of 1576–1578 provided insight into period sites discovered in NPS surveys are provid- early European voyages and contacts with Native ing information on material culture change and Inuit in the eastern Canadian Arctic. Sparked by village abandonment that fill major gaps in histori- study of an early Smithsonian archeological collec- cal knowledge about the effect of Russian contact. tion (C.F. Hall, 1862), fieldwork in 1990–1993 brought together an international team to study the Living Yamal first post-Norse European settlement and mining This project on the Yamal Peninsula of western venture in the American Arctic. In addition to Arche- Siberia grew from the need to evaluate western ology of the Frobisher Voyages (1993), the project Siberian cultural resources in the face of industrial stimulated a Canadian–American and British pro- development. Three archeological surveys (1994– gram that has produced several scholarly volumes, 1997), a photograph exhibition, several video films five PhD/MA theses and many international sym- and public and scholarly materials were produced by posia, popular articles and documentary films. a Smithsonian–Russian team. The project introduced Smithsonian field and museum approaches National Park Surveys across the Russian Arctic and pioneered museum- During 1993–1996, ASC was funded by the arbitrated roles between industry and Native cul- National Park Service to conduct archeological sur- ture. Another outcome will be publication of the veys and paleoenvironmental research in Katmai, monumental Historical–Ethnographic Atlas of Kenai Fjords, Glacier Bay, Wrangell–St. Elias and Siberia (800 pages, 1200 illustrations) by SI Press. Lake Clark National Parks, situated along the geo- logically dynamic coastline of the Gulf of Alaska. Outreach, Media and Exhibits The data advanced knowledge of human adapta- Over the past ten years the ASC has developed tions and paleodemography across a broad region, a media and image profile that communicates its while identifying impacts of glacial advances and mission to national and international audiences. changing sea levels on preservation of the archeo- The ASC Newsletter has become an important logical record. The results will assist the NPS in vehicle for disseminating information to a large management and research planning efforts. NPS and growing clientele yearly. Numerous news contributed salary, fieldwork, analysis and publica- releases and radio, TV and print stories document tion support, which has been vital in maintaining Center activities nationally and internationally. the ASC Anchorage office. Video documentaries including Secrets of the Lost Red Paint People, Viking America, Northern Western Aleutian Archeology and Paleoecology Clans/Northern Traces and In Caribou Country Since 1992 the ASC has participated in the West- have been produced and are broadcast repeatedly ern Aleutian Human Paleoecology and Biodiversity in North America and Europe. The Center also Project, an interagency (with U.S. Fish and Wild- maintains a prize-winning homepage and multi- life Service), international (U.S., France, Russia) media communications system. In addition to its and interdisciplinary research initiative set in the large traveling and mini-exhibit series, other spe- Near Islands, the westernmost of the Aleutian Chain. cial exhibits produced include Canadian Inuit Building on the earlier Smithsonian scholarship and Sculpture, shown in the Canadian Embassy Gal- collections made by William Dall, Lucien Turner, lery, and Oil From Alaska, which opened at the Leonard Stejneger and Ales Hrdlicka, the research Smithsonian’s National Museum of American His- initiative is centered on unraveling the long-term set- tory in the fall of 1997. tlement chronology, the dynamics of human and avian biogeography, and the nature of the evolution Arktis/Antarktis Exhibition of chiefly societies in such a remote archipelago. In 1996-97 the Center was invited to collabo-

121 rate with the Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle (KAH) the Municipality agreed to provide free facilities gallery in Bonn, Germany, to contribute anthro- and core services to support the office. The agree- pological perspectives to an exhibition on polar ment is subject to renewal after five years and will regions. Two exhibit segments, one on circumpolar expire in late 1998. archeology and another on the Nenets reindeer For the past four years the Anchorage Office has herders of western Siberia studied in the Living been directed by Aron Crowell, an archeologist Yamal project, were prepared, accompanied by with extensive experience in museum programs and a documentary film, Northern Clans/Northern scholarly research. Affiliation with the Anchorage Traces, produced in collaboration with Spofford office of the National Park Service has allowed the Films and Cybergrafix Corporation. The exhibit ASC to pursue archeological surveys in National was displayed in Bonn through April 1998. Parks in addition to conducting outreach and public programs. In 1997 a grant from the Smithsonian’s Arctic Studies Website National Museum of the American Indian allowed The success of ASC video programs and the prize- the Center to add an education outreach coordinator winning ASC website, http:/www.nmnh.si.edu/arctic/, to the Anchorage office staff. produced with Spofford Films and Cybergrafix, For its first four years the Center occupied an shows the potential for new media in bringing ASC office in the Anchorage Museum, with additional research and public programs to both mass and space for research and collection storage. In 1997 selective audiences. In cooperation with the Office the Center moved into new offices in a building of Polar Programs of the National Science Founda- adjacent to the museum that had been turned over tion, ASC prepared and mounted a series of web to the museum by the city and was renovated and pages devoted to selected NSF-sponsored social equipped for Center use by Elmer Rasmuson, who science research projects. The Center will continue was then a board member of the NMNH and has been developing this delivery method with the aim to a long-time friend and benefactor of the Anchorage bring its research and educational programs to Museum. These offices provide excellent facilities for wider research and public audiences, especially to the near future. Long-range plans announced in 1996 northern communities in Alaska. call for expansion of the AMHA complex within the next 5–10 years and will bring the ASC back into the museum proper. This will enable the Center to fully Alaska Regional Office integrate research, collection and training activities with Anchorage museum programs. The Alaska Regional Office of the Arctic Stud- Since its inauguration in 1994 the Anchorage ies Center was established in 1994 through agree- Office has fulfilled its developmental stage plan, ments between the National Museum of Natural conducting a wide variety of research and edu- History, the Anchorage Museum of History and Art cational ventures. Aron Crowell’s research has been (AMHA) and the Municipality of Anchorage. The devoted to archeological fieldwork for his Gulf of five-year agreement called for cooperation in estab- Alaska program with the NPS and the analysis and lishing a Smithsonian presence in Alaska to pro- reporting of this work. Archeological illustrator vide Alaskans with access to Smithsonian cultural Mark Matson has assisted the effort in the Anchor- resources. At the same time an Alaska office would age office under NPS funding. In addition to an enhance the Institution’s research capabilities important contract period study, several papers have through direct contacts with Native Alaska and its appeared on Kodiak prehistory and geo-archeological cultural resources. studies conducted in Gulf of Alaska National Parks. The Anchorage agreement called for NMNH to Major research has also gone into preparating establish a curatorial position at the Anchorage the exhibition Looking Both Ways: Heritage and Museum to staff the office and assist AMHA Native Identity of the Alutiiq People, including collection cultural programs. Second, NMNH agreed to work studies at NMNH, extensive work with archival toward bringing Smithsonian anthropological col- photography and oral history sources (contract lections to Alaska for use in local exhibitions, train- research by Dee Hunt), and in-depth discussions ing and research. Third, NMNH agreed to work with Alutiiq elders about exhibition themes and the with AMHA and other Alaskan agencies to develop meaning and significance of material culture items a series of workshops and other training programs and historic images (Crowell and Maria Williams). for Alaskan residents in museums studies, research In addition to research activities the Anchorage and exhibition techniques. On its side, AMHA and Office has conducted a series of outreach programs

122 that have been enthusiastically received and ASC and technical training from the Chugach reviewed. Theses include tribal museum and School District to create an interactive catalog of museum education seminars at the Alaska Feder- objects in the William J. Fisher collections. ation of Natives meeting in October 1994, at the Museums Alaska meeting in September 1996 and at Networks and Relationships the Western Museums Association meeting in Sep- tember 1998. In addition to its current relationships with the Preserving our Heritage: A Seminar on Com- University of Alaska in Anchorage and Fairbanks, munity Research and Cultural Documentation was the ASC has developed partnerships with the grow- held in Anchorage in October 1995. ASC provided ing ranks of small regional museums and culture cen- assistance to the Alaska Native Human Resource ters throughout Alaska, and its mini-exhibit tours Development Program, University of Alaska, in have connected them with similar institutions in conducting this seminar, attended by 40 students Canada and Russia. They are regular participants in from throughout Alaska. the Alaska Anthropological Association and Muse- A workshop called Preservation of Cultural ums Alaska associations and meetings. They have Objects was held at the Anchorage Museum of entered into formal agreements with the new Inu- History and Art in May 1996. This five-day inten- piat Cultural Center in Barrow and the Alutiiq sive training program was attended by 25 partici- Museum in Kodiak, and they expect more of these pants from 16 Alaska museums and was taught by relationships to develop in the future. The Center’s Smithsonian ethnographic conservators Carolyn relationship with the University of Alaska Fair- Rose and Greta Hansen. banks Department of Alaska Native and Rural The Anchorage Office held an Elders Planning Development in Anchorage, directed by Gordon Conference for the Exhibition Looking Both Ways: Pullar, has been of great assistance in mounting a Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People at the variety of workshops and educational programs. Alutiiq Museum in Kodiak in September 1997. It was attended by 45 elders and Alutiiq cultural Conclusion leaders from villages throughout southern Alaska, as well as a large public audience. It involved The primary ASC objective for its second decade planning of exhibit themes through discussion of is to maintain a multifaceted research and public the William J. Fisher collection, historical photo- programs agenda. The latter can be best achieved graphs and archeological materials. via expanded partnership, new exhibit projects Another workshop, called Alaska Native Muse- and publication. They expect to continue working ums and Culture Centers: Planning and Manage- with Russian, Canadian, European and Japanese ment, was held at the Anchorage Museum of His- researchers, as well as circumpolar Native peoples. tory and Art in February 1998. Their most challenging role is to fulfill the outreach Since 1994 the Anchorage Office, in coopera- and collection-sharing mandate proclaimed in the tion with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Smithsonian’s 150th anniversary report, E Pluribus Ilisagvik College (Barrow), has sponored six Unum: This Divine Paradox, the 1995 Report of undergraduate courses leading to a museums stud- the Commission on the Future of the Smithsonian ies minor, as part of the Museum Studies Distance Institution, without compromising scholarly quality Delivery Classes. Students have participated or collection integrity. remotely by audio-conference from 25 communities During its first decade the ASC succeeded in over the past four years. Classes visited the NMNH building internationally acclaimed exhibits, research in March 1996 to study the Alaska collections. The programs, training and publication projects. Thanks program also involves student internships and pro- to these efforts, Smithsonian collections and expertise jects at ASC and the Anchorage Museum. Another have been brought out of “the Nation’s attic” into the undergraduate course, called Museum Studies in North and have been introduced to a new constitu- Anthropology, was taught through the University ency of scholars and northern peoples around the of Alaska Anchorage during the spring semester of globe. With an international research program already 1997. well defined and a new foothold in Alaska secured, In the Tatitlek CD-ROM Project, village stu- the Smithsonian has turned a corner and is ready for dents worked with research materials provided by the challenges of the new millennium.

123 Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency’s Arctic research focuses on ecosystem protection, primarily in the areas of contamination, global climate change, risk assessment and environmental technology.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Funding (thousands) Arctic research is designed to protect the region’s FY 96 FY 97 environment and to minimize environmentally Research and Development 517 300 related human health impacts. The EPA is pursuing Regional Activities 237 80 specific research foci such as environmental trans- International Activities 0 100 port, fate and effects of contaminants; land use, Total 754 480 habitat and climate change; risk assessment for more defensible, credible and cost-effective risk portable Arctic research have included exposure management; and the development of environ- to endocrine disruptors (and such other environmental technology. mental stressors as hazardous or toxic chemical The EPA’s Arctic research activities in FY 96 substances, land use or land cover change, and and 97 had the following broad goals: habitat loss), ambient air quality, environmental • To estimate the extent of Arctic ecosystem engineering (and technology for sustainable devel- contamination brought about by multimedia opment), bioremediation, and social sciences transport and ecosystem stress arising from research. Also, partial support has been provided human activity, and to investigate in a more for Arctic issue-specific workshops and research comprehensive manner the effects of a variety planning meetings. of contaminants in Arctic ecological systems Regional activities are undertaken through and in Arctic human and wildlife food webs; close cooperative planning and implementation • To provide risk-based assessment technology with the states and local communities, and have and other information for use by Arctic stake- addressed such issues as waste and chemicals holders such as Native Alaskan organizations, management and education; contaminant studies state environmental programs, and industries at specific locales; and environmental technology developing Arctic ecological resources; and demonstrations. • To complete work on estimating the condition International activities, undertaken among of two northwestern Alaska estuaries using the circumpolar nations, are designed to provide the scientific methods developed by the multi- forums for dialogue, as well as the conduct of agency Environmental Monitoring and bilateral and multinational projects, concerning Assessment Program. human health protection, environmental steward- These goals have been pursued across three dimen- ship and security in the Arctic. sions of primary activity: research and development, regional activities and international activi- Health and Ecological Stressors ties. Intramural and extramural research, both basic Increasingly there is recognition that human and applied, is developed according to the results activities are significant influences on the ecologi- of priority-setting screenings conducted under cal systems of the Arctic regions and the health of the risk assessment/risk management paradigm. people living there. The Arctic has been shown to Investigator-initiated research proposals submitted be a concentration area for locally and globally cover a wide range of disciplines and research generated contaminants and pollutants, and such interests (and are reviewed, and in some cases industries as agriculture, fisheries, forestry and funded, in cooperation with other Federal part- mining may compound important health and envi- ners). Some areas applicable to potentially sup- ronmental impacts.

124 The Agency’s Environmental Monitoring and source studies in Alaska. The work, done in coop- Assessment Program (EMAP), along with the eration with the State of Alaska, Environment National Park Service, is investigating the phen- Canada, the Coordinating Research Council, Gen- omena of Arctic haze and trophic nutrient cascade eral Motors and the cites of Fairbanks and Anchor- at Denali National Park. While not Arctic, Denali age, was undertaken to determine the effects on experiences real and perceived problems regarding ambient levels of carbon monoxide (CO) from the deposition of atmospheric contaminants, and its use of oxygenates in gasoline (oxyfuel) in Anchor- nitrogen-poor and nitrogen-limited aquatic ecosys- age and Fairbanks; both have exceeded the CO tems raise questions about the impacts on wildlife ambient air standard. In the winter of 1992-93, an such as caribou, moose, wolves and bears of oxyfuel program was introduced to the two cities. trophic cascade from excess nitrogen deposition. A number of health-related complaints were Also, EPA interest extends to the biological rami- received by the State, prompting a study in Fair- fications of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) exposure at banks by the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- Denali’s high latitude and altitudes, and the devel- vention (CDC). The study was inconclusive but opment and validation of an index capable of provided information that led the Governor of reflecting the condition (that is, ecosystem health) Alaska to suspend the use of oxyfuel with the oxy- of freshwater benthic communities at Denali. An genate MTBE. The question of the effects of oxy- air quality station was operational in FY 96 and fuels on CO reduction, vehicle performance and 97, and a UV-B monitoring site was established in human exposure under Arctic and sub-Arctic con- September 1997. A final report on the develop- ditions was raised. In FY 95 the Congress funded ment of the freshwater benthic index is expected investigation of the impact of oxyfuels in Arctic in late FY 98. Also, in investigating contaminant and sub-Arctic winter conditions, and the EPA and inputs to the Arctic, the Great Lakes National Pro- the State of Alaska began running a low-tempera- gram Office of the Agency’s Region V Office ture study on vehicle emissions in Fairbanks and maintains the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition at NERL in North Carolina. The EPA’s portable dy- Network. The network monitors, among a variety namometer was shipped to Fairbanks, and several of pollutants, air toxics that may accumulate in the vehicles were tested in low temperatures. To check Arctic, and it indicates possible U.S. sources of on the Fairbanks results, three of the vehicles and these contaminants. the Fairbanks test gasolines were shipped to North The Office of Research and Development’s Carolina and run in EPA’s low-temperature dyna- National Health and Environmental Effects mometer. Papers describing the effects of MTBE Research Laboratory (NHEERL) provided support and ethanol on vehicle emissions at low tempera- in FY 96 to the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment tures have been published and the data presented Program’s (AMAP) efforts to draft chapters on at several scientific meetings; the publication on heavy metals and the characteristics of ecosystems the MTBE work is a joint effort with Environment and human populations relevant to pollution issues Canada. for AMAP’s State of the Arctic Environment report, The Exposure Methods and Monitoring Branch which contains the findings of six years of evalua- (Air Measurements Research Division) of the EPA’s tion of the status of and trends and changes in the NERL, in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force condition of Arctic ecosystems. Also, researchers (USAF), has investigated exposure to jet fuels in at the University of Washington have received the Arctic. JP-8 jet fuel has become the standard limited support from the NHEERL’s Western Ecol- military fuel for all types of vehicles including air- ogy Division to establish a database and to con- craft. Because of its low vapor pressure emissions tinue to analyze data from that laboratory’s prior during cold weather, aircraft starts are higher in Arctic Contaminants Research Program. These aerosols and vapors, and fueling crews in colder data arise from analyses of heavy metals and trace climates have reported strong jet fuel odors and elements in Arctic lichens, mosses and soils. A “drenching” by exhaust when working behind air- draft database was submitted to the Division in craft. The USAF and EPA are developing and February 1997, and a subset of these data was using novel sampling and analytical methods to deposited with the AMAP. characterize JP-8 human exposure in cold climates The Source Apportionment and Characteriza- that include new techniques for exhaled breath tion Branch (Atmospheric Processes Research measurement and microenvironmental air sample Division) of the EPA’s National Exposure Re- collection. Work at Eielson Air Force Base in Fair- search Laboratory (NERL) has conducted mobile banks, Alaska, has shown ubiquitous human expo-

125 • Measured levels of contaminants in these local food resources and what is known or not known about the health effects of ingesting these foods; • The cultural importance of local resource foods that are most likely to contain contaminants at levels posing a threat to human health; • Alaska Native concerns about contaminants and Alaska Native ideas on how these concerns can be handled most effectively through informed risk management; and • Research needed to better understand contamination to Alaska Native subsistence harvests. Measuring JP-8 aerosols and sure to JP-8 using EPA’s breath measurement The University has submitted a continuation pro- vapors in KC-135 exhaust at methodology and battery-operated air sampling posal to Region 10 that has been evaluated by Eielsen AFB, Fairbanks, instrumentation. Research publications and pre- some IARPC agencies. It is hoped that these agen- Alaska, March 1997. sentations are in preparation. To date, measure- cies will join with EPA in continued support of the ments at 0°, –10° and –20°F do not support the work. severity of exposure described anecdotally. In coordination with the IARPC initiative on EPA Region 10’s Office of Environmental Assessment of Risks to Environments and People Assessment, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife in the Arctic, EPA’s National Center for Environ- Service and the U.S. Geological Survey, provided mental Assessment is now planning and scoping support for a study of snow contamination at two work for an Integrated Response Assessment for estuaries near Barrow, Alaska. The work, conducted the Pribilof Islands and Bering Sea. Of necessity, the at the Kasegaluk and Elson Lagoons at the Dease work is multidisciplinary and is being designed and Inlet of Admiralty Bay, is part of EPA’s Regional will be conducted with the cooperation of the EMAP and involves ultratrace analyses on snow Agency’s Region 10, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife samples expected to reflect atmospheric input to Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the the lagoons. Snow from five lagoon sites was sam- City of St. Paul, the Tanadgusix Corporation, the pled in April 1996 and analyzed using ultraclean Aleutian–Pribilof Island Association, the St. Paul methods. Several heavy metals had elevated levels Tribal Government, the Aleut Corporation and Los in the snow. Particularly high concentrations of Alamos National Laboratory. Considerable net- mercury were found in Kasegaluk Lagoon, and working is ongoing to foster cooperation among chlorpyrifos, endosulfans, chlordanes and dacthal relevant international, Federal, state and local were also detected. A report on the results of metals organizations including environmental and com- analyses was completed in December 1996, and a mercial interests. The work recognizes that the report on pesticide analyses was completed in Sep- Arctic Bering Sea region is a valuable natural tember 1997. An article, to be submitted to a peer- marine resource of tremendous ecological and cul- reviewed journal, is in preparation. tural importance and economic potential. The In FY 96, EPA Region 10’s Office of Waste and Pribilof Islands represent terrestrial jewels within Chemical Management supported a grant to the the region. Both ecological systems are highly University of Alaska Anchorage for a study called sensitive to ever-increasing anthropogenic chal- Alaska Native Use of Local Food Resources: Har- lenges, including environmental contamination, vests, Contaminants, Concerns and Cultural global climate change and fisheries exploitation. Importance. The work focuses on developing an Significant effort has been directed toward easily accessible database concerning the contami- research prioritization in the region by national nation of subsistence resources in Alaska. The and international organizations. The project recog- dynamic database will be available to 226 Alaska nizes that while research efforts to promote better tribes and other interested parties. The project is scientific understanding of Bering Sea resources compiling information on: are of tremendous value, scientific understanding • The contribution of different local food alone is not enough to manage these resources resources to the diets of Alaska Natives; wisely. The work is designed to explore the inter-

126 dependencies of ecological and human systems than would otherwise be the case. Energy activi- and to generate the kind of research questions and ties in the Arctic are extremely difficult, are prone management options that promote long-term pro- to accident, and have a history of extensive envi- tection of all values in the Arctic Bering Sea region. ronmental damage that has affected Russian rivers, The concept of integrated response assessment their tributaries and the Arctic Ocean. The activity involves a process designed to transform scientific will allow development to be far more environ- data into meaningful information about the poten- mentally sensitive than it is currently by providing tial for change and about the possible risks of human tools that preclude or minimize such damage. A activities on ecological, human health, economic White Paper was prepared for presentation at a and sociocultural values of importance in the September 1997 GCC meeting in Moscow, and a region. The work differs from other current field visit is scheduled for December 1997 to meet research prioritization efforts because of its prima- with local Siberian representatives. ry focus on establishing management goals; inte- Another annually convened GCC activity (that grating ecological, economic, cultural and human is, its Environment Committee) facilitated by the health issues; and applying the rigor of ecosystem- EPA provides a forum for ongoing U.S.–Russian level risk assessment to allow integration of results dialogue and policy consultations on environmen- for more practicable management. Principal tal stewardship and security in the Arctic. Work accomplishments this fiscal year include obtain- under the Committee led to the 1994 U.S.–Russia ing commitments to participate in the process by Arctic Pollution Prevention Agreement. This local Aleut communities in the Pribilof Islands and agreement promoted garnering financial and pol- Federal agencies with jurisdiction on the Pribilofs, icy support for expanding a low-level liquid radio- and networking with the state and academic com- active waste treatment facility in Murmansk. Also, munities. A grant has been awarded to the St. Paul a trinational project among the U.S., Norway and Tribal Government to survey the community for Russia (that is, Arctic Military Environmental development of management goals. Two intra- Cooperation) is focused on the development and mural interdisciplinary work proposals are in manufacture of a prototype transportable interim preparation to support aspects of the work. storage container for damaged and undamaged spent naval nuclear fuel. In FY 96 the EPA Region 10’s Office of Waste Other Projects and Chemicals Management (OWCM) funded production of a documentary called “Koyukon World EPA’s National Center for Environmental View and Arctic Contamination Issues.” With a Assessment and its National Exposure Research grant to the Louden Village Council Tribe of Galena, Laboratory, in cooperation with the Agency’s Of- Alaska, the film depicts a model, community-wide fice of International Activities, continue to support strategy for solving chemical and waste manage- a project called Environmental Risk Assessment ment problems. The model strategy is intended to: for Arctic and Subarctic Energy Development. • Identify chemical and waste management This Arctic oil and gas risk assessment project is problems and potential risks in the Galena being conducted under the Gore–Chernomyrdin community; Commission’s (GCC) Environmental Working • Develop a collaborative method for solving Group, the mission of which is to apply intelli- these problems among agencies or govern- gence technologies to civilian-sector environmen- ments with differing cultural perspectives and tal problems. Information derived from intelli- environmental priorities; gence satellites and other classified sources, both • Identify specific actions or solutions to more in Russia and in the U.S., have been combined effectively manage contaminant issues; and with civilian data and used to create “derived • Transfer lessons learned via the documentary products” (that is, unclassified, publishable maps). to other Alaska Native communities. Geographic information system maps of an area in Also, OWCM has awarded the Alaska Native Siberia have been prepared and merged, and these Health Board (ANHB) funds to help demonstrate products are being used in the design and conduct solutions to Arctic waste problems and to enhance of oil and gas energy development models and risk waste management capacity among Alaska Native assessments. The models and assessments are villages. In addition, the ANHB will host two Alaska intended to allow specific Arctic energy projects to Tribal Conferences on Environmental Manage- be realized and undertaken far more effectively ment to disseminate information on environmental

127 issues in Alaska. Finally, in FY 96, OWCM sup- require NEPA compliance. The course offered over ported the development of a contaminated-site 40 Native Americans, representing six villages, a brochure describing agency programs and key strong understanding of the purpose of NEPA and contacts and distributed it to Alaskan tribes. The when it applies. This understanding is enabling same effort provided logistic support to the Bristol them to be better informed and to engage appro- Bay Native Association to host a contaminated- priately in the NEPA process. sites workshop, the goals of which were to: The Agency’s Office of Radiation and Indoor • Foster information exchange and coordination Air initiated in FY 97 a cooperative agreement among the Federal agencies (the National with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Alaska Department of Environmental Conserva- the Department of Defense, the EPA, the tion focused on developing a case study for the Alaska State Department of Environmental establishment of ECOMAP to assist with monitor- Conservation, and the Federal Aviation ing activities at Amchitka, Alaska. Now in its ini- Administration) responsible for the clean-up tial stage of activity, the work is expected to increase of contaminated sites; and the level of awareness in the Alaska Native commu- • Provide communities affected by contami- nity regarding the nature of risk from radiological nated sites with clear, incisive information. contamination on Amchitka Island. EPA Region V’s Office of Strategic Environ- Under the Agency’s Environmental Technology mental Analysis, under its National Environmental Initiative (and in cooperation with the Department Policy Act Tribal Program (and in cooperation of Energy, the Alaska Division of Energy, and with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Kotzebue Electric), Region X and the Office of Forest Service), provided training for Native Research and Development are supporting a pro- Americans in Fort Yukon, Alaska, on the National ject for replacing diesel fuel with wind energy in Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Course work rural Alaskan villages. This project focuses on deter- was conducted by representatives of the EPA, the mining the effectiveness of using community heat- Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Forest Service. ing loads as a dump load for a high-penetration The course provided an overview of the act and wind/diesel system. It may demonstrate the capa- agency regulations, and students conducted field bility to minimize the human health and ecological surveys and developed case environmental assess- risks associated with the use of diesel fuels. The ments for relevant Arctic projects that would system is scheduled for construction in 1997.

128 Department of Transportation DOT supports Arctic research through the U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal Highway Administration. The U.S. Coast Guard operates polar icebreakers as national polar research assets for Arctic oceanographic expeditions of both government and nongovernment researchers. The Federal Highway Administration is studying a variety of highway problems in the Arctic.

U.S. Coast Guard Funding (thousands) FY 96 FY 97 The Coast Guard’s primary support to Arctic Arctic Sci/Logistics Support 12,400 12,500 research is the operation of two polar icebreakers, Test and Evaluation 3,450 3,400 the Polar Sea and the Polar Star, which serve as Extramural Science Support 10 30 high-latitude research platforms in both the western Total 15,860 15,930 Arctic and the Antarctic. Support of Arctic research dates back to the 1880s, when the renowned natural- improved the research capabilities of the Polar- ist John Muir made a number of voyages on the class vessels. Revenue Cutter Bear with Captain Michael Healy. The science upgrades of the Polar-class vessels Arctic research aboard Coast Guard icebreakers suffice in meeting current requirements for intensified in the late 1960s and early 1970s when research support in the Arctic. However, to meet the prospect of increased oil and gas exploration in the expanding needs of the future, the Coast the Alaskan Arctic required ecological baseline Guard, in collaboration with the National Science surveys in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. These Foundation, is moving toward the commissioning cruises were supported by the icebreakers CGC and operation of a new research platform dedi- Northwind, Burton Island and Glacier. In the early cated to Arctic science. This new vessel, the 1980s these vessels were phased out as the Polar- USCGC Healy, is under construction and will be class icebreakers joined the fleet. completed in early 1999. The Healy is 420 feet The two Polar-class icebreakers were designed long, has a beam of 82 feet, and displaces 16,000 to carry out a range of missions in the Arctic, long tons when fully loaded. The maximum speed including escorting non-icebreaking vessels will be 17 knots, with a range of 16,000 nautical through the ice, resupplying military and research miles at 12.5 knots. Healy’s primary mission will bases, and supporting scientific operations. In be to function as a world-class high-latitude recent years the role of the Polar-class vessels in research has expanded as more complex research projects and larger science teams have placed added requirements on the current icebreakers. This led to a major upgrade of their capabilities in 1987 through the Polar Science Upgrade Program, a five-year, $14 million program to enhance the scientific support capabilities of these vessels. Scientific laboratories and living areas were expanded to allow up to 32 scientists and technicians to embark on scientific cruises. Upgraded oceanographic winches, new cargo and science gear handling systems, expanded lab spaces, new oceanographic instrumentation, and new communications and satellite data acquisition systems Artist’s conception of the USCGC Healy.

129 research platform. The Healy will be able to con- visited the ship to check its capabilities and dis- duct scientific operations during all seasons in the cuss their individual projects. The final science Arctic, with the ship’s systems designed to func- party consisted of 12 scientists and technicians and tion during extended winter operations, including a high school teacher sponsored through the Nation- intentional wintering over. al Science Foundation Teacher Program. Terry Scientific support capabilities of the Healy will Tucker of the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research greatly surpass those currently provided by the and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) assumed Polar-class icebreakers. The ship will be able to the duties of Chief Scientist. The following orga- accommodate 35 scientists on a routine basis and nizations were supported during the cruise: provide surge accommodations for up to 50. There • Army Cold Regions Research and Engineer- will be over 3000 square feet of dedicated labor- ing Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire; atory space, including a main science lab, a wet • Army Corps of Engineers, Fairbanks, Alaska; science lab, a biochemistry analysis lab, an elec- • Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, tronics lab, a meteorology lab, and a photography Tennessee; lab. In addition the Healy will have five hydraul- • University of Washington; ically operated cranes, two oceanographic winches, • University of Georgia; and a double drum core/trawl winch. It will also • East Carolina University; and provide over 4000 square feet of open deck space • Institute for Marine Science at the Christian- and 20,000 cubic feet of scientific storage space Albrecht University in Kiel. in three cargo holds. Installed bathymetric and Fourteen scientific investigations were con- oceanographic instrumentation will include an ducted dealing with the following scientific topics: echo sound processor and depth digitizer, a Sea- • Characteristics and functions of marine beam bottom mapping sonar system, an XBT microbes in the Arctic (including microbes in acquisition unit, and an acoustic Doppler current the water column, sea ice and sediments); profiler. Lab spaces will be equipped with a Sci- • Air–sea carbon cycling in the western Arctic; ence Data Network providing 120 dual fiber-optic • Tritium and helium in the western Arctic; connected Ethernet ports throughout the science • Plankton dynamics in Arctic marine carbon spaces for real-time data transfer between data and nitrogen cycles; processors, workstations and printers. • Distribution of dissolved organic matter in the The Coast Guard’s major Arctic research effort Chukchi Sea; supported during the past two years was the Arctic • Impacts of increased temperature on benthic West Summer Cruise aboard the CGC Polar Sea biota in the Arctic; between May 20 and July 20, 1996. The original • Circulation in the Chukchi Sea; requirement for Polar Sea’s 1996 deployment cen- • Northern sea route and Arctic Alaska naviga- tered on a two-month-long set of ice trials to test tion study; and the newly installed machinery control and moni- • Sediment transport by sea ice and associated toring system and to provide crew training. physical and chemical processes. A science cruise of opportunity was planned in Underway scientific operations during the conjunction with this deployment, starting with an cruise began with the arrival of the CGC Polar Sea informal solicitation from Coast Guard headquar- at Nome, Alaska, on May 30 and the embarkation ters to members of the science community with of the scientific party. Between May 31 and June previous experience aboard Polar-class icebreak- 24, 13 major science stations were conducted in ers. Based on an enthusiastic initial response and the Chukchi Sea and Arctic Ocean. Oceanographic additional discussions, a small, diverse scientific stations included water sampling, ice coring, and party was assembled that would use all of Polar bottom sediment sampling. Science dives were Sea’s science support capabilities. conducted to collect sediment and biota samples. Logistics and operations planning for the cruise Helicopter flights were conducted for ice recon- began early in the winter of 1996, coordinated naissance and to gather ice characteristics data through the ship’s Marine Sciences Officer and through observation and aerial photography to the Coast Guard Science Liaison Officer located in support the CRREL research. An ice tracking buoy Alameda, California, whose primary responsibility was also placed on a multi-year ice floe for the is planning, coordinating and implementing polar National Ice Center. science projects. Between February and April, In concluding the cruise, on June 24 , Polar interested principal investigators contacted or Sea’s commanding officer and executive officer

130 icebergs using remote sensing. Although this research occurred south of the Arctic Circle, it has direct relevance to high-latitude navigation and is an integral part of the Coast Guard’s Marine Sci- ence Program. During 1995 and 1996 the International Ice Patrol participated in Berg Search 95, a joint experiment with several Canadian government agencies, universities and private industry researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of aircraft and satellite remote sensing systems and to prototype ground-wave over-the-horizon surface radars in detecting ships and icebergs. The satellite system evaluated was the ERS-1 iceberg and ship detection technology. Airborne sensors included forward-looking and side-looking radars. Remotely sensed data were compared with surface-truth data from on-scene vessels and aircraft to determine the effectiveness of remote sensing techniques for locating and tracking icebergs. A final report was published in International Ice Patrol invited all members of the science party to a “cus- April 1996. C-130 used to locate and tomer focus group” meeting to discuss accomplish- A second joint U.S./Canadian project involved monitor icebergs. ments, problems encountered, and lessons learned the evaluation of Radarsat for operational iceberg during the cruise. The scientific party expressed detection and classification. The project is part general satisfaction with the results of the endeavor of the Application Development and Research as a skillfully planned and executed scientific Opportunity (ADRO) program sponsored by the cruise of opportunity. On 25 June the Polar Sea Canadian Space Agency, NASA and Radarsat returned to Nome and disembarked the entire sci- International. This research, undertaken by IIP entific party. and the Canadian Department of Fisheries and In addition to the 1996 Arctic West Summer Oceans in 1996, compares Radarsat data with Cruise, the Coast Guard International Ice Patrol data acquired during IIP reconnaissance flights (IIP) located in Groton, Connecticut, participated to determine effectiveness in locating and track- in two joint U.S./Canadian research efforts to eval- ing icebergs. This project will be completed in uate and refine the capability to detect and track 1998.

Funding (thousands) Federal Highway FY 96 FY 97 Administration Stream Crossings/Hydrological 783 100 Pavement Problems 898 3,100 Soils/Subbases (Permafrost) 428 260 Weather Monitoring/Storm Forcasting 100 500 The goals and objectives of the Federal High- Air/Water Quality Impacts 1,000 1,810 way Administration (FHWA) in the Arctic are to Snow Control/Pavement Treatment 229 1,584 develop and maintain safe and cost-effective sur- Total 3,438 7,354 face transportation facilities, primarily for highways and highway vehicles, just as anywhere else The FHWA has been monitoring and conduct- in the U.S. In the Arctic, however, there is a need ing research in the Arctic for many years, in addi- to assure that highways are compatible with severe tion to the numerous investigations conducted constraints imposed by weather conditions, the elsewhere in the U.S. that are often relevant to impacts of severe climate, and the fragile ecology highway problems in the Arctic. These projects of the area, as well as other normal environmental have been conducted primarily in collaboration compatibility concerns. with the various state highway agencies, espe-

131 cially Alaska and the states with more severe winter mance of a highly porous air convection embank- conditions. Together with the state highway agen- ment (ACE) fill that prevents thaw-degradation of cies, the FHWA sponsors, collaborates with and underlying permafrost soils by natural convection of monitors work done under the auspices of the cold air during the winter. Treated and controlled National Academies of Science and Engineering sections, each 200 ft long, are being monitored for through the Transportation Research Board, temperature changes, entombed shoulder failures, National Cooperative Highway Research Program severe longitudinal cracking, roadway surface con- (NCHRP). Some of this work includes funding for ditions and thaw pits. Minor efforts are being made and collaboration with other agencies such as the on the possible subbase uses of geotechnical fabrics. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Corps of Engineers (CRREL), as well as university and private consultant contractors. Pavement Studies

The Pavement Performance Division from the Stream Crossing Hydraulic Office of Engineering Research and Development is Problems pursuing major efforts to evaluate the long-term performance of pavements that are subjected to Arc- Arctic streams typically have highly variable tic conditions. An initial thrust in these large efforts discharges and flood levels and are plagued by occurred under the Strategic Highway Research erratic floating and blocking ice. Measurements are Program (SHRP). complicated by permafrost and water flows under Adequate lengths of Portland cement and asphalt and above the ice layers. To deal with these condi- concrete test sections have been placed for observations the USGS has been contracted for many years tion. Various mix designs, thicknesses and base con- to measure the varying water discharge rates and ditions are being used at 51 sites. These sites are the flood stages of numerous representative located in extremely cold climatic zones of the U.S. streams. The results of these measurements and or at Canadian sites established under collaborative estimates have been used in structural and hydrau- cooperative agreements. Observations of the behav- lic designs of bridges and culverts and in estimates ior of the surface conditions, distresses and integrity of floods and risk analyses related to stream flows. of the pavement sections will continue for a pro- Alaska has a program to study stream channel longed period of time. This includes observations stability and scour at bridges. Scour problems vary of deflections, rideability and surface defects such greatly and depend on bed loads and the highly as spalling. Heat transfer and surface-to-depth variable runoffs and sources of sediment loads temperature changes are also being measured and within their watersheds. Both aggrading and degrad- evaluated since they reveal seasonal changes of ing streams may occur at bridge sites. Many river- temperature and heat content according to time and beds have highly erodible silts. deep-ground and local ambient air temperatures. There have been studies that have led to revised Factors to be considered include temporal pave- design requirements for fish passage through high- ment responses (diurnal, seasonal and annual) due way culverts and for the use of culverts in lieu to the separate and combined effects of moisture of bridges. In the Arctic regions of Alaska the and temperature variations. The models of pave- requirements of different fish species have to be ment behaviors and responses that are being devel- considered. The blockage of culverts by ice and the oped and validated with the data obtained on the reduction of culvert capacity by heavy silt deposits limited number of sections studied in the seasonal are additional factors to be considered. Various cul- monitoring program are expected to be applicable vert modifications have been used to enhance fish to other similar test sections of the SHRP. passage. Efforts have been made to increase the The Alaska Department of Transportation, in col- versatility of the FISHPASS program so that more laboration with the FHWA, has been involved in fish species are taken into account. Currently a spe- studies directed toward Arctic conditions. Efforts cial effort is being made for juvenile salmon. are currently directed toward the use of modified asphalt concrete where binders are selected to Soils and Pavement Subbases enhance mechanical performances over wide temperature ranges. These asphalts have been found to An experimental project has been planned for a have the best behavior in places where permafrost site near Fairbanks, Alaska, to evaluate the perfor- problems have been controlled.

132 Weather Monitoring and expanded to consider the use of RWIS, weather forecasting and friction measurements. Field testing Storm Forecasting and evaluations were performed during the winters of 1993-94 and 1994-95 to determine the effective- Investigations have started primarily in the ness of these strategies over a range of traffic, envi- SHRP study to provide improved weather guid- ronmental and climatological conditions. ance for highway maintenance and traffic opera- Investigations are being performed to develop tions. The objective of these investigations is to methods for manufacturing calcium magnesium respond to problems related to ice, snowstorms, acetate (CMA) at lower production costs. These avalanches, wind, dust and fog in a strategic and studies have been considering the laboratory con- timely manner. The resulting strategies are being version of waste materials, such as sewage sludge field tested in several states. and cheese whey, that permeate to CMA using The Roadway Weather Information System high-yield anaerobic bacteria. Other issues being (RWIS) is a common term for the timely com- considered are the determinations of the yields and munication of a combination of road, pavement purities of these waste materials, based on their and ground conditions, including temperature processes; possible costs incurred by their commer- changes, potential for heat transfer and near- and cialization; and the market strategy and industry’s intermediate-term weather forecasts for highway interest in commercialing these processes. Under operations, traffic controls and road maintenance. Phase I of this study, CMA materials based on ace- Systems like this, together with more exact and tic acid are being produced at lower production timely local weather forecasts, are being rapidly costs under two contracts. The results indicate that deployed in most pertinent states and are considered projected costs can be competitive with those of to be elements of intelligent vehicle systems (IVS). other snow and ice control chemicals. One of the These investigations are designed to improve advantages that CMA offers is that it does not cause weather information for the more strategic, eco- the corrosion and environmental impacts typically nomic, timely and properly sized efforts of high- associated with the more common snow and ice way responses to snow and ice storms, avalanches, control chemicals. Phase II pilot plans for alternate wind, dust and fog. Expected cost savings come production of CMA are now underway. from smaller responses or more timely responses Heating systems involving various heat sources to storm threats. Weather monitoring and storm and heat distribution systems have been installed forecasting systems are also being used to help in on a selection of highway bridges to minimize deciding whether or not to close travel on highway icing deck problems. Evaluations of the perfor- sections due to storm conditions. mances, costs and practicality of these installations are underway in Oregon, Texas, California, Nebraska, West Virginia and Virginia. Problems Snow Control and Pavement related to the reduction of icing in pavements and bridge decks are being evaluated in states such as Treatments for Snow and Ice Alaska and Ohio. Several topics are being studied as part of Short test sections on snow fences and snow projects that are using ice mechanics theory and plow designs developed during the SHRP study advanced analytical techniques: are being evaluated and field tested in several • Processes by which ice can damage highway states. materials such as Portland cement concrete, Implementation of anti-icing technology has asphalt concrete and base materials; been completed in 27 states participating in a new • Correct use of ice and packed snow scraping anti-icing study that involves the use of prewetted loads and the correct pressure for plow blades salt applications and liquid snow and ice control mounted under vehicles; chemicals. The objectives of this anti-icing study • Road friction; were to allow states to gain hands-on experience • Robot vehicles for safe snow removal and in using efficient and effective procedures for follower vehicle for winter maintenance; snow removal and ice control. Anti-icing strate- • Automatic bridge deicer systems; gies, including various material types and im- • Winter maintenance vehicles; and proved material spreader equipment, have been • Automatic vehicle display locators.

133 Ecological and Water Quality cerned with the impacts of salt and other contami- Impacts of Highways and Highway nants to ground water. Other U.S. highway inves- Operations tigations are directed toward the attenuation or removal of water contaminants that may originate The FHWA, in collaboration with the U.S. Fish from highway runoff or construction and repair and Wildlife Service, is investigating the habitats materials used in highway maintenance activities. of grizzly bears in order to reduce the impacts of Among them is a wide range of waste materials, highways and highway traffic on their environ- some of which could contaminate surface or ment. Grizzly bears are common in the southern groundwater. portion of the Arctic in Alaska. Findings from this Alaska is conducting an investigation to obtain study should be directly applicable to their habitat and evaluate representative samples of runoff and areas in the mountains north of Fairbanks from the leftover debris from snow storage operations from Pacific Ocean to Canada. streets and highways in different regions of the The water quality impacts of winter mainte- state. These samples will be analyzed for their nance materials, primarily salts, to surface water chemical composition and possible water contami- and ground water are being investigated. Massa- nation in relation to assumptions established by chusetts, Ohio and Indiana are particularly con- regulatory agencies.

134 Department of State During FY 96 and 97 the Department of State continued its involvement in multi- lateral and bilateral activities related to environmental protection and scientific research in the Arctic. The most significant of these were participation in the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy and its successor organization, the Arctic Council, and support for the U.S. Man and the Biosphere Program.

Arctic Environmental Protection to chair the Arctic Council from September 1998 Strategy/Arctic Council through September 2000 will necessarily increase the Department’s supporting role for Arctic research The Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy and policy formation activities in FY 98, 99 and 00. (AEPS) was established in 1991 to serve as a con- sultative body to its eight Arctic member countries Man and the Biosphere Program with regard to regional action on environmental issues of common concern. In July 1996, at an The Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and AEPS Ministerial Meeting in Alta, Norway, the International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Ministers signed a declaration establishing the Arc- supports the Secretariat for the U.S. Man and the tic Council—the successor organization to the Biosphere Program (U.S. MAB), an office funded AEPS which, in addition to its core mandate of by 13 Federal agencies. The primary source of funds addressing regional environmental issues, was to spent by the U.S. MAB on Arctic projects comes examine the issue of sustainable development in through the Department’s International Organiza- the Arctic. The Arctic Council’s four working tions Bureau. U.S. MAB contributed funds to Arctic groups remain the same as those under the AEPS: research in 1996-97 through its High Latitude Eco- • Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program systems Directorate (HLD) and the Northern Sciences (AMAP); Network (NSN). • Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment The HLD has a continuing core research project, (PAME); which changed focus in 1996. The original sociolog- • Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna ical study, based primarily on surveys, analyzed (CAFF); and community and traditional user participation in • Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and managing the Porcupine caribou herd on both sides Response (EPPR). of the Alaska/Canada border. Beginning in 1996, Because funds were not available to provide Phase II of the study, “Ecological Role of Hunting direct assistance to AEPS and the Arctic Council in Herd Dynamics and Its Implications for Co- during FY 96 and 97, the Department of State’s management of Caribou,” emphasizes the biological support was limited to sending representatives to aspects and implementation of a monitoring system meetings of the working groups, to Senior Arctic for users within their own villages. U.S. MAB fund- Officials meetings, and to the Ministerial Meeting ing for its HLD project was $50,000 per year in FY in Alta. The Department supported Arctic research 96 and 97. by ensuring that agencies and individuals with Arc- U.S. MAB continued its support of the NSN tic policy and research interests were invited to par- through contributions to the NSN Secretariat located ticipate as delegates to meetings of the Council and at the Danish Polar Center in Copenhagen. The its subgroups, by participating in regularly sched- funds are used to support meetings and workshops uled meetings of the Interagency Arctic Research held by NSN as well as to support research sites Policy Committee, and by holding monthly meet- throughout the Arctic in the International Tundra ings of the Arctic Policy Group, which allowed Experiment (ITEX). NSN is an effort of the MAB Federal agencies with Arctic policy interests to par- countries with Arctic interests. U.S. MAB funding ticipate in the policy formulation process. for the NSN was $6000 in FY 96 and $7000 in The recent decision of the Department of State FY 97.

135 136 Seventh Biennial Report of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee to the Congress

February 1, 1996, to January 31, 1998

137 THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON

138 139 Seventh Biennial Report of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee to the Congress February 1, 1996, to January 31, 1998

Prepared by the National • Consulted with the Arctic Research Commis- Science Foundation for the Background sion on policy and program matters described Interagency Arctic Research in Section 108(a)(3), was represented at meet- Policy Committee Section 108(b) of Public Law 98-373, as ings of the Commission, and responded to amended by Public Law 101-609, the Arctic Commission reports and recommendations Research and Policy Act, directs the Interagency (Appendix A). Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) to • Continued the processes of interagency coop- submit to Congress, through the President, a bien- eration required under Section 108(a)(6), (7), nial report containing a statement of the activities (8) and (9). and accomplishments of the IARPC. The IARPC • Provided input to an integrated budget analy- was authorized by the Act and was established by sis for Arctic research, which estimated $183 Executive Order 12501, dated January 28, 1985. million in Federal support for FY 96 and $172 Section 108(b)(2) of Public Law 98-373, as million in FY 97. amended by Public Law 101-609, directs the • Arranged for public participation in develop- IARPC to submit to Congress, through the Presi- ment of the fifth biennial revision to the U.S. dent, as part of its biennial report, a statement Arctic Research Plan as required in Section “detailing with particularity the recommendations 108(a)(10). of the Arctic Research Commission with respect to • Continued to maintain the Arctic Environ- Federal interagency activities in Arctic research mental Data Directory (AEDD), which now and the disposition and responses to those recom- contains information on over 400 Arctic data mendations.” In response to this requirement, the sets. AEDD is available from Alaska as a re- IARPC has examined all recommendations of the source on the World Wide Web on the Inter- Arctic Research Commission since February 1996. net. The required statement appears in Appendix A. • Continued the activities of an Interagency Social Sciences Task Force. Of special concern is research on the health of indigenous Activities and peoples and research on the Arctic as a unique environment for studying human environmen- Accomplishments tal adaptation and sociocultural change. • Continued to support an Alaska regional During the period February 1, 1996, to January office of the Smithsonian’s Arctic Studies 31, 1998, the IARPC has: Center in cooperation with the Anchorage • Prepared and published the fifth biennial revi- Historical Museum to facilitate education and sion to the United States Arctic Research cultural access programs for Alaska residents. Plan, as required by Section 108(a)(4) of the The Smithsonian’s Arctic Studies Center cir- Act. The President transmitted the Plan to culated its “Crossroads Alaska/Siberia” exhi- Congress on July 29, 1997. bition to cities in the Russian Far East from • Published and distributed four issues of the December 1996 to November 1997. journal Arctic Research of the United States. • Supported continued U.S. participation in These issues reviewed all Federal agency Arc- the non-governmental International Arctic tic research accomplishments for FY 94 and Science Committee, and the Committee’s 95 and included summaries of the IARPC and International Conference on Arctic Research Arctic Research Commission meetings and Planning. activities. The Fall/Winter 1997 issue con- • Participated in the continuing National Secur- tained the full text of the fifth biennial revi- ity Council/U.S. Department of State review sion of the U.S. Arctic Research Plan. of U.S. policy in the Arctic. U.S. policy for

140 the Arctic now includes an expanded focus on tise and to promote the resolution of key un- science and environmental protection and on answered questions about Arctic environmen- the valued input of Arctic residents in re- tal protection. The initiative is intended to search and environmental management issues. help guide internal agency research planning • Participated in policy formulation for devel- and priority setting. The goal of the initiative opment of the Arctic Council. This Council is to disclose specific management questions incorporates a set of principles and objectives and goals that should drive assessments and to for the protection of the Arctic environment gather credible information about the sources, and for promoting sustainable development. transport, fate, effects and cumulative risks of IARPC’s Arctic Monitoring Working Group Arctic contaminants and other human health serves as a U.S. focal point for the Council’s and environmental stressors. This initiative Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program proposes development of an integrated, com- (AMAP). prehensive assessment including: 1) data res- • Focused attention within the U.S. Govern- cue and synthesis; 2) observations; 3) pro- ment on the disposal of nuclear waste and cess-oriented research; 4) model develop- other toxic waste materials by the former ment; Soviet Union 5) impacts analysis and estimation of risk; on land and into the Arctic Ocean, seas and and 6) information management. It is expect- rivers; provided assistance to the Department ed that funding for the initiative will be in- of Defense’s Arctic Nuclear Waste Assess- cluded in agency budget submissions, as its ment Program (ANWAP); and increased at- objectives and potential value are of high rele- tention on such other Arctic environmental vance to the mission and responsibilities of and human health stressors as land use and each IARPC agency. land cover change, and losses of habitat and • Convened two formal meetings of the Com- biodiversity. mittee, in November 1996, to receive public • Approved a coordinated Federal agency comments on the U.S. Arctic Research Plan, research initiative on Assessment of Risks to and June 1997, to approve the U.S. Arctic Environments and People in the Arctic. The Research Plan; and held twenty-six meetings initiative is designed to augment individual of IARPC staff committees, working groups agency mission-related programs and exper- and task forces to accomplish the above.

141 Appendix A: Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee Responses to Recommendations of the Arctic Research Commission

Section 108(b)(2) of Public Law 98-373, as tion to develop a plan of research to support U.S. amended by Public Law 101-609, directs the participation in the Arctic Council. One of the four IARPC to submit to Congress, through the Presi- principal thrusts of the 1998–2002 Biennial Revi- dent, as part of its biennial report, a statement sion of the U.S. Arctic Research Plan is an initia- “dealing with particularity the recommendations tive titled “Assessment of Risks to Environments of the Arctic Research Commission with respect to and People in the Arctic.” This initiative includes Federal interagency activities in Arctic research research to support U.S. participation in the Arctic and the disposition and responses to those recom- Council. IARPC member agencies approved mendations.” In response to this requirement, the development of an implementation plan for this IARPC has examined all recommendations of the initiative at their meeting in June 1997. A risk Arctic Research Commission since January 1996. assessment working group composed of HHS/ The previous IARPC report, submitted in January NIH, EPA, NSF and the State Department is 1996, responded to Commission recommendations developing implementation activities. IARPC through 1995. Many of these recommendations agencies will redirect resources for this initiative deal with priorities in basic and applied Arctic where possible and when consistent with agency research that ongoing agency programs continue priorities. to address. On another front, the United States agencies The following recommendations are from the need to update their plan for a comprehensive Arctic Research Commission report “Goals and study of the Arctic Ocean. While current exper- Priorities to Guide United States Arctic Research” iments are important and of high quality, there (1997). Commission statements and recommenda- is no current plan for the study of the Arctic tions are highlighted in boldface. Ocean which provides context for these studies. The IARPC agencies with responsibilities for research in the Arctic Ocean include NSF, Navy, Recommendations for NOAA, USGS, USCG, EPA, NASA and parts Agencies of several others. IARPC should organize an interagency meeting of the principal agencies This is a new feature of the Commission’s responsible for Arctic Ocean research. The report. At the request of the IARPC agencies Commission has recommended such a plan in we are including specific recommendations for the past and feels even more strongly that an these agencies and interagency groups in order organized effort is needed given the increasing to make clear to them our view of the opportu- evidence for rapid and substantial change in nities. the Arctic Ocean. The Commission recommends that IARPC update the 1990 IARPC Interagency Arctic Research report “Arctic Oceans Research: Strategy for Policy Committee an FY 1991 U.S. Program.” The Commission recommends that the NSF, IARPC fully agrees with this recommendation in its role as lead agency for Arctic research, and will update its report “Arctic Oceans Re- call together the IARPC to agree on a plan of search: Strategy for a U.S. Program” during the research to support U.S. participation in the next planning cycle. Arctic Council and demonstrate the national commitment to carry on the goals of the U.S. National Science Foundation Arctic Policy expressed by the President. Since The National Science Foundation Arctic Sci- the appropriation of new money to meet these ence Section in the Office of Polar Programs commitments is unlikely, it is imperative that has made great strides in recent years in their the IARPC agencies come to the table with the interest in and efforts on behalf of research in intention to redirect resources to carry out this the Arctic. We are pleased with several develop- task. ments in the last two years including the part- The IARPC fully agrees with the recommenda- nership with the Commission in support of the

142 ARCUS Logistics Study, the participation of the Navy Section’s staff on the Commission’s field trip The level of Navy interest in the Arctic con- to Greenland and the foundation’s support for tinues to wane. The fact that the Arctic Ocean the swath bathymetric mapping system to be is no longer considered an area of strategic deployed in 1998 as part of the SCICEX Pro- threat is due to the decrease in tensions with gram. Nevertheless, there still remains a sub- Russia. The result has been a precipitous stantial disparity between support for research decline in funding for Arctic studies at the in the Antarctic and in the Arctic. A new era is Office of Naval Research. The Commission about to dawn in Arctic Research because of believes that the decrease in operations is a rea- the arrival in 1998 of the new Coast Guard ice- son for maintaining research levels in the Arctic breaker Healy. Healy has the potential to in order to maintain the national capability in become the most important ship for Arctic the region. Research is generally much less Research ever launched. On the other hand, it expensive than operations, and the knowledge may languish at the dock making only occa- base created and maintained by research in the sional forays into the Arctic. The National Sci- region may be of vital national interest in the ence Foundation has committed to Healy by future. Reduced military activities in the region ending its support for the ARV design activity do not justify reduced research efforts and may conducted by the University National Oceano- be an excellent justification for maintaining graphic Laboratory System. Healy will be the and even increasing research. only U.S. resource for surface studies of the With this in mind, the Commission com- Arctic Ocean. Having committed philosophi- mends the efforts of the Navy in carrying out cally to Healy it is essential that NSF find the the SCICEX cruises. These expeditions into the resources to operate Healy as a research vessel Arctic Ocean aboard operational fast attack with a minimum operating schedule of approx- submarines show an extraordinary interest in imately 200 days per year. Without sufficient the support of science by the Navy. The ques- operating support, the NSF commitment to tion of the continuation of these cruises after Healy will be a hollow one. The Commission 1999 and the retirement of the last of the Stur- recommends that NSF support the full time geon Class submarines is of great concern to operation of Healy as the nation’s Arctic the Commission, and the Commission recom- Research icebreaker. mends that the Navy explore with the scientific community the means to continue this invalu- NSF appreciates the Commission’s comments able access to the Arctic Ocean. on the great strides in recent years by the Arctic The SCICEX Program will begin in 1998 to Science Section, Office of Polar Programs, on be- collect swath bathymetric data in the Arctic for half of research in the Arctic. NSF’s commitment the first time from a submarine. These data will to supporting Arctic research in all areas remains be of great value for students of the region from strong, but NSF is not the sole Federal sponsor for many disciplines. The data recoverable in 1998 Arctic studies. As the Commission is aware, both and 1999 will cover only a moderate fraction of NSF and the Office of Polar Programs must con- the region. The means to continue gathering tinually find the appropriate balance of support for swath bathymetry should be developed for the a wide variety of disciplines and activities. In the future, preferably using Navy nuclear subma- specific case of supporting research that requires rines. This recent development in submarine the use of the Healy, NSF’s FY 98 budget request capability is a reinforcing reason to continue included funding for initial testing for scientific the SCICEX Program. A corollary issue is the applications of the Healy. In FY 99 the Foundation declassification of archived bathymetry data also hopes to support limited research on the Healy collected on previous operations. These data during the science system testing cruises. Long- are a valuable resource for the research com- term planning (FY 2000 and beyond) includes con- munity. A program should be established to tinued support for research on the Healy, although it bring these data out from the classified realm is unclear whether the amount required to fully fund respecting the security concerns which may 200 operating days, including science costs, would surround the collection of these data. The con- be available for this purpose from NSF. NSF will struction of the new U.S.–Russian Arctic Ocean work with other user agencies to develop mecha- Atlas CD shows that these difficulties may be nisms for science support for the Healy. overcome.

143 The Department of Defense, and the Navy, Only occasionally has it appeared in the Presi- invest in priorities consistent with resources. The dent’s budget. The Commission believes that fact that operations in the Arctic have decreased NOAA-NURP can be a valuable asset to the does not support maintaining Arctic research bud- research community. In particular, the Com- gets at the same level as in 1990. We do not agree mission takes note of the report of the “Blue with the conclusion that “reduced military activi- Ribbon Panel” which spelled out a new para- ties in the region do not justify reduced research digm for NURP. The Commission’s interests in efforts and may be an excellent justification for NURP’s activities in the Arctic include the use maintaining and even increasing research.” Sim- of unmanned and autonomous underwater ply, Department science and technology budgets vehicles in the Arctic as well as the employment reflect priorities for DOD’s national security mis- of the Navy’s nuclear submarine assets under sion, consistent with the resources available. We the SCICEX Program noted above. The Com- concur with the statement supporting the value of mission believes that the time has come for an SCICEX experiments and will continue the exist- organic act for NURP which will establish it ing program as budgeted, subject to priorities for as an ongoing activity with a structure based DOD’s national security mission. largely on the recommendations of the “Blue Ribbon Panel.” As part of their mission NURP National Oceanic and should undertake to fulfill the commitment Atmospheric Administration made in the SCICEX MOA to support infra- NOAA has been the leading U.S. agency for structure costs of the SCICEX Program. AMAP. In this role, NOAA has supplied both There have been several attempts to obtain an staff efforts and funding to the AMAP. These organic act for the National Undersea Research efforts have been largely conducted on a good- Program, but these have been unsuccessful. For will basis without organized programs or a sat- many years, NOAA and the Department of Com- isfactory funding base. NOAA deserves great merce did not include NURP in the NOAA budget. credit for these efforts and the Commission Following a reinvention of the program, based in commends and supports their efforts. NOAA part on a Blue Ribbon Panel report, NURP has been has conducted an Arctic Initiative beginning in included in the President’s budget. The role of 1996 at a funding level of approximately one NURP will be evaluated in the context of other million dollars. The Commission supports this NOAA priorities. initiative and recommends that it continue in NOAA operates a suite of National Data the coming fiscal year and eventually becomes Centers including the National Snow and Ice an ongoing part of the NOAA program. Data Center, the National Oceanographic Data NOAA appreciates the recognition by the Com- Center, the National Geophysical Data Center mission with regard to providing the U.S. lead role and the National Climate Data Center. These for the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Pro- data centers are charged with the responsibility gram (AMAP). It is NOAA’s intent to continue its for data rescue in the Former Soviet Union. The participation in AMAP, and to provide support to Commission recommends that the national data assist in coordinating U.S. AMAP activities. centers communicate the nature of their data NOAA also appreciates the support by the rescue activities to the Commission and expand Commission and Congress for the establishment them as necessary to collect data vital to our of the NOAA Arctic Research Initiative in FY 96, understanding of the Arctic, especially the dis- which is managed for NOAA by the Cooperative persal of contaminants in the region. Institute for Arctic Research (CIFAR) at the Uni- NOAA has prepared a report to the Commission versity of Alaska Fairbanks. NOAA intends to con- describing the data rescue activities of the NOAA tinue this program in FY 98, and conducted a National Data Centers. workshop in October 1997 to more clearly define the objectives and scope of the program. An An- nouncement of Opportunity (AO) has been released Environmental Protection Agency calling for proposals, which will again be awarded The Environmental Protection Agency has funding on a competitive peer-review basis. abandoned the Arctic. Although the EPA was closely engaged in the Arctic and a principal The National Undersea Research Program support for the activities of the Arctic Environ- (NURP) has had a long and perilous history. mental Protection Strategy up until 1994, sub-

144 sequent involvement has been minimal. This tee. Both recommendations do not take into has left the United States committed to pro- account the EPA’s continued support of Arctic con- grams under the AEPS, particularly in AMAP, taminants research (in particular, the EPA work to for which the appropriate agency refrained implement the Interagency Research Policy Com- from providing support. The Commission con- mittee’s initiative on “Assessment of Risks to siders this to have been a short-sighted and ill-in- Environments and People in the Arctic”). That formed decision and recommends strongly that initiative recognizes that contaminants are not the the EPA make a substantial effort in the study of sole environmental and human health threats in the contaminants in the Arctic. The U.S. has been Arctic. EPA’s strategy is to consider potential harm judged an under-achiever by the international from such contaminants as heavy metals, radio- community involved in the AEPS and the cur- nuclides, and persistent organic pollutants in an inte- rent discussion on the future of AMAP under grated manner that includes such potential environ- the Arctic Council has become very difficult mental and human health stressors as land use and given that there are no plans for the EPA to car- land cover change, losses of habitat and biodiver- ry out the responsibilities so clearly theirs. sity, and subsistence and lifestyle circumstances. The EPA has begun to show new interest in This approach to assessing risk, rather than stres- the Arctic. The Commission notes the workshop sor presence solely, is made clear in the IARPC held in Fairbanks in the summer of 1996 which initiative. Significantly the initiative focuses also had the effect for EPA of reinventing the AMAP on the rescue of Arctic data for risk assessment priorities which have been known to the other and risk management purposes. IARPC agencies for years. The Commission For example, EPA’s Western Ecology Division also notes that the intent to establish an Arctic (National Health and Environmental Effects Re- baseline study station at McKinley National search Laboratory) is supporting work to establish Park fails to understand that the Park is not in a database and to continue to process data from the Arctic, that experimental opportunities in a that Laboratory’s prior Arctic Contaminants Re- National Park are extremely limited and that search Program. These data arise from analyses of there are a number of much superior sites in heavy metals and trace elements in Arctic lichens, Alaska, notably Toolik Lake and the Barrow mosses and soils. A subset of these data was de- Environmental Observatory, which would pro- posited with the multi-national Arctic Monitoring vide a superior site where EPA could take and Assessment Program. Finally, as part of its advantage of ongoing studies by many scien- Science To Achieve Results (STAR) program of tists. Many in the research community have grants to independent investigators (irrespective of taken the selection of the McKinley site as clear the locus of the investigation), EPA continues to evidence of EPA’s failure to communicate with provide support to proposals that are highly rated its IARPC partners. in terms of merit and relevance and for which ade- The Commission recommends that the EPA quate funds are available. The Agency encourages commence an Arctic Contaminants Monitoring Arctic researchers of all disciplines to submit pro- and Assessment program during Fiscal Year posals to the STAR program. 1997. This program must be closely coordinated with the activities of the other IARPC agen- Department of State cies and the AEPS/Arctic Council planning for The Department of State is responsible for AMAP II. the negotiation and operation of our interna- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tional agreements in the Arctic. The Depart- (EPA) believes that both recommendations may be ment seeks input from the IARPC agencies and addressed in a single response. The Commission’s others through the Arctic Policy Working Group first recommendation implies that there is a single which meets monthly with the Polar Affairs “...appropriate agency...” for the support of the Section at State. Over the years a disconnect Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy, which, has occurred between the Department and the in fact, involves a national commitment. We officials in other agencies making the vital deci- believe that support of the Arctic Environmental sions affecting our participation and perfor- Protection Strategy is an effort for all of the envi- mance in international programs. This stems ronmental and human health protection and envi- principally from the lack of coordination be- ronmental management agencies represented on tween what the agencies will actually do and the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Commit- the rhetoric which is occasionally expressed in

145 these programs. The classic case was the com- cumpolar cooperation, and obligations under the plete failure of the United States to participate AEPS and the Arctic Council. The meeting also in the AMAP health study of contaminants in considered the possibility of support for U.S. umbilical cord blood. While endorsing this pro- chairmanship of the Council beginning in Septem- gram and its goals on the one hand, nobody actu- ber 1998. The Department of State seeks to ensure ally took any samples. The result is that the the Council remains an effective forum for cir- United States has been viewed with a certain cumpolar cooperation, while addressing our na- amount of scorn in AMAP meetings. The cure tional goals and local (Alaskan) interests. for this is certainly not simple. The most impor- The senior review also identified the need for tant step, however, is that the Department of clearly articulated U.S. goals for the Arctic Coun- State must, in the future, meet with Agency pol- cil and a commitment of resources by individual icy officials to review their recommendations, agencies, both in programs and policy, before the spell out the equivalent commitments to action United States decides whether to pursue Chair- by agencies and modify their positions accord- manship of the Council. Based on this meeting, ingly. These meetings must be carefully pre- the Department has drafted papers examining pared so that the issues to be discussed are these issues and the goals for the Arctic Council. clearly spelled out and that the nature of the These will be discussed at a senior policy level in commitment required from the agencies is un- the near term to ensure we have a course plotted derstood well beforehand so that the agencies for our involvement in the Council and to deter- can come to the table prepared to make com- mine if there is a clear commitment, at the Federal mitments. level, to proceed and to finalize a decision on U.S. The Department of State is responsible for the chairmanship. negotiation of international agreements and for coordinating the implementation of the U.S. gov- U.S. Coast Guard ernment’s obligations under these agreements. The U.S. Coast Guard is the principal pro- With regard to the formulation and implementa- vider of ship time on icebreakers for U.S. scien- tion of U.S. Arctic Policy, the Department chairs tists not collaborating with other nations. In the monthly meetings of the Arctic Policy Group past, this system has produced friction and dis- (APG) and also attends on a regular basis meet- agreement as well as some important successes. ings of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy With the advent of Healy, the new Coast Guard Commission (IARPC). The APG oversees Federal icebreaker, a new system must emerge. The dia- Arctic policy and is constituted of representatives log between the scientific community which will of Federal agencies with policy interests in the be using Healy and Coast Guard designers and Arctic. With regard to international Arctic cooper- ship builders has been substantially improved. ation, the Department strives to ensure that domes- The formation of the Arctic Icebreaker Coordi- tic Federal agencies comply with their obligations nating Committee (AICC) has been successful for activi-ties in the Arctic region. The creation of and is leading to improvements in Healy. In the the Arctic Council has led to increased responsi- future the need for liaison and coordination will bilities and international obligations, which are change from the construction team to opera- overseen by tions. The Coast Guard should consult closely the Department. Among other tasks, the Depart- with the AICC remembering that the U.S. aca- ment strives to ensure that all appropriate agen- demic community has, in fact, a substantial lev- cies are represented in appropriate meetings of the el of experience in oceanographic operations Arctic Council and its four subsidiary groups. The generally and in Arctic studies in particular. Arctic Council comprises representatives of the The AICC and the closer cooperation which eight countries that have territory in the Arctic it is inducing will not help to produce the poten- (Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, tial for a new era of U.S. Arctic Research unless Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States) a commitment to operating funds for Healy is and is the follow-on organization to the Arctic forthcoming. The Commission has recommend- Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS). ed to the National Science Foundation that it At a recent meeting of senior-level representa- provide funds for full utilization of Healy at tives from APG member agencies, the Department approximately 200 operating days per year. The began a review of the implementation of U.S. Arc- Coast Guard should support NSF in its efforts tic Policy, including future commitments to cir- to provide these funds.

146 Finally, the Commission recommends that well as individual national research, such as the Ca- Healy consider making her home port in Alaska. nadian effort to develop a technical manual on oil The savings in transit time and costs even to the response under ice and snow conditions eastern Arctic from home porting in Alaska will be considerable and justify the decision. Excel- Department of Defense lent port facilities in Seward, Kodiak, Dutch A number of activities fall under the Depart- Harbor and elsewhere are more than satisfac- ment of Defense. Chief among these is the tory for Healy. SCICEX Program of the Department of the The Coast Guard concurs that the AICC has Navy. The 109th Airlift Wing of the New York proven to be a highly beneficial and effective Air National Guard provides LC-130 support forum for planning and maximizing the scientific for both Arctic and Antarctic research opera- suite capabilities on CGC Healy and is enthusiasti- tions. In addition, DOD is conducting a program cally committed to its continued support. This entitled Arctic Military Environmental Cooper- Committee has great potential to be expanded to ation jointly with the Norwegian and Russian serve in an advisory capacity for science space ministries of defense. The Commission encour- improvements on the two Polar-class icebreakers ages the Department of Defense to continue to as well. provide support for Arctic Research and envi- The Coast Guard is concerned that the addition- ronmental studies and to communicate with the al funding required to fully utilize CGC Healy Commission on any new programs. starting in the year 2000 has yet to be addressed The Department concurs with the Commission’s and strongly concurs with the ARC recommenda- recommendations and will provide information on tion of support for the Healy. new programs as they develop. The Coast Guard has conducted detailed analyses on the home porting question. While there are National Aeronautics and some advantages to the Alaska locations, high Space Administration infrastructure improvement costs and the lack of The Commission has recently received a sufficiently large ship repair facilities make these briefing on the programs undertaken by NASA sites less desirable. The Coast Guard position is in the Arctic or having a substantial component that the proximity to Arctic waters that Alaska in the Arctic. These programs are clearly of a offers does not outweigh the higher support costs high caliber. The Commission notes, however, that would be incurred. that these programs are very poorly publicized outside of the community of NASA Principal The Interagency Task Force on Oil Spills Investigators. The Commission recommends There is a substantial dearth of knowledge that NASA carry out a program of outreach to about oil spills in Arctic conditions. The Com- the Arctic Research Community to publicize mission has long recommended a substantial these programs and to encourage a broader par- research program on the behavior of oil in ice ticipation. NASA is always at risk for the engi- covered oceans. In addition, the Commission neering side of their programs to overwhelm sci- in collaboration with the Alaska Clean Seas entific uses and needs. The Commission believes Association has recommended test burns in the that by broadening the participation of the re- Arctic Ocean to study the variety of questions search community in their programs, NASA can associated with this highly effective method of benefit from the resulting community support. disposing of oil on the sea. The Commission rec- NASA Research Announcements (NRAs) are ommends that the Interagency Task Force com- widely publicized, with a total mailing list of more mence such a program soon, before the question than 40,000, including universities and non-profit is made imperative by accidents in the Arctic. organizations. Announcement of each NRA is sent The Coast Guard supports the ARC in its recom- to the subset of the list that has indicated interest in mendation to commence a research program on the receiving NRAs in the subject area. It is for the in- behavior of oil in ice-covered waters, although no dividuals on the list to indicate their areas of inter- funds are currently available to sup-port such a pro- est, and there are forms in each NRA for them to do gram. The Coast Guard continues so. All NRAs are issued on the World Wide Web to endorse the preparedness and response efforts and are announced in the Commerce Business of the Emergency Preparedness Prevention and Re- Daily. sponse Working Group of the Arctic Council, as

147 U.S. Army Cold Regions Research its involvement in health in several areas, one of and Engineering Laboratory which will be the monitoring study recommended The Army Cold Regions Research and Engi- by the Arctic Research Commission. neering Laboratory (CRREL) in Hanover is a A core activity of AMAP-1 was the monitoring national treasure. In the current climate of bud- of umbilical cord blood for contaminant pollutants, get stringency the pressure on Army labs is which the United States was not able to actively growing. The Commission wishes to be on initiate during that time frame. However, the moni- record in support of the national treasure that toring program, which is to continue during AMAP-2, exists at CRREL. Serious reductions at CRREL has received the necessary local approvals in Alaska would be short term helpful but a detriment to and will be pursued by scientists in Alaska with the the national welfare over the long term. The technical assistance of the National Institute of Envi- Commission encourages continued support for ronmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), NIH and the CRREL. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The research program at CRREL is reviewed and the expected additional financial assistance annually under the Defense Technology Area from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Review and Assessment (TARA) process run by the Office of International Programs. Director, Defense Research and Engineering. The 1996 TARA rated CRREL as a national treasure, as Department of the Interior did the 1997 TARA. The Department of the Army The U.S. Geological Survey has led the effort will propose funding for it consistent with its con- by IARPC agencies in the assembly of a data tribution to its defense mission. structure for Arctic Research. Unfortunately, there has never been a satisfactory funding base National Institutes of Health for this program. In the past, many IARPC Under the Arctic Environmental Protection agencies have contributed to this effort but these Strategy, the United States has become involved contributions have faded. Only NSF continues to in programs concerning the health of Arctic res- provide support. The Commission recommends idents, particularly the indigenous people of the that the USGS and the Department of the Inter- region. In particular, the AMAP health study has ior accept that this program belongs to them and been focused on environmental effects on health should be fully supported. in the region. It is clear that the responsibility The Department of the Interior (DOI) fully for the national effort in this regard falls to the supports the Arctic Environmental Data Directory National Institutes of Health, particularly the (AEDD). The USGS provides the continuing leader- National Institute for Environmental Health ship and support for the management of the catalog Sciences. The Commission recommends that of Arctic research data and information in AEDD. NIH immediately organize an Arctic Environ- This support is marked by innovation and change in mental Health Study focused primarily on the response to the needs of Arctic researchers. measurement of contaminants in umbilical cord For example, the USGS has recently moved blood. This study will require a sampling pro- operational support and management of the Arctic gram including sample protocols and the collec- Environmental Data Directory to the USGS EROS tion of medical history data from the mothers, Data Center to enhance its links with active re- an analysis program including the analysis of search in the national and international science priority contaminants and a statistical study of community. The USGS has migrated to the most the data, a laboratory program to develop new modern technologies of the World Wide Web in its and more effective bio-indicators of environ- implementation of the AEDD, which now employs mental insult, and a program to synthesize these direct links to every known Arctic data source in results and return to the Arctic community in U.S. Federal agencies and their international part- understandable language the results and their ner organizations. implications for life in the Arctic. The USGS actively participates in the Federal With respect to Phase 2 of the Arctic Monitor- Geographic Data Committee’s standards programs ing and Assessment Program (AMAP-2), being and has adapted AEDD to be in full compliance subsumed under the Arctic Council, which has with the national standards for metadata. By doing encompassed the programs of the former Arctic so, the contents of AEDD have been enlarged ten- Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS), the fold to include documentation and pointers to sev- National Institutes of Health is planning to increase eral thousand FGDC-compliant Arctic data hold-

148 ings in Alaska. The DOI is committed to continuing Protection and Natural Resources. Together, ADD support for AEDD on behalf of the IARPC agen- now documents nearly 100 major Russian Arctic cies. data sets. ADD complies with international standards for metadata and is completely compatible The USGS (Arctic Environmental Data Direc- with Global Climate Change data directories in the tory project) should have the full support of the U.S. and internationally. The USGS has opened dis- other IARPC agencies. cussions with the Japan Foreign Ministry to sponsor The USGS seeks funding support from IARPC a fourth ADD node that would house information on agencies annually. From 1991-1993, funding sup- the Russian Far East with a focus on contamination port was provided by agencies whose metadata data and information. Finally, the USGS has worked were incorporated: Commerce/NOAA, DOD, DOE, actively and persistently with the NOAA National DOI, DOT/USCG, EPA, HHS/IHS, NSF, Smithso- Snow and Ice Data Center since 1987 to take advan- nian and State. Since 1993, NSF has funded AEDD tage of their resources in documenting Arctic data annually. HHS/IHS funded the inclusion of Alaska and information sources, including those in the socioeconomic and health data, and DOC/NOAA FSU. The USGS has a close and symbiotic relation- has funded part of the establishment of a AEDD- ship with the NOAA data centers and concurs with compatible node for housing Russian Arctic envi- ARC about their importance in gathering Arctic ronmental data. data and information from the FSU. Although much of the physical environmental Further and reliable financial support from data have been documented, large gaps persist in IARPC agencies is crucial to building this data the identification and documentation of several and information resource to properly document categories of Arctic scientific data and informa- the extensive Russian data holdings and to capture tion. Specifically, Arctic contamination data, socio- the contents of the most important Russian data economic, medical, health and demographic data, sources for future research. The USGS will continue and the continuing release and documentation of to work closely with the NOAA Snow and Ice Data formerly classified data all require extensive effort Center and the partners in ADD to identify and doc- to properly prioritize, document and make avail- ument the highest priority FSU data sets. able to the research community. The USGS will More than 10 years ago NASA initiated the need financial support and commitment from the efforts that have developed into the two NASA Data agencies in which these data reside to make these Centers at the National Snow and Ice Data Center data and information available. (NSIDC) and at the Alaska SAR Facility (ASF). NASA alone supports these centers at a cost of more It is particularly important that an effort be than $15 million per year. NASA will continue to staged to save important earth science data support NSIDC and ASF and, in so doing, will con- from the former Soviet Union. Much useful data tinue to lead IARPC and global attempts to provide is collected in old paper records which are even Arctic data to the research community. more vulnerable now that fuel has become scarce in many places. The Commission has Department of Energy recommended that the NOAA National Data The energy needs of Arctic villages in Alaska Centers undertake a data rescue project coor- are extreme. Poor transportation to remote vil- dinated with the USGS. lages, small communities unable to take advan- The USGS has actively pursued partners to help tage of the economies of scale usually associated identify and document the Arctic data and informa- with municipal energy systems, a mixed economy tion holdings of the former Soviet Union. Based with only modest cash flow and the lack of a soon the AEDD the USGS has helped establish a phisticated technical infrastructure all make the growing network of international partners to this provision of adequate energy resources in the end. In 1994 the United Nations Environment Pro- Arctic difficult. While the Commission has no gram established the Nordic node of the Arctic specific programs to recommend, it asks that the Data Directory (ADD) in Arendal, Norway. Togeth- Department of Energy report to the Commission er, the USGS and UNEP began the process of docu- on its current rural energy programs in Alaska. menting Arctic data from the Russian northwest. In The Commission fully supports the activities 1996 the USGS and UNEP helped the Russian Fed- in the Arctic under the Atmospheric Radiation eration establish a comparable node in Moscow Measurement (ARM) Program. The ARM Pro- operated by the Russian Ministry of Environment gram is an important research effort and is also

149 an outstanding example of close cooperation The Department thanks the Commission for between researchers and Native communities supporting the Atmospheric Radiation Measure- and stands an example for other research pro- ment (ARM) Program’s activities in the Arctic. grams. In particular, DOE thanks ARC for stating that The Department of Energy’s current rural activi- the “ARM Program is an outstanding example of ties in the Arctic pertain primarily to education. close cooperation between researchers and Native DOE will report to the Commission on any new communities and stands as an example for other rural energy programs in Alaska. research programs.”

150 Report of Meeting Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee

Committee Members and 14th Meeting: focus on its own area of expertise, and the result- Agency Representatives Present: Neal Lane (Chair), June 3, 1997 ing scientific information will enable IARPC to Charles Myers and Tom Pyle, inform decision makers on how to manage envi- National Science Founda- Dr. Neal Lane, Director of the National Science ronmental risk. Dr. Alexander presented a sum- tion; George Newton, Jr., and Foundation and Chair of IARPC, convened the mary of a proposed new implementation initiative. Garret Brass, Arctic meeting at the National Science Foundation, Arling- Beringian Systems. Igor Krupnik, Smithsonian Research Commission; ton, Virginia. Dr. Lane reviewed recent accom- Robert Houtman, Department Institution, provided background on the Beringian plishments of the IARPC, including completion of of Defense; Ari Patrinos and Systems initiative, a joint program with the Smith- Merrill Heit, Department of the U.S. Arctic Research Plan biennial revision. He sonian, National Park Service, NOAA and other Energy; Peter Hartsock, noted the improved climate of interagency coopera- agencies. A complete description of the program is Department of Health and tion that has resulted in a number of coordinated found in the fourth biennial revision of the U.S. Human Services; Bonnie multiagency initiatives. He stated that the task McGregor and John Haugh, Arctic Research Plan. The Beringian Systems ini- before the IARPC would be to develop a strategy Department of the Interior; tiative focuses on the region surrounding the Ber- Robert Senseney and Tucker to implement these initiatives in a time of decreasing Strait, including the Chukchi and Bering Seas Scully, Department of State; ing or flat budgets. and adjacent portions of the North Pacific, Siberia Richard Rooth, Department and Alaska. Several Federal agencies support the of Transportation; Joseph Review of U.S. Arctic Policy Alexander and Sidney Drag- Dr. Lane called on Tucker Scully, Department initiative in various ways from research to logis- gan, Environmental Protec- of State, to provide an overview of U.S. Arctic tics. The current plan has a growing base of sup- tion Agency; Prasad policy. Following a recent review, U.S. Arctic pol- port in government and the international science Gogineni, National Aeronau- community. This new initiative is seeking ten-year tics and Space Administra- icy was updated to include a focus on environmen- funding and implementation. Garrett Brass, ARC, tion; Alan Thomas and Renee tal protection and sustainable development of the Tatusko, National Oceanic Arctic region. One of the other elements of the asked to what extent these agency roles were com- and Atmospheric Administra- Arctic policy is to strengthen cooperation among mitments compared to hopes or expectations. Dr. tion; Igor Krupnik and the eight Arctic states. A result has been the estab- Krupnik responded that without new resources Robert Hoffman, Smithsonian lishment of the Arctic Council, a high-level forum some of the planned projects would not happen. Institution; Barbara Weber Arctic Data and Information Systems. Dr. Lane and Richard Cline, U.S. of those eight governments. The Arctic Council Department of Agriculture; will formally meet in 1998. Mr. Scully noted there noted that the IARPC created an Arctic Environ- and Douglas Posson, U.S. is a growing expectation that the U.S. will succeed mental Data Working Group charged with several Geological Survey. to the Chair of the Arctic Council. A wide variety tasks, among these being to establish a modern of preparatory activities are associated with such a system to distribute Arctic data sets and informa- meeting, and a significant interagency effort tion and to coordinate with the international com- would be needed. munity. Most of the agencies provided financial support for this activity. This is an excellent exam- IARPC Program Initiatives ple of interagency cooperation. Douglas Posson, Reports on four interagency program initiatives U.S. Geological Survey, has been managing this were presented. activity and presented progress and plans of the Assessment of Risks to Environments and Peo- working group. In an effort to make AEDD inter- ple in the Arctic. Alan Thomas, NOAA, reported national and circumpolar, the ADD has established on the IARPC initiative on Assessment of Risks to partnerships with Antarctic and Nordic groups. Environments and People in the Arctic and on Partnerships with Russia and Japan are in efforts to coordinate U.S. participation in AMAP, progress. The AEDD serves as a gateway to envi- the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program. ronmental databases and to other Arctic data sets. Joseph Alexander, EPA, stated that there are two This “Arctic Gateway” is intended to support the important factors to consider: 1) there are no addi- newly formed Arctic Council and access international funds but a need to coordinate efforts, and tional data sets on-line. 2) there is a need to look at the environment from Infrastructure and Research Support. Tom a risk assessment perspective. Each agency would Pyle, NSF, presented an update on infrastructure,

151 logistics, facilities and research support in the Arc- coordinate agency ship time requirements for tic. A 1997 report on Logistics for Arctic Re- the research icebreaker USCGC Healy, includ- search, from the Arctic Research Consortium of ing an annual review of costs and performance; the U.S. (ARCUS), also stated that “...The Arctic • Coordinate logistics requirements of NSF OPP [must] be viewed in its global context which, in and Arctic Affiliates; and turn, necessitates a significant expansion of logis- • Develop working relations with logistics man- tical capabilities in the service of the U.S. Arctic gers of other Arctic countries. Research Program.” In response to this need the NSF/OPP Arctic Approval of the U.S. Arctic Research Plan Sciences Section has proposed an Arctic Research Dr. Lane noted that the IARPC staff has been Facilities Coordination Program to lead a response working since last fall on the fourth biennial revi- to the recommendations of the ARCUS Logistics sion to the U.S. Arctic Research Plan. The draft Working Group and Arctic Research Commission. has been circulated through agencies and all agen- Other functions would include: cies have now cleared the plan. A final copy will • Maintain an IARPC logistics web page; be sent to the White House for clearance and trans- • Coordinate Arctic airlift support with the Air mittal by July 31. Dr. Lane requested concurrence National Guard; for transmittal of the Plan. There were no objec- • Coordinate with the U.S. Navy on the annual tions. (The President approved the Plan and sent use of nuclear submarines and work with it to Congress on July 29, 1997.) other agencies to announce opportunities and instrument upgrades for particular cruises; Implementation of Program Initiatives • Supervise a joint NASA/NSF logistics sup- Dr. Lane next discussed how the Interagency port contract with the Polar Ice Coring Office Committee might move beyond the mode of (PICO); research planning to the next step: implementation. • Coordinate science support requirements and Dr. Lane recognized that in a time of flat or decreas- long-term planning for Toolik Lake; ing budgets in most agencies, it is extremely difficult • Coordinate science support requirements and to obtain money for new initiatives. Sidney Drag- long-term planning for the Barrow Environ- gan, EPA, noted that the EPA proposal would serve mental Observatory with the Barrow Arctic as a coordinating framework for continuing cooper- Science Consortium, DOE and NOAA; ation under IARPC. It is an added framework to an • Coordinate science program access to Thule already existing mandate to cooperate. Joseph Alex- Air Base with Air Force Space Command, Air ander, EPA, added that coordination works well National Guard, ONR and Danish/Greenlan- when parties have a vested interest. He proposed dic authorities; that these discussions of the initiative be done in • Coordinate all other science projects in the context of risk assessment/risk management. Greenland with the Danish Polar Center, Dr. Lane stated that in his experience, intera- Commission for Scientific Research in Green- gency agreements sometimes work and sometimes land, Greenland Home Rule, State Depart- don’t. Coordination is more likely when there is ment, PICO and NASA; funding. It is also likely to happen if the agencies • Coordinate interagency support agreement involved have something to gain. George Newton, and upgrades to buoy technology with Na- ARC, added that not only is commitment needed, tional Ice Center’s International Arctic Drift- but the IARPC needs to clearly designate who will ing Buoy Program; ensure that things are implemented. He asked: • Coordinate Arctic science requirements for would EPA be ready to be the executor of the agree- special intelligence satellite data; ment? Joseph Alexander responded that EPA would. • Coordinate requirements for research support/ Dr. Lane asked the IARPC members for their logistics in Russia in conjunction with joint advice on interacting with OMB and OSTP on programs; behalf of the Arctic budget. OMB has a responsibil- • Negotiate an agreement with Canada on logis- ity to look at the Arctic Research Plan and the pro- tics to be developed under an Arctic Research posed budgets of the agencies. Dr. Lane suggested Commission initiative; coordinate future bi- a letter could be sent to the science advisor and lateral meetings; and coordinate U.S. logistics OMB to suggest how the Arctic initiatives would requirements; benefit from additional attention. Dr. Lane asked if • Complete an MOU with the Coast Guard and IARPC members would support this expression on

152 behalf of the Committee. After discussion, the SCICEX/SCAMP. The SCICEX program for the Committee concurred that he should write these use of U.S. Navy nuclear submarines as platforms letters on behalf of the Committee to OMB and for unclassified research in the Arctic has been an OSTP. outstanding success. The latest development in the SCICEX program is the addition of a system known Comments from the Arctic Research Commission as the Sea Floor Characterization and Measurement George Newton, Arctic Research Commission Pod (SCAMP). This system will include an interfer- (ARC) Chair, addressed the Committee on behalf ometric bathymetric mapping system capable of of the ARC. Mr. Newton described the activities producing contour maps of bottom topography in of the Arctic Research Commission: a swath approximately 2.5 times the depth of water International Arctic Research Center. Mr. New- under the submarine. These data will be part of ton stated that the International Arctic Research the SCICEX data set |and will be unclassified and Center (IARC) is one of the strongest international released to the public. This will greatly develop our research alliances ever formed in the Arctic. It is a understanding of the character of the Arctic Ocean, joint effort between the University of Alaska and its formation, its evolution, and sites of importance Japan. The government of Japan has approved a for future resource exploration. new initiative in Global Climate Change Prediction Arctic Icebreaker Coordinating Committee. The to be carried out jointly with the United States NSF Ocean Sciences Division and the Office of through the IARC. A committee of Japanese and Polar Programs have formed the Arctic Icebreaker U.S. government agency representatives, known Coordinating Committee (AICC). The ARC was an as the Japan–U.S. Implementation Committee active promoter of the Committee and serves as one (JUIC) has been formed. of the agency observers. The AICC, composed of Bathymetry. The ARC has recently pursued the Arctic oceanographers, is coordinated by the Uni- release of Arctic Ocean bathymetric data collected versity National Oceanographic Laboratory Sys- by U.S. Navy submarines. Tracks of classified sub- tems (UNOLS). The Committee has met several marine research cruises from 1957 to 1982 were times, including a visit to the Avondale Shipyard in specifically identified. The Navy information will New Orleans, where the new Coast Guard Research be declassified and made available. Data are from Icebreaker Healy is under construction. Discussions 26 deployments and cover over 125,000 track have gone well between these community scientists miles. The ARC has also found funds to start the and the Coast Guard, and several significant physi- physical process of declassification. The release of cal changes have been accommodated in the ship as this information will be the largest single input of a result of interactions between the AICC and the Arctic Ocean bathymetry to the science community USGS. in history. Arctic 2000. The Commission is currently explor- U.S.–Canada Logistics Cooperation. In Decem- ing the convening of a major workshop to consider ber 1996 George Newton and Garrett Brass met with the future of Arctic research in the next century. the Canadian House of Commons Committee on For- Arctic Logistics. The ARC sponsored a study eign Relations and International Trade to discuss by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United common interests in Arctic research. As a result of States (ARCUS) on the specific needs for Arctic the visit, an initiative emerged during the Canadi- logistics support. The report is available on the an–U.S. Summit meeting in March 1997 for the Internet. The study drew widely from the academic coordination and sharing of logistics needs and research community. The results are prioritized and opportunities. cover all fields of Arctic research.

153 Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee Staff

The following individuals are the principal staff representatives for the Interagency Arctic Research Pol- icy Committee. Additional staff support is provided by the Federal agencies for specific activities through working groups, as necessary. Richard Cline James Devine U.S. Forest Service U.S. Geological Survey Department of Agriculture Department of Interior Washington, DC 20090 Reston, Virginia 22092 (202-205-1524) (703-648-4423) Thomas Murray Sivaprasad Gogineni National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration Department of Commerce Washington, DC 20546 Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 (202-358-1154) (301-713-2465) Charles E. Myers Col. Al Schaffer National Science Foundation Department of Defense Arlington, Virginia 22230 Washington, DC 20301 (703-306-1029) (703-695-9604) William Fitzhugh Merrill Heit Smithsonian Institution Department of Energy Washington, DC 20560 Washington, DC 20545 (202-357-2682) (301-903-0238) Raymond Arnaudo Sidney Draggan Department of State U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20520 Washington, DC 20460 (202-647-3262) (202-260-4724) Commander George Dupree Philip S. Chen, Jr. U.S. Coast Guard National Institutes of Health Department of Transportation Department of Health and Human Services Washington, DC 20593 Bethesda, Maryland 20892 (202-267-1456) (301-402-2220)

154 Illustration Front cover: Leslie Holland-Bartels, U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Biologi- cal Science Center. Page 7: George Vourlitis, San Diego State University. Credits Page 19: Colleen S. Benner, Minerals Management Service. Page 23: Jerry Hupp, U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Biological Science Center. Page 24: Karen Bollinger, U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Biological Science Center. Pages 32 and 33: Steven Klingler, National Park Service. Page 37: Amy Mow, National Park Service. Page 38: Clarence Summers, National Park Ser- vice. Page 43: Mark P. Meyer, Bureau of Land Management. Page 45: Layne Adams, U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Biological Science Center. Page 51: U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Biological Science Center. Page 58: U.S. Navy. Page 63 (top and bottom): Roger Bales, University of Arizona. Pages 65 and 68: Konrad Steffen, University of Colorado. Page 124: Joachim Pleil, Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory. Page 127: U.S. Coast Guard. Page 129: Brandon Brewer, U.S. Coast Guard. Back cover: Linda Hasselbach, National Park Service.

The International Arctic Science Committee has established a service to the Arctic research community: an Arctic meetings listing available via the Internet. Called SAM (Survey of Arctic Meetings), it contains information on international Arctic meetings, as well as major national meetings with international participation. The World Wide Web address for SAM is http://www.npolar.no/iasc/sam.htm.

Back Cover Identifying lichens near Kurupa Lake in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Note the mosquitos on the man’s coat.

155 156