The Research
What are some of the questions the H2COLD team is exploring?
How does the team prepare for fieldwork?
Preparations before the research trip:
There is a lot that goes into preparing for field work, specially when your field site is in a remote part of the country. The logistics start months before the trip, and include things like: getting the funds to pay for the trip (usually through grants), buying the equipment that will be used or installed at the field site, training scientists and students in the data collection process, reserving rooms and lab space at the field station, arranging for transportation to the field station (remote ones sometimes need to be accessed by snow vehicles, helicopters or small planes), consulting maps and figuring transportation between the field station and the research site/s, and creating a timeline or schedule.
What type of gear and training is needed to work on the tundra?
Our fieldwork takes place in the summer during the months of June, July and August, but the weather in the northern Alaska tundra varies from sunny and 70s, to snowy and below freezing. Rain and wind are also common in the summer months, so our team has to be ready for anything!
Safety is the number one consideration when heading out into the field, so supervisors need to be trained in first aid and prepare their team for any potential hazards, like weather conditions or a bear encounter!
Looking for a suitable field site
When scientists carry out their research outdoors, they often have a huge surface area out of which to select their field sites (where they will set up their experiments, take measurements or make observations). For example, it could be an entire desert, the Amazon Rainforest, Antarctica, or the Arctic tundra! How do they chose their site/s?
To protect these ecosystems, there are usually rules in place that require scientists to get special permits. These will tell them where they can set up and the types of instruments they can set up or samples they can take.
Once they have the permits, the researchers must then narrow down their sites based on the properties they are looking for (eg. they might be studying specific features like the base of a glacier or a flowing river) and also how easy it is to access them.
Collecting Data at the Field Site
Emma and Key Working in the Field.MOVOnce the field site is selected, and the instruments are set up, it's time to start making observations and collecting data. How often researchers collect data depends on their project. Some instruments will collect data automatically and others require a person being there physically to collect it.
At our field sites we measure...
Soil moisture
Soil temperature
Air temperature
Active layer depth
Streamflow rate
Water level depth
Precipitation
Vegetation properties
Soil properties
We also use:
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to gather information about water flowing underground
Drones for aerial photographs of the field sites and surroundings
Satellites for images of the terrain, information about soil humidity, and weather-related measurements.
Learn more about the project
The Team's Work Related to this Project
Water tracks influence hydrologic cycling in upland Arctic Alaska hillslopes. SG Evans, SE Godsey, CR Rushlow, C Voss. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 2020.
Saturation Patterns of Water Tracks thermo-erosional gully complexes situated on hillslopes underlain by continuous permafrost. 2022 American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting. BA Yokeley, SE Godsey, SG Evans, BT Crosby, ES Ferm, K Hatch, RH Harris, C Chew.
Using Geophysics to Constrain Subsurface Massive Ice Formations Along Permafrost Hillslopes on the North Slope of Alaska.RH Harris, ST Marshall, SG Evans, E Ferm, K Hatch, B Yokeley, SE Godsey.
