Hydrologic information was needed for evaluation, design,
and management of public resources on the North Slope.
Snowcover on the Arctic Slope of Alaska lasts up to nine
months a year. Water contained in snowpack ensures that
snowmelt is a major hydrological event each year. Peak
discharge resulting from snowmelt is the primary runoff
event for many rivers on the North Slope, particularly
for the largest basins like the Colville, Sagavanirktok,
and Kuparuk Rivers. Rivers flowing into the Beaufort Sea
drain a large area that extends from the Brooks Range through
the Northern Foothills and across the Coastal Plain before
discharging into the Arctic Ocean.
This project, funded by the Alaska Department of Transportation
and Public Facilities, helped characterize the major rivers and
streams in watersheds in the Umiat Road Corridor. The effect of climate
change was evaluated to help determine the future impacts to
resource development efforts and public infrastructure. This project
built on the many years of research the Water and Environmental
Research Center had conducted in the central North Slope.
GWS helped design, intall, and maintain the data networks. This included
establishing and upkeeping a telemetry network as well as managing online data
reporting.
All stations were decommisioned following project completion and are no
longer reporting online real time data. However, archived station information
can be found
here.