We propose an integrated interdisciplinary research campaign to evaluate the vulnerability of boreal landscapes to change in the plumbing that controls water movement and distribution, change in the…

This is a $75,920.42 Cooperative Agreement awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Shared Services Center to Alaska Ecoscience, a for-profit research and development company based in Fairbanks, Alaska. The contract is for an integrated, interdisciplinary research campaign to evaluate the vulnerability of boreal landscapes to changes in hydrology, carbon cycling, and greenhouse gas emissions driven by permafrost thaw. The research aims to extrapolate findings across the boreal region through remote sensing and mapping. This contract does not have a set-aside designation. Alaska Ecoscience has previously received direct contracts and grants from agencies like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and NASA to support research in its areas of expertise, which include Arctic and boreal ecosystem processes.

We propose an integrated interdisciplinary research campaign to evaluate the vulnerability of boreal landscapes to change in the plumbing that controls water movement and distribution, change in the source and chemical composition of c delivered to inland waters, and change in the rates and processes that control organic and inorganic c processing by inland waters and their emissions of CO2 and CH4 to the atmosphere. Our approach recognizes that permafrost thaw will not only enhance groundwater flow and the development of subsurface connectivity, but that loss of subsurface ICE will also change the structure of the land surface, creating thermokarst features in some areas and initiating lake loss or lake creation in others. IT also recognizes that terrestrial sources of c to inland waters will change in response to thaw, fire and other drivers of change. These conditions will be evaluated by geophysical and ecosystem surveys with the goal of extrapolation across the boreal above domain through remote sensing analysis and mapping.