LANDSAT SNOW PERSISTENCE AND SNOW REGIME MAPPING FOR ALASKA
Macander MJ and Swingley CS. 2017. LANDSAT SNOW PERSISTENCE AND SNOW REGIME MAPPING FOR ALASKA. United States Geological Survey Alaska Science Center. Anchorage, AK
The distribution and abundance of snow are critical factors influencing the distribution, movements, and nutritional ecology of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) in Alaska. There is a lack of spatially explicit snow cover data at fine resolution (30 m) over the extensive range. Maps that depict patterns of snow persistence (a proxy for snow depth) are required to improve understanding of the spatial and nutritional ecology of caribou herds in Alaska and adjacent Canada. Landsat-based 30 m snow persistence mapping has been performed for >500,000 km² in northwestern Alaska (Macander et al. 2015) and this mapping has been applied to characterize high-value winter habitat for the Western Arctic caribou herd (Wilson et al. 2014). For the current effort, we developed snow persistence products that will be useful for analyzing caribou habitat selection and informing caribou management practices. These products can support a wide variety of other research and management purposes (e.g., hydrology, landscape change) and are likely to be of interest to multi-disciplinary researchers and land managers. We also developed several metrics to characterize the snow regime of Alaska based on both Landsat and MODIS snow products.
- Type
- Geospatial Dataset
- Authors
- Macander, Matthew; Swingley, Christopher
- Date of Issue
- 2017
- Publisher
- United States Geological Survey Alaska Science Center
- Units
- AKR
- Keywords
- Alaska, Canada, caribou, habitat, Landsat, MODIS, Rangifer tarandus, snow, snow cover, snow persistence, Western Arctic caribou herd
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Air and Climate | Weather and Climate | Weather and Climate , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Mammals