University Of Maine System

TASKS A.1, A.2, B.1 AND B.2

STATEMENT OF WORK THIS SUBAWARD SERVES TWO PURPOSES: 1) ESTABLISH AN INTERIOR ALASKA FIELD SITE WITH A COMPREHENSIVE SNOW AND SLOPE STABILITY RESEARCH PROGRAM AND 2) CONTRIBUTE TO WORK ON THE JUNEAU ICEFIELD 1) WE WILL ESTABLISH A FIELD SITE IN THE ALASKA RANGE TO COMPARE SNOW PACK EVOLUTION IN A DRY INTERIOR CLIMATE TO THAT OF THE OTHER PROPOSED FIELD SITES IN SOUTHEAST ALASKA AND THE NORTHEASTERN COAST OF MAINE. THE SITE IS LOCATED NEAR THE CANWELL GLACIER AND IS ACCESSIBLE YEAR ROUND VIA THE RICHARDSON HIGHWAY AND, IN THE WINTER, VIA SNOW MACHINE. OUR PROPOSED SITE INCLUDES A PERIGLACIAL ENVIRONMENT, STAGNANT DEBRIS COVERED ICE, AND A MOUNTAIN SLOPE WITH A KNOWN LANDSLIDE INSTABILITY. WE WILL CONDUCT REGULAR FIELD VISITS WITH THE GOAL OF MONITORING THE SNOW PACK DURING THE WINTER AND PARTICULARLY DURING THE SPRING MELT SEASON AS WATER BECOMES AN IMPORTANT FACTOR. THE MONITORING WILL OCCUR VIA REGULAR UNCREWED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV) SURVEYS WITH A REGULAR CAMERA FOR THE GENERATION OF ACCURATE DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS, AND A HYPERSPECTRAL CAMERA FOR CHARACTERIZING THE SNOW CONDITIONS. SNOW CONDITIONS WILL ALSO BE MONITORED WITH A TERRESTRIAL RADAR INTERFEROMETER (TRI). UAF OWNS AND OPERATES A GAMMA REMOTE SENSING TRI THAT HAS BEEN USED FOR THE STUDY OF UNSTABLE SLOPES, LANDSLIDES, AND GLACIER FLOW. THE INSTRUMENT CONSISTS OF ONE TRANSMITTING AND TWO RECEIVING ANTENNAS. THE TWO RECEIVING ANTENNAS ALLOW THE CONSTRUCTION OF DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS (DEMS). THE INSTRUMENT WILL BE USED TO DOCUMENT CHANGES IN REFLECTED RADAR ENERGY, AS THE SNOW PACK EVOLVES. FURTHERMORE WE WILL EXPLORE THE UTILITY OF THE INSTRUMENT TO DOCUMENT RADAR PENETRATION DEPTH, WHICH WOULD MANIFEST AS PHASE DIFFERENCES IN THE REFLECTED RADAR WAVE. WE WILL SUPPLEMENT THE UAV AND TRI SURVEYS WITH GROUND MEASUREMENTS, INCLUDING A COMPREHENSIVE WEATHER STATION AND SETS OF THERMISTOR STRINGS TO MONITOR SNOW AND SUBSURFACE TEMPERATURE EVOLUTION DURING THE WINTER AND THE PERIOD OF SNOW MELT. 2) WE WILL ALSO PARTICIPATE IN WORK ON THE JUNEAU ICEFIELD. WE PLAN THREE SURVEY FLIGHTS EACH WINTER WITH A HIGHLY ACCURATE RIEGL LIDAR. IN ADDITION, WE WILL CARRY OUT TRI SURVEYS (AS OUTLINED ABOVE) TO ESTABLISH A PARALLEL PROGRAM TO OUR INTERIOR AK SITE. THE UAF TEAM WILL CONSIST OF THE MAIN INVESTIGATOR TRUFFER WHO WILL COORDINATE ALL ACTIVITIES AND PARTICIPATE IN FIELD WORK AND DATA ANALYSIS AT BOTH SITES, WITH A PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON THE TRI WORK. CO-I LARSEN AND A TECHNICIAN WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL LIDAR MEASUREMENTS TO THE PRODUCTION OF DEMS. CO-I PETERSEN WILL AND A GRADUATE STUDENT WHO WILL TAKE A LEADING ROLE IN ESTABLISHING THE INTERIOR FIELD SITE AND THE WORK TO BE CONDUCTED THERE. A POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW WITH EXPERTISE IN SNOW SCIENCE WILL BE HIRED FOR THE PROJECT AND ASSIST WITH ALL ASPECTS. ALL PERSONNEL WILL COLLABORATE WITH THE OVERALL PROJECT INVESTIGATORS AND WILL ATTEND ANNUAL WORKSHOPS IN MAINE.

SCOPE OF WORK – SUBAWARD FOR QUANTIFYING SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF TEMPERATE SNOWPACK PROPERTIES USING COUPLED RADAR, REMOTE SENSING, AND MODELING TECHNIQUES BRADLEY MARKLE (UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, BOULDER) THE PURPOSE OF THIS SUBAWARD IS FOR SCIENTISTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, BOULDER TO CONDUCT RESEARCH TO UNDERSTAND SEASONAL LIQUID WATER IN THE SNOWPACK ON THE JUNEAU ICEFIELD, QUANTIFY ITS SOURCES, WHETHER PRECIPITATION OR MELT, RECENT TRENDS IN THESE, AND TO BETTER UNDERSTAND ITS IMPACT ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE SNOW PACK. THIS WORK WILL COMBINE REPEAT IN SITU MEASUREMENTS OF WEATHER CONDITIONS, SNOW PROPERTIES, AND COLLECTION OF SNOW SAMPLE FOR GEOCHEMICAL WATER ISOTOPE RATIO ANALYSES; ANALYSES OF LONG TERM WEATHER DATA; NUMERICAL MODELING OF STORM TRAJECTORIES, SNOW PACK PHYSICAL PROPERTY AND GEOCHEMICAL EVOLUTION TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE INFLUENCE OF LIQUID WATER ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE SNOW PACK. THE STABLE ISOTOPE LAB AT THE INSTITUTE OF ARCTIC AND ALPINE RESEARCH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO WILL HOUSE LASER WATER ISOTOPE ANALYZER ACQUIRED THROUGH THIS PROPOSAL TO CONDUCT STABLE ISOTOPE RATIO ANALYSES OF SEASONAL SNOW SAMPLE COLLECTED IN THIS PROJECT, WHICH WILL BE USED TO QUANTIFIED THE HISTORY OF PHASE CHANGES WITHIN THE SNOW. 1. CONDUCT ANALYSES OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL WEATHER STATION DATA AS WELL GLOBAL REANALYSIS PRODUCTS TO UNDERSTAND SEASONAL CHANGES AND LONG TERM TRENDS IN TEMPERATURE AND LOCAL MOISTURE AND MELT. 2. COMPUTE DAILY ATMOSPHERIC BACK-TRAJECTORIES FOR ALL SAMPLE SITES. CONDUCT CLUSTER ANALYSIS AND ANALYZE SEASONAL VARIABILITY AND TRENDS IN REGIONALS MOISTURE TRANSPORT. 3. SET UP LOCAL WEATHER ANALYSES ON SNOW SURFACE AT SAMPLE SITES, TO COLLECT INFORMATION FOR SNOWPACK EVOLUTION MODELING. 4. MODEL EVOLUTION OF SURFACE SNOWPACK OVER THE COURSE OF EACH SUMMER SEASON USING IN SITU DATA AND NUMERICAL SNOWPACK MODEL. 5. MODEL EVOLUTION OF SEASONAL WATER ISOTOPE STRATIGRAPHY USING OUTPUT FROM ATMOSPHERIC TRAJECTORY MODELING COUPLED WITH WATER ISOTOPE DISTILLATION MODEL, AS WELL AS SNOWPACK MODEL OUTPUT. 6. COLLECT SNOW SAMPLES AND MEASURE STABLE ISOTOPE RATIOS TO COMPARE AGAINST MODELING RESULTS AND QUANTIFY THERMODYNAMIC EVOLUTION OF SNOW PACK.

SCOPE OF WORK €€Œ SUBAWARD FOR IMPACTS OF SPATIAL-TEMPORAL PRECIPITATION, SNOWPACK PROPERTIES, AND SNOWMELT VARIABILITY ON ALPINE LANDSCAPES AND RUNOFF ANNIE BOUCHER (FOUNDATION FOR GLACIER & ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH) THE PURPOSE OF THIS SUBAWARD IS FOR THE FOUNDATION FOR GLACIER & ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH (FGER) TO PROVIDE LOGISTICAL SUPPORT, FACILITIES USE, AND FIELD EQUIPMENT RESOURCES ON THE JUNEAU ICEFIELD IN SUPPORT OF THE RESEARCH CONDUCTED ON THIS PROJECT. FGER MAINTAINS TEN FIELD STATIONS ACROSS 2000 KM2 OF THE JUNEAU ICEFIELD IN ALASKA AND CANADA. THE FIELD CAMPS ARE HELICOPTER ACCESSIBLE YEAR-ROUND AND CAN ALSO BE ACCESSED FROM CAMP-TO-CAMP BY SNOW MACHINE OR TRACK VEHICLE DURING THE SPRING AND SUMMER (MARCH-AUGUST). JIRP ALSO OPERATES AN ANNUAL FIELD RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PROGRAM JUNE-AUGUST WITH OVER 40 UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS AND ANOTHER 40-50 SCIENTISTS AND EDUCATORS. THIS FIELD PROGRAM PROVIDES AMPLE OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATION BETWEEN SCIENTISTS FROM DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS AND LEARNING AND PARTICIPATION IN SCIENCE RESEARCH BY STUDENTS. THIS PROJECT CLOSELY ALIGNS WITH FGER ANNUAL FIELD RESEARCH PROGRAMS. AS PART OF THIS PROJECT, FGER INTENDS TO SUPPORT IN-SITU DATA COLLECTION ON THE JUNEAU ICEFIELD BY: 1. PROVIDING LODGING, MEALS, SCHEDULING OF ON AND OFF-ICE TRANSPORT BY HELICOPTER, SUPPORTING SAFETY PLANNING AND TRAINING, AND PROVIDING LOGISTICAL SUPPORT IN JUNEAU BASED ON THEIR DECADES OF EXPERIENCE WITH GLACIOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ICEFIELD (NOTE, HELICOPTER EXPENSES ARE NOT WITHIN THIS BUDGET AND FALL UNDER UMAINE REQUIREMENTS), 2. LOANING ADDITIONAL SNOW MACHINES, GENERATORS, TENTS, EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT OR SNOW MACHINE TRAVERSES, AND OTHER FIELD EQUIPMENT AS NEEDED, 3. PROVIDING ACCESS TO TWO MECHANICS SHOPS AT TWO OF THE LARGEST FIELD STATIONS AND ADDITIONAL MECHANIC/TECHNICIAN SUPPORT FOR THE PROJECT TO ASSURE FIELD SUCCESS IN THE EVENT HARDWARE OR EQUIPMENT REQUIRES MAINTENANCE WHILE IN THE FIELD, 4. PROVIDING ADDITIONAL FIELD PERSONNEL (UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, GRADUATE STUDENTS, AND PARTICIPATING FACULTY WHO ARE PART OF THE PRIMARY JIRP PROGRAM) TO SUPPORT THE FIELD RESEARCH EQUIPMENT SETUP, MONITORING, DATA COLLECTION, AND DATA RETRIEVAL.