Kuparuk River Basin Vegetation

• Kuparuk Basin
• Vegetation
• Elevation
• LANDSAT
• Landscape
• Hydrology
• Hierarchy of Geobotanical Vegetation Map Units (Walker DA 2002)

 

Enlarge image

Available data:
PDF	GE	Metadata	GIS data	GIS data

(from metadata) This image is derived from a mosaic of Landsat Multispectral scanner (MSS) images of the Central Arctic Management Area (CAMA) and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), Northeast Alaska. The mosaic was prepared by the National Mapping Division, U.S. Geological Survey EROS data center, Anchorage, Alaska. Processing was done using bands 2, 3, and 5 of Landsat MSS scenes acquired during the period 4 August 1976 to 2 August 1985.

This preliminary classification was derived from the CAMA mosaic data. An Isodata unsupervised classification approach was used to derive 40 spectral classes, which were grouped into 7 landcover classes. Previous Landsat-derived maps and geobotanical maps of the region were used for ground information to interpret the spectral classes. (Walker 1985 unpub.-correct cite?; Walker and Acevedo 1987; Walker et al. 1995 unpub.). The classfication was done using ENVI image analysis software produced by Research Systems, Inc.

Vegetation units are groupings of finer-level units mapped at numerous sites within the basin (Walker et al. 1995; Walker et al. 1994-correct cite?). Soil units were derived from field reconnaissance, detailed examination of soils at flux 12 tower sights, and a review of the literature relating soil taxa to vegetation types along the North Slope.