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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 30, NO. 20, 2067, doi:10.1029/2003GL018268, 2003

Greening of arctic Alaska, 1981–2001

Gensuo J. Jia

Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA


Howard E. Epstein

Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA


Donald A. Walker

Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA


Abstract

Here we analyzed a time series of 21-yr satellite data for three bioclimate subzones in northern Alaska and confirmed a long-term trend of increase in vegetation greenness for the Alaskan tundra that has been detected globally for the northern latitudes. There was a 16.9% (±5.6%) increase in peak vegetation greenness across the region that corresponded to simultaneous increases in temperatures. We also examined the changes for four specific vegetation types using an 11-yr finer resolution (1-km) satellite data and found that the temporal changes in peak and time-integrated greenness were greatest in areas of moist nonacidic tundra. These changes in greenness between 1981 and 2001 correspond approximately to a 171 g/m2 (±81 g/m2) increases in aboveground plant biomass for Alaskan tundra. This remotely sensed interpretation is conducted in the absence of long-term biomass records in the region.

Received 29 July 2003; accepted 30 September 2003; published 29 October 2003.

Index Terms: 3322 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Land/atmosphere interactions; 9315 Information Related to Geographic Region: Arctic region; 1640 Global Change: Remote sensing.

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Citation: Jia, G. J., H. E. Epstein, and D. A. Walker (2003), Greening of arctic Alaska, 1981–2001, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30(20), 2067, doi:10.1029/2003GL018268.