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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.
Read Full Article (file size: 210441 bytes) Cited by
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.
Copyright 2003 by the American Geophysical Union.
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