CALM SITE

Ruby

 

Site Code

  U53

Site Name

ALN-RBY

CAPS 1 Metadata form

 

CAPS 2 Metadata form

 

Site Photograph

DATA

Responsible for data submission

Edda Mutter

Email Address

emutter@yritwc.org

Institution/Organization

YRITWC

Location Description

Interior-Subarctic

Location Lat.

N64.73486

Location Long.

W155.48461

Elevation avg. (m)

110

Methods Grid

50

Methods Other

Soil moisture, soil temp., air temp

Landscape Description

Tussock and black spruce

Vegetation/Classification

Black spruce, sphagnum moss, tussock

Soils (or Material)

dark organic soil, clay/loess

Thaw depth measurements (year started)

 

2010

Air temp. measurements (year started)

2010

Snow Cover measurements (year started)

N/A

Soil temp. measurements (start year)

2010

Soil moisture measurements (start year)

2010

General description of soil moisture

Damp-moist

Soil texture: if non organic describe texture, if organic indicate thickness of organic layer (cm)

~ 20cm sphagnum moss

~20cm organic soil gradation to clay

 

DESCRIPTION OF AREA CONTAINING SITE:

Ruby is located along the South bank of the Yukon River in the Yukon-Koyukuk region

of Alaska. The 50mx50m grid site is located on the North Side of Alfred Gurtler Street,

just past Mosquito Street and behind the old lift station. The area around the lift station

was probably plowed over with heavy machinery at some point and gravel was put

down. A portion of the grid was “disturbed” and unable to be measured due to this

disturbance. We used the area anyway due to challenges with land permission and

time. The area is thickly forested with black spruce and high tussocks. The grid,

established in 2010, is marked at 5-meter intervals with surveyor stakes along the West

and East sides of the grid. The grid center (N64.73 W155.48) contains continuous soil

temperature & soil moisture sensors at “above permafrost” & “just below surface” levels.

An air temperature sensor is installed on a spruce tree near grid center. All sensors

collect and store data on a 30-minute continuous cycle. The grid was established in

2010, with assistance from Ruby Tribal Council, in the second year of a cooperative

agreement with the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council and the U.S. Geological

Survey.

 

 

SOIL DESCRIPTION:

The soil is characterized by moist dark rich organic soil with partially decomposed plant

matter that gradually turns to clay the closer to permafrost. The clay may be moist or

partially saturated loess, due to slow accumulation of water at the bottom of the hole

 

SAMPLING DESIGN AND METHOD:

The Ruby site was chosen to increase the range of distribution of Active Layer Network

sites. Assistance from the Ruby Tribal Council in land permission and location was

given.

The grid consists of 2 parallel lines of 10 survey stakes at 5-meter intervals, creating a

50mx50m square grid with a maximum of 100 data points. A compass was used to

orientate the grid to a square. Active Layer measurements were taken manually every

5m and recorded on a fieldsheet. The measurements were taken at the lowest surface

level within about 0.3m of the designated point, to minimize the questionable influence

of tussocks on the AL measurement. The "surface level" was determined to be the top

of the low-lying vegetation (i.e. moss, lichen, low-bush berries). Thaw measurements

greater than 1.3m were noted, but not used in calculations, as of 2009.

[CALM protocol suggests a grid size of 100mx100m, however a 50m2 grid was deemed

acceptable due to difficult terrain and length of time for installation (personal

communication Dr. V.Romanovsky).]

The soil climate station was established in early September 2010 and is located near

grid center. The station monitors air temperature, soil temperature & soil moisture.

The HOBO micro station was installed at the grid center. A ~30cm4 hole was dug down

to the permafrost layer at 40cm. One set of soil moisture and soil temperature sensors

were placed just above the permafrost layer and one set just below surface level. Soil

samples were cut from 37cm and 25cm (cubes) to be analyzed for soil moisture content.

The HOBO pro v2 temp/ext temp sensor was installed, recording air temperature, near

the grid center about one meter off the ground surface. The Hobo data logger is set to

store data on 30min intervals for up to 428 days.

GPS points were taken at the four corners of the grid, as well as the center point where

the sensors were located. Site elevation is 110m, recorded at grid center.

 

REFERENCES: