CALM
SITE
Ruby |
|
Site
Code |
U53 |
Site
Name |
ALN-RBY |
CAPS
1 Metadata form |
|
CAPS
2 Metadata form |
|
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: