CALM SITE Nome Creek
Site Code	U54
Site Name	Nome Creek
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	Alaska Subarctic
Location Lat.	N65.36988
Location Long.	W147.06090
Elevation avg. (m)	533
Methods Grid	50
Methods Other	Soil moisture, soil temp., air temp
Landscape Description	Yukon Flats
Vegetation/Classification	Low bushes, grasses, berries, sparse stunted black spruce, mid level hummocks
Soils (or Material)	dark organic, moist w/ clay layer just above permafrost.
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	moist
Soil texture: if non organic describe texture, if organic indicate thickness of organic layer (cm)	~ 10cm sphagnum moss ~ 20cm decomp organic dark soil ~ 28cm clay w/ small round pebbles

DESCRIPTION OF AREA CONTAINING SITE:

The Nome Creek site is located within the White Mountains Recreation Area in Alaska.

The 50m2 grid is in a moderately well drained area of rolling hills & creeks that was

once predominately a gold mining area. The grid site area is open, but the surrounding

land is populated with spruce (predominant) and birch trees. The land is hummocky.

The 50mx50m grid, established in 2010, is marked with survey stakes along the West

and East sides in 5-meter intervals. Shorter stakes were used per BLM request. The

grid center (N65.37, W147.06) 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 in the second year of a

cooperative agreement with the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council and the

U.S. Geological Survey. The Burea of Land Management gave Land permission.

SOIL DESCRIPTION:

The soil is characterized by moist dark rich organic soil. A dense clay layer runs just

above the permafrost. Small round pebbles (up to 1/2in diameter) are in the clay.

SAMPLING DESIGN AND METHOD:

The Nome Creek site was chosen to increase the range of distribution of Active Layer

Network sites.

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. 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 1m

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 58cm. 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 56cm and 46cm (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 533m, recorded at grid center.

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