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A researcher collects soil samples from volcanic-derived soil in the Heén Latinee Experimental Forest within the Tongass National Forest, Alaska. These samples were later analyzed to determine the carbon content. USDA Forest Service photo by Dave D'Amore.
Soil absorbs an estimated 30 percent of fossil fuel carbon emissions.
Researchers can calculate aboveground biomass and identify tree species from this type of 3-dimensional imagery. Image courtesy of Mike Alonzo.
Alaska’s boreal forests are vast and remote, making it challenging to accurately monitor forest struc
A plot with heaving logging debris one year after the forest harvest in Matlock, Washington. USDA Forest Service photo by Dave Peter.
Harvesting methods such as clearcutting can disrupt the native plant community, leaving the site vulnerable to invasion by non-native plants like Scotch broom.
Fire Effects Monitor Dustin Smith taking field weather observations. National Interagency Fire Center photo by Kari Greer.
Predicting the weather is notoriously complicated, which can be a challenge for fire managers.
A frozen, snow-covered stream in northern Alaska serves a winter snowmachine trail. Photo courtesy of Kean Mihata, Western Arctic National Parklands/Flickr.
In northern Alaska, frozen rivers often serve as winter roads.
An aerial view of the braided waterways on the Copper River Delta, Alaska. Coho salmon are visible in the center channel, holding in deeper water while they wait to spawn in the smaller channels. USDA Forest Service photo by Steve Wondzell.
Alaska’s Copper River Delta is renowned for its salmon.
A caddisfly—freshwater prey for Chinook salmon. Streams with greater biodiversity appear more resilient to environmental change compared to streams with lower biodiversity. USDA Forest Service photo by J. Ryan Bellmore.
Biodiversity plays a key role in ecological processes and the delivery of ecosystem services.
A view upstream toward the wall failure that triggered the Cowee Creek tsunami, Alaska. The resulting wave scoured the channel to the bedrock (visible in foreground). The elevation of the scour line is 10 feet above the channel bottom. USDA Forest Service photo by Rick Edwards.
When glaciers recede, the bedrock rebounds as the immense weight is removed. The rebound can destabilize cliffs and increase the frequency of rockfalls.
Steep Creek near Juneau, Alaska, is a good spawning ground for sockeye salmon. USDA Forest Service photo by Teresa Haugh.
Wild salmon are interwoven into the economy, cultural identity, and subsistence life-support systems of southeast Alaska.
NASA Goddard’s Lidar, Hyperspectral, and Thermal (G-LiHT)'s airborne imager collects stereo imagery at 3-cm resolution.
The Forest Inventory and Analysis program provides a wealth of data on forests coast to coast. But until 2016, a large area of forest land was not included in this inventory.
