Map A of the historical infrastructure changes for the Prudhoe Bay Oilfield for 10 dates from the initial oil discovery in 1968–2011. Aerial photos taken in 1949 and 1968 were used to define the geobotanical characteristics prior to development. Infrastructure changes were digitized from each successive analysis year (1970, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1983, 1990, 2001, and 2010).
Polygon fields include nine geoecological attributes: dominant vegetation, secondary vegetation, tertiary vegetation; percentage open water; landform; dominant surface form, secondary surface form; dominant soil, and secondary soil. Secondary and tertiary variables were mapped if they covered more than 30% of a map polygon. Primary and secondary infrastructure-related change attributes were mapped for each year with imagery, and for six years (1968, 1977, 1983, 1990, 2001, 2010) primary non-infrastructure-related changes were also mapped.
References
Raynolds M.K., Walker D.A., Ambrosius K.J., Brown J., Everett K.R., Kanevskiy M., Kofinas G.P., Romanovsky V.E., Shur Y. & Webber P.J. (2014). Cumulative geoecological effects of 62 years of infrastructure and climate change in ice-rich permafrost landscapes, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska. Global Change Biology, 20, 1211-1224.
