The Arctic Coastal Plain is a region of increasing human activity. Developments like the vast oil fields in Prudhoe Bay and the potential development of the Arctic National Wildlife Refugee can have significant impact on the fragile ecosystem and on the physical and biochemical processes of the Arctic. Better understanding of these physical processes is necessary in order to avoid any negative anthropogenic disturbances on this system. The Arctic is also a window to the global climate changes occurring on our planet; by monitoring the physical and biochemical processes in the Arctic we might have an insight to phenomena such as global warming and the green house effect.
With these objectives in mind, the hydrology of a small wetland complex in the Alaskan Arctic Coastal plain is being studied to provide a better understanding of the role of water in the physical/chemical processes in the arctic wetlands. The 22.4 ha. study site named Betty Pingo is located in the North Slope of Alaska, inside the Prudhoe Bay oil field (see Figures 1 and 2). Within the Betty site, there is a small watershed of approximately 8.15 ha. that is the focus of this study (Figure 2). Approximately 80% of the watershed is characterized as a jurisdictional wetland, containing numerous thaw ponds and strangmoor ridges. The remaining 20% is drier upland tundra, characterized by high-centered polygons and ice wedges. This poster presents results on snow ablation, runoff, and water balance data collected at the Betty study site during a three year period between 1993 and 1995.