Widespread changes in lake distribution on the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) would affect water availability for humans, fish and other water-dependent species. The Thermokarst Lake Drainage project models the drainage susceptibility of ACP lakes due to changes in permafrost conditions and surface hydrology along laks margins. The model can provide managers with a tool to assess the likelihood that an individual lake might drain. It also aims to predict the regions in which lake drainage may be most pronounced.
More than 35,000 lakes larger than 0.01 km2 were extracted from an airborne interferometric synthetic aperture radar (IfSAR) derived digital surface model acquired between 2002 and 2006 for the Western Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska. The IfSAR derived lake data layer provides an improvement over previously available datasets for the study area since it is more comprehensive and contemporary.
