Oksrukuyik Creek NEON - United States of America

Basic Information
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Site Name
Oksrukuyik Creek NEON
Short name
OKSR
Country
United States of America
Web Address
https://www.neonscience.org/field-sites/field-sites-map/OKSR
Site Manager
Chris Baird
Site Description
Oksrukuyik Creek is a wadeable stream located a short drive from the Toolik Field Station, an environmental science facility operated by the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Teams working out of Toolik have studied the biological and biogeochemical attributes of Oksrukuyik Creek for decades. NEON data will contribute to these studies to help better understand tundra streams, which are rapidly changing along with the Arctic climate. Remote sensing surveys of this site collect lidar, spectrometer and high resolution RGB camera data. This site has one meteorological station located in the riparian area and one meteorological station above water on a buoy. The met stations are outfitted with the a subset of the same sensors used at ...
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Last modified
2020-11-27 14:11:46

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2016
Observed properties
genetic parameterlandscape parameterwater parameterDNAsequencelandcoverwaterquality
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
NEON✔ (OKSR)This site is a verified "NEON" member.
Photos
OKSR Field Technician Collecting Discharge Data
OKSR Field Technician Collecting Discharge Data
Geographic
Marker
100 km
100 mi
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 68.66975 Longitude: -149.14302

Size
ca. 800.00ha
Elevation (average)
836.00msl
Elevation (min)
750.00msl
Elevation (max)
1100.00msl
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Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml]
GEO-BON Biome
Fresh water rivers
Biome
Fresh Water Rivers
Ecosystem Type
Rivers
Fresh Water Rivers
Tundra
Air Temperature: Average Annual
-4.00°C
Precipitation Annual
331.00mm
Geology
Glacial and alluvial deposits. Quaternary.


Vegetation
Land cover in the Oksrukuyik Creek watershed consists of moist tundra underlain by permafrost. Although dwarf birch and dwarf willow line the banks of Oksrukuyik Creek, these species rarely grow taller than one meter and thus offer little shading. Consequently, Oksrukuyik Creek may be exposed to 24 hour daylight periods during the summer.

Hydrology
Few streams in the NEON network exhibit a flow regime as unique as Oksrukuyik Creek. Discharge falls to zero between October and March, as the stream remains entirely frozen during this period. Discharge rises rapidly following the thaw that occurs between March and June, with catastrophic ice floes and high flow events characterizing this period. Discharge remains steady through the summer, with occasional flood events driven by rainstorms. Base discharge steadily decreases from midsummer to early fall as snowmelt declines. As the winter freeze-up begins in September, discharge rapidly approaches zero as any precipitation transitions to snow and remains frozen
Protection Level (IUCN category)
Category V – Protected Landscape/Seascape/Area
Site Type
Platform
Design of Experimentation
mainly experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
catchment scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
entire catchment
Permanent Power Supply
Yes
Accessible All Year
Yes
Permanent Operation
Yes