This data release contains two tables of information on polar bear distributions in the southern Beaufort Sea during spring, from 2001 to 2016. One table provides location (classified into 5 broad regions) of individual bears during the spring. The other table presents the aerial search effort by year and area.

These data from satellite radio-collared adult female polar bears captured in the southern Beaufort Sea, 1985-2016 were used for testing the regional, seasonal and decadal efficacy of retrospective polar bear resource selection functions (RSF) developed for the Arctic basin and its peripheral seas (see Durner et al. 2009). The data includes the following: 1) a csv file of locations used to build a 99% minimum convex polygon study area; 2) a csv file of locations, that occurred within the study area, and were used to test RSFs; 3) a csv file of locations used to build seasonal kernel utilization distributions (95% and 50% contours) for periods 1985-1995, 1996-2006, and 2007-2016.

These data from satellite radio-collared adult female polar bears captured in the southern Beaufort Sea, 1985-2016 were used for testing the regional, seasonal and decadal efficacy of retrospective polar bear resource selection functions (RSF) developed for the Arctic basin and its peripheral seas (see Durner et al. 2009). The data includes the following: 1) a csv file of locations used to build a 99% minimum convex polygon study area; 2) a csv file of locations, that occurred within the study area, and were used to test RSFs; 3) a csv file of locations used to build seasonal kernel utilization distributions (95% and 50% contours) for periods 1985-1995, 1996-2006, and 2007-2016.

This dataset is one table with observations of polar bears located during aerial surveys along the coast and barrier islands of the southern Beaufort Seas during fall, 2010-2013. Survey flights were conducted using A-Star B2 and Bell 206 helicopters at an average altitude of 300 feet AGL and an average speed of 50 miles per hour. Survey crews searched for polar bears using coastal and inland transects and over-flights of all coastal barrier islands.

This data set is one table with observations of polar bears located during aerial surveys along the coast and barrier islands of the southern Beaufort Seas during fall, 2010-2013. Survey flights were conducted using A-Star B2 and Bell 206 helicopters at an average altitude of 300 feet AGL and an average speed of 50 miles per hour. Survey crews searched for polar bears using coastal and inland transects and over-flights of all coastal barrier islands.

The dataset consists of one file of tabular data. These data include: a unique bear identification, bear sex, birth year, capture year, capture location (latitude and longitude), indicator of satellite radio status, and search effort.

The dataset consists of one file of tabular data. These data include: a unique bear identification, bear sex, birth year, capture year, capture location (latitude and longitude), indicator of satellite radio status, and search effort.

This data package includes 3 child items with mapping data of polar bear den habitat on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska. Child Item 1: "Data Used to Compare Photo-Interpreted and IfSAR-Derived Maps of Polar Bear Denning Habitat for the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, 2006-2016" Child Item 2: "Polar Bear Maternal Den Habitat on the Coastal Plain of Northern Alaska Between the Colville River and the Alaska/Canada border" Child Item 3: "Mapping Data of Polar Bear Maternal Den Habitat, National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR-A)"

This data package includes 3 child items with mapping data of polar bear den habitat on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska. Child Item 1: "Data Used to Compare Photo-Interpreted and IfSAR-Derived Maps of Polar Bear Denning Habitat for the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, 2006-2016" Child Item 2: "Polar Bear Maternal Den Habitat on the Coastal Plain of Northern Alaska Between the Colville River and the Alaska/Canada border" Child Item 3: "Mapping Data of Polar Bear Maternal Den Habitat, National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR-A)"

These are geospatial data that characterize the distribution of polar bear denning habitat on the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR-A). Two datasets are included in this data package, they are both vector geospatial datasets of putative denning habitat (one set each for the western and eastern portion of the NPR-A). Each vector dataset is provided in both ESRI shapefile and Keyhole Markup Language (KML) formats. Denning habitat was estimated from computer interrogation of digital terrain models (DTM) derived from Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IfSAR) imagery collected by sensors mounted on fix-wing aircraft. Den habitat is defined as abrupt landscape features (e.g., coastal and riverbanks, lake shores) that are likely to accumulate snow to a depth sufficient for polar bears to build a maternal den (i.e., > 1 meter deep).