This dataset is comprised of 35 geo-referenced aerial images of four study areas (Teshekpuk Lake Special Area, Chipp River, Colville River Delta, and Dalton Highway Corridor) on Alaska's Arctic Coastal Plain. The images are from aerial photo surveys flown in 1948-1949 and obtained from the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center using the USGS EarthExplorer website. The images represent a historical snapshot of the landscape from that time.

This dataset is comprised of one geo-referenced aerial image from the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska (NPRA) on Alaska's Arctic Coastal Plain taken on 21 June 1955 by the U.S. Air Force and obtained from the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center using the USGS EarthExplorer website in 2013. The image represents a historical snapshot of the landscape from that time.

Spatial data used for analysis of trends in the occurrence of erosion features caused by thaw in the five National Park Service units of the Arctic Inventory and Monitoring Network, Alaska

This dataset represents a digitized version of the Rawlinson 1993 surficial geologic map of the Flaxman Island and Beechy Point quadrangles, and portions of the Mount Michelson and Harrison Bay quadrangles at 1:63,360 scale. In this newly digitized version of the map, the original maps were scanned, georeferenced, and projected into GIS. Approximately 100-200 typographic and labelling errors from the paper version were corrected with inputs from the original author (corrections completed in 2024). However, this digitized product still adheres to the 1993 interpretation of the surficial geology. Original descriptions of the map units can be found with the 1993 publication (https://doi.org/10.14509/2484). The original 1993 map was generated via photointerpretation done manually on acetate sheets overlain on color infrared aerial photographs, aided by a stereoscope, and then manually transferred to a map base using a zoom-transfer scope. Only low-resolution 1:250,000-scale black-and-white Landsat imagery was available for reference in the 1980s when the mapping was completed. After photointerpretation, the surficial geology units and morphology information was field spot-checked, with extensive fieldwork occurring between 1981 and 1985. As part of the fieldwork, locations with exposure along coasts, rivers, and gravel pits were prioritized, with 464 stratigraphic sections measured and described, and 678 samples collected for analyses that included grain size, radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dating, amino acid analysis in mollusk shells and wood, identification of wood types, and microfossil and pollen contents. An important note of caution to users is that this digitized product represents the 1993 interpretation of surficial geology. Modifications to the 1993 product address typographic errors and do not consider re-interpretations of the surficial geological units since then, and more recent information about the regional surficial geology is available.

The Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska is an area of strategic economic importance to the United States, is home to remote Native American communities, and encompasses unique habitats of global significance. Coastal erosion along the north coast of Alaska is chronic, widespread, may be accelerating, and is threatening defense and energy-related infrastructure, natural shoreline habitats, and Native communities. There is an increased demand for accurate information regarding past and present shoreline changes across the United States. To meet these national needs, the Coastal and Marine Geology Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is compiling existing reliable historical shoreline data along sandy shores of the conterminous United States and parts of Alaska and Hawaii under the National Assessment of Shoreline Change project. There is no widely accepted standard for analyzing shoreline change. Existing shoreline data measurements and rate calculation methods vary from study to study and prevent combining results into state-wide or regional assessments. The impetus behind the National Assessment project was to develop a standardized method of measuring changes in shoreline position that is consistent from coast to coast. The goal was to facilitate the process of periodically and systematically updating the results in an internally consistent manner.

The Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska is an area of strategic economic importance to the United States, is home to remote Native American communities, and encompasses unique habitats of global significance. Coastal erosion along the north coast of Alaska is chronic, widespread, may be accelerating, and is threatening defense and energy-related infrastructure, natural shoreline habitats, and Native communities. There is an increased demand for accurate information regarding past and present shoreline changes across the United States. To meet these national needs, the Coastal and Marine Geology Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is compiling existing reliable historical shoreline data along sandy shores of the conterminous United States and parts of Alaska and Hawaii under the National Assessment of Shoreline Change project. There is no widely accepted standard for analyzing shoreline change. Existing shoreline data measurements and rate calculation methods vary from study to study and prevent combining results into state-wide or regional assessments. The impetus behind the National Assessment project was to develop a standardized method of measuring changes in shoreline position that is consistent from coast to coast. The goal was to facilitate the process of periodically and systematically updating the results in an internally consistent manner.

The Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska is an area of strategic economic importance to the United States, is home to remote Native American communities, and encompasses unique habitats of global significance. Coastal erosion along the north coast of Alaska is chronic, widespread, may be accelerating, and is threatening defense and energy-related infrastructure, natural shoreline habitats, and Native communities. There is an increased demand for accurate information regarding past and present shoreline changes across the United States. To meet these national needs, the Coastal and Marine Geology Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is compiling existing reliable historical shoreline data along sandy shores of the conterminous United States and parts of Alaska and Hawaii under the National Assessment of Shoreline Change project. There is no widely accepted standard for analyzing shoreline change. Existing shoreline data measurements and rate calculation methods vary from study to study and prevent combining results into state-wide or regional assessments. The impetus behind the National Assessment project was to develop a standardized method of measuring changes in shoreline position that is consistent from coast to coast. The goal was to facilitate the process of periodically and systematically updating the results in an internally consistent manner.

This dataset includes shorelines from 65 years ranging from 1947 to 2012 for the north coast of Alaska between Point Barrow and Icy Cape. Shorelines were compiled from topographic survey sheets and Nautical Charts (T-sheet, Nautical Chart; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)), aerial orthophotographs (U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), satellite imagery (State of Alaska), and lidar elevation data (USGS). Historical shoreline positions serve as easily understood features that can be used to describe the movement of beaches through time. These data are used to calculate rates of shoreline change for the U.S. Geological Survey's National Assessment of Shoreline Change Project. Rates of long-term and short-term shoreline change were generated in a GIS using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) version 4.3. DSAS uses a measurement baseline method to calculate rate-of-change statistics. Transects are cast from the reference baseline to intersect each shoreline, establishing measurement points used to calculate shoreline change rates.