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Media Advisory 08-033

National Science Board Meets September 22 in Fairbanks, Alaska

Board members also visit NSF-supported geophysical and biological sciences research facilities

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Photo of the aurora and a laser radar beam lighting up the sky at the Lidar Research Laboratory.

Aurora and a laser radar beam light up the sky on a winter's night at the Lidar Research Laboratory, Poker Flat Research Range, Chatanika, Alaska . The Geophysical Institute and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology operate the laser radar (or lidar) as part of an international collaborative study of the polar atmosphere.

Like a radar, the lidar transmits a pulse of light into the sky and measures the echoes to make a profile of the atmosphere from the ground up to heights as far as 75 miles (120 km). The lidar, like other experiments at Poker Flat Research Range, not only serves to study the atmosphere, but also provides hands-on research education opportunities for students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

LIDAR Laboratory, located at Poker Flat Research Range, Chatanika, Alaska, operated by the faculty, staff, and students of the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and funded, in part, by the National Science Foundation, supports laser radar (or lidar) and associated studies of the Arctic atmosphere. Completed in 2000, the LRL is a 5325 square foot (495 square meter) facility that houses several laboratories and shops that are equipped to support field experiments.



Credit: T. Matsuo, LIDAR Laboratory, funded in part by the National Science Foundation


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Photo of the Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) was established in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1987 as part of the National Science Foundation's Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program. It is located in the boreal forest of interior Alaska. Its facilities are centered in the city of Fairbanks. Research at our LTER site focuses on improving understanding of the long-term consequences of changing climate and disturbance regimes in the Alaskan boreal forest. Its overall objective is to document the major controls over forest dynamics, biogeochemistry, and disturbance, and their interactions in the face of a changing climate.

Credit: Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research (LTER).


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National Science Board Logo

National Science Board Logo

Credit: National Science Board


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