Arctic Environmental Data Narratives: Developing an interdisciplinary, co-productive approach for environmental data analysis and application

Abstract:

The Arctic coast will face combined stressors from climate change and human development over the next century. Coastal Arctic communities must have access to useable, understandable data about how the built and natural environments interact, to incorporate into design and planning decisions in this rapidly changing environment. Utqiagvik, Alaska, is a prime example of an Arctic city facing climate change stressors (e.g., coastal erosion, permafrost thaw). The natural and built systems in Utqiagvik are tightly intertwined, and infrastructure in the city is subject to steep environmental gradients and vulnerable substrates (e.g., ice-rich permafrost). As an interdisciplinary team spanning five disciplines, we are working to understand these interactions and how local community members can use data to inform decision-making, based on an integrated network of micrometeorology and hydrochemistry sensors in the urban Arctic environment. Sensor-based technology is used to understand high-frequency interactions among climate, hydrology, and infrastructure throughout the entire annual cycle. Community workshops will solicit input from Utqiagvik residents, local planners and decision-makers, to ensure that the design and implementation of the sensor network will address both scientific and design needs. During these workshops and project meetings, the methods and approaches of how to work across disciplines and with the community participants will be observed and studied, in order to understand ethical, effective, and place-specific practices for interdisciplinary, community-centered science. Sensor data are often opaque and difficult to interpret – as such, we are exploring how to transform and translate sensor data, sonically and visually, to be accessible, useful, and meaningful to both the local community and the broader public. In its entirety, the aim of this project is to develop a cross-disciplinary, community-driven framework for improving our understanding of interactions in a coupled built-natural Arctic system, and develop best design and management practices for Arctic communities.