Some aspects of remote sensing for consideration in planning for environmental monitoring of the Alyeska Pipeline, Alaska

Remote sensing data were taken along a line surveyed for the building of the Alyeska Pipeline, Alaska, in the winter of 1973-74. The portion considered in this report is the area from the Yukon River south to Isabel Pass in the Alaska Range.

The occurrences of aufeis gave the appearance of four rather distinct modes of formation. In the area south of Big Delta, the icings occurred as seepage at the toes of the terraces and along the bottoms of the stream channels cutting into the terraces. In the Yukon-Tanana uplands, the icings occurred generally as seepage at the lowest points in the U-shaped valleys and along the surfaces of the streams in the tributary valleys incised into the rolling hills. The icings formed in the stream channels in both regions have similar hydraulic considerations as do the icings formed in the lower part of the valleys at the toes of the terraces.

Aerial techniques of collecting data by photography and thermal imagery were tested in this setting as a basis for consideration in planning for potential environmental monitoring of the pipeline.