Poker Flat 
Research Range  

Location 

Poker Flat Research Range Sites

ALISON builds on our investigation of ice growth, conductive heat flow and ice decay on ponds in the vicinity of Poker Flat Research Range, located roughly 50 km north-east of Fairbanks at 29.5 Mile Steese Highway. The investigation began in October 1999 and it has continued each winter since then.

New ice forming on MST Pond in October, 2001.

Our main study site, MST Pond, is on the research range and protected from marauding snowmachines. During the course of three winters we have made measurements at ten other ponds between 29.5 Mile and 36.6 Mile Steese Highway. Unfortunately, these ponds are occasionally visited by snowmachines, which disturb the snow cover and affect our measurements.

In 2001-2002, we concentrated on MST Pond and two secondary sites at 31.6 Mile and 33.5 Mile ponds. The latter two ponds seem to attract the least attention of snowmachiners. The 2002-2003 study also focuses on these three ponds, and we anticipate that we will continue to utilize them in future winters. MST, 31.6 and 33.5 Mile ponds each have resident beavers.

Snow-free ice on MST Pond during freeze-up, October 2001 (left).
The ice fractures at the margin of MST Pond during the melt season, May 2002 (right).

Apart from MST Pond, all the ponds are gravel pits that have flooded after highway construction. The ponds are quite small, with typical dimensions of 100 m by 100 m, and water depths of 1-5 m.