Growing Season Length and Climatic Variation in Alaska,

Abstract

The growing season has lengthened in the contiguous United States since 1900, coinciding with increasing northern hemispheric air temperatures. Information on growing season trends is needed in arctic regions where projected increases in air temperature are to be more pronounced. The lengths of the growing season at four locations in Alaska were evaluated for characteristic trends between 1917 and 1988. Freeze dates were determined using minimum temperature criteria of O deg and -3 deg C. A shortening of the season was found at Sitka and lengthening of the season at Talkeetna. The growing season shortened at Juneau and Sitka during the period 1940 to 1970, which corresponded with declining northern hemisphere temperature. Change in the growing season length was apparent in the Alaska temperature record, but the regional tendency for shorter or longer season needs further evaluation.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1992
Accession Number
ADP007326

Entities

People

  • B. S. Sharratt

Organizations

  • University of Alaska Fairbanks

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Temperature
  • Arctic Regions
  • Climate Change
  • Geographic Regions
  • Hemispheres
  • Northern Hemisphere
  • Polar Regions
  • Regions
  • Test And Evaluation
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • Polar and Arctic Studies