4 Nov 2025

Airfield Assessments to Identify Improvements in Support of Arctic Military Operations: Arctic Airfields Assessment

Abstract: This report examines current airfield capabilities in Alaska and Greenland as they pertain to the strategic priorities of the Northern Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) in support of needs identified in the 2024 DoD’s Arctic Strategy. With increasing activity and competition in the circumpolar region, airfields in Alaska and Greenland play a vital role in enabling homeland defense, supporting domain awareness needs, and enabling rapid response operations. This report highlights key airfields across Alaska and Greenland, focusing on their current readiness to support NORAD-assigned airframes such as the C-17, C-130, F-15, F-16, F-22, F-35A, KC-10, KC-135 and KC-46A. It assesses currently available infrastructure, operational resilience, airfield suitability and current condition, weather considerations, and logistics sustainment. Gaps in infrastructure readiness and logistical necessities for different airframes are identified. Recommendations are provided to bolster airfield operational capabilities as they pertain to the NORAD mission, and to ensure Arctic basing remains a credible enabler of NORTHCOM’s mission to defend the US and deter threats across the circumpolar region.

10 Oct 2025

Development and Management of Arctic Zonal Characterization Products: Geospatial Database

Abstract: Environmental parameters for operational planning in extreme conditions require accurate knowledge of prevailing meteorological conditions. However, the Arctic region presents unique challenges due to limited observational data and unique geographical conditions. To address the need for such knowledge, this study presents an analysis of Arctic prevailing-conditions using European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) Reanalysis v5 (ERA5) Data from 1991 to 2020. A custom Python-based framework was developed to process and analyze hourly datasets, identifying zones of extreme events and their frequency across multiple temporal scales. The framework uses ArcPy to automate the generation of nearly 40,000 mapped classifications for land masses 60°N and above. This automated pipeline enables both static and dynamic map generation capabilities for operational planning now and in the future. The resulting dataset provides critical spatial and temporal resolution of Arctic prevailing-conditions, enabling more refined characterization of extreme prevailing-conditions across the circumpolar region.

18 Sep 2025

Standard Operating Procedures for the Design, Construction, and Maintenance of Summer Roads and Trails, Drop Zones, and Firebreaks in Cold Regions

Abstact: As DoD investments across Alaska increase in response to DoD Arctic strategies, expanded training opportunities are necessary to enable the military to enhance their Arctic capabilities. In addition, wildfire management is increasingly important in the area as the summer season has expanded and warmed in recent decades. This report addresses the siting, design, construction, and maintenance of summer roads and trails, drop zones, and firebreaks on DoD lands in Alaska and other cold regions. It considers the harsh weather conditions, extreme seasonality, and remoteness of these environments, in addition to the general requirements of understanding the local environment, relevant risks, permitting, and regulations. The three types of linear infrastructure are assessed together as each involves the clearing of land and maintaining it as cleared, and therefore share common risks. This report summarizes best practices throughout the project lifecycle and synthesizes risk mitigation strategies informed by a comprehensive literature review and conversations with local training land managers. Using Fort Wainwright in Interior Alaska as an example, it provides Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to aid land managers and military unit leadership as they navigate challenges and opportunities in their increased use of these critical linear infrastructure types in high latitude environments.

16 Sep 2025

Standard Operating Procedures for the Design, Maintenance, and Operation of Arctic and Subarctic Winter Roads

Abstract: Operations in cold regions require vehicular maneuvering across snowpacks or frozen surfaces. Winter roads and their route determination, construction, and monitoring are widely studied. This report analyzes historical and current literature on winter road construction and operations, reviews risk assessment techniques, examines the impact of uncertain weather on road reliability, and provides a standard operating procedure for design, maintenance, and use. Winter roads, snow roads, ice roads, and ice bridges enable seasonal access in Arctic and Subarctic regions. They allow cross-country maneuverability over terrain like wetlands and bogs, which are impassable in summer. These roads are critical for training, logistics, and construction in areas without all-season access. When combined with ice bridges they can provide near-unlimited travel. Effectiveness depends on proper planning, construction, and monitoring. Snow roads require controlled compaction for strength, while ice roads require sufficient ice thickness to support loads. Both rely on tools like visual inspections, ground-penetrating radar, and unmanned aerial systems to ensure safety. With extreme seasonal variability, adaptive strategies are essential. Shortened seasons and unpredictable freeze–thaw cycles demand modern technologies, predictive weather modeling, and improved reinforcement. This report integrates historical knowledge with engineering advancements to improve winter road durability, reduce risks, and support cold-region operations.

15 Sep 2025

Standard Operating Procedures for the Design, Construction, and Maintenance of Linear Infrastructure in Fens in Cold Regions

Abstract: In Alaska and across the Arctic and Subarctic, winter conditions can enable the expansion of linear infrastructure across the frozen landscape of fen wetlands. This expands military training opportunities into lowland wet, boggy, mostly impassable terrain. However, there are personnel, civilian, and environmental risks from using fens as travel corridors and drop zones. The effective design, construction, operation, and maintenance of such infrastructure on fens supports the dual mandate of troop training to fulfill the mission and protect the environment. This Technical Report (TR) addresses the risks of the establishment and use of linear infrastructure on the DoD lands in Alaska and in other austere cold environments where the DoD operates. This TR is founded on a review of methods used by US Army Installations, focusing primarily on Fort Wainwright in Interior Alaska. It establishes basic standard operating procedures (SOPs) by drawing on federal agency and international best practices and emerging research in circumpolar regions and beyond. This TR serves as a reference document for military land and infrastructure planners and unit leadership to create and maintain linear infrastructure on fens as environmental challenges evolve and opportunities develop to further the Army mission in high latitude environments.

2 Jul 2025

Remote Detection of Soil Shear Strength in Arctic and Subarctic Environments

Abstract: Soil shear strength affects many military activities and is affected significantly by plant roots. Unfortunately, root contribution to soil shear strength is difficult to measure and predict. In the boreal forest ecosystem, soil and hydrologic dynamics make soil shear strength less predictable, while the need for prediction grows due to the rapid changes occurring in this environment. Our current study objectives are to (1) observe possible aboveground vegetation indicators of soil shear strength variation across soils and other environmental heterogeneity, (2) observe possible image-based indicators of soil shear strength variation, and (3) identify the best remote-sensing data source for predicting soil shear strength variation. A total of 65 sites were sampled from a diversity of soil and vegetation types across interior Alaska and Ontario, Canada. Ground-collected data were analyzed to develop a predictive model, while a similar approach was undertaken with Sentinel-2 imagery. Results indicate that both ground-collected data and satellite imagery can reasonably predict boreal forest soil shear strength, with satellite imagery providing the higher predictive ability. A comparison of 10 m Sentinel-2 and submeter Maxar imagery indicated that Sentinel-2 provides a better prediction of soil shear strength.

2 Jun 2025

Future Coastal Tundra Loss due to Compounding Environmental Changes in Alaska

Abstract: Anthropogenic climate change is amplified in the Arctic, where less sea ice enables energetic wave climates while higher air and soil temperatures increase tundra erodibility. These changes are likely to exacerbate retreat of coastal tundra yet remain poorly constrained on timescales relevant to storm wave impacts. A stochastic weather generator is used to create 1,000 synthetic hourly time series of waves, water levels, offshore sea ice concentration, and air temperatures used as forcing for an efficient coastal tundra model. The ensemble set of morphological change simulations provides a probabilistic perspective on the range of tundra retreats and the relative effects of each environmental forcing. Ensembles show as the depth of the erodible layer increases, the style of tundra retreat shifts from a consistent recession to intermittent events with large magnitudes and a factor 2 range in outcomes. Model scenarios highlight shallower thaw depths narrows the range of retreats and reduces individual extreme events, but a dynamic feedback between beach slopes, wave runup, and thermally limited erosion volumes ultimately increases the number of storm events associated with retreat. The minimum tundra retreat is governed by background shoreline change and the specifics of the topographic profile dominate underlying changes in the future wave climate statistics and open water season. As the Arctic continues to warm, the change in retreat style will have significant ramifications for coastal resilience.

12 Mar 2025

Collaborative Development of Natural and Nature-Based Solutions for Coastal Resiliency in the Arctic and Adjacent Regions: A Workshop

The workshop “Collaborative Development of Natural and Nature-Based Solutions for Coastal Resiliency in the Arctic and Adjacent Regions” was held in Reston, Virginia, October 24–25, 2023. The objective was to assemble diverse international partners in a hybrid in-person and virtual setting to focus on the viability of applying Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) to solve engineering challenges in the Arctic and similar cold region locations. The goals of the two-day workshop were to share recent efforts implementing NBS to mitigate coastal hazards such as flooding and erosion in northern high latitude settings and identify requirements and develop a robust program of activities to advance this work at national, regional, and local levels. This workshop report documents the presentations and discussion and summarizes key needs and recommendations for future engagement identified by speakers and workshop participants.

6 Mar 2025

New Construction Criteria for a Changing Arctic and Subarctic: The UFC 3-130 Series Revision Process

Abstract: The DoD operates significant and strategically important installations in the Arctic and Subarctic domain. Geopolitical, economic, and climatic changes require an upgraded ability to rapidly deploy and sustain forces into Arctic and Subarctic regions. Relevant engineering criteria and guidance to support these efforts are the Unified Facility Criteria 3-130–Arctic and Subarctic Construction (UFC 3-130) documents, originally a seven-volume series. The series has been ‘inactive’, indicating the specifications are not current and potentially technically noncompliant. Therefore, designers may resort to methods that do not meet current military or civilian standards, or they may use the outdated guidance leading to costly design and construction failures. Infrastructure owners and operators must be confident that up-to-date technology and criteria are specified to ensure life safety, mission readiness, and infrastructure longevity. This report highlights the process and resources used to generate a new five-volume UFC Arctic and Subarctic series that aligns with current technology and standards while also addressing a changing climate. These new documents are appliable for use by planners, engineers, and architects when planning, designing, constructing, and maintaining DoD infrastructure. The full UFC 3-130 series is available on the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) website at https://www.wbdg.org/dod/ufc.

29 Sep 2023

Arctic Seed Sterilization and Germination

Abstract: We conducted growth chamber experiments to overcome challenges of native seed germination relating to disease and germination time. We selected five northern species, Eriophorum vaginatum, E. virginicum, Anemone patens var. multifida, Polemonium reptans, and Senecio congestus, for their native ranges and commercial-nursery availability. Recommended stratification time for each species was either unknown or a minimum of 60 days. Seeds were sterilized with 70% ethanol, 10% hydrogen peroxide, or UVC light to identify which method most effectively prevented pathogen infection. To determine if stratification time could be reduced, seeds underwent a 30-day cold, moist stratification. We tested which growth medium was most conducive to germination of the sterilized, stratified seeds: filter paper or sterilized potting soil. In a separate experiment, we tested if three different levels of gibberellic acid (GA3; 0, 500, and 1000 ppm) could reduce stratification time to 15 days. The 70% ethanol was effective in a seed surface sterilization; an average of 84% of all seeds for all species treated showed no contamination. Germination following a 30-day cold, moist stratification was unsuccessful for most species tested in both growth media. Here, 1000 ppm GA3 with a 15-day cold, moist stratification showed considerable success with P. reptans.