The Yukon River Basin Indigenous Observation Network: Uniting Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Western Science to Address and Understand Water Resources in the Arctic

知识价值：该奖项将支持土著观测网络（ION）的持续发展，该网络专注于阿拉斯加中部育空和塔纳纳河流域的水化学、水质和排放以及传统生态知识（TEK）。这项以社区为基础的努力是NSF北极观测网络（AON）的一部分，该网络支持长期、科学驱动的观测，使研究能够了解北极环境系统的快速变化。AON是更广泛的北极环境变化研究（SEARCH）的组成部分。该项目由育空河部落间流域委员会（Yukon River intertribal Watershed Council）运营，将由个人和社区参与，他们将全年沿着两条河进行测量和获取水样。美国地质调查局将免费对水样进行分析。要测量和分析的变量包括：水温、pH值、电导率、溶解氧、主要离子、碱度、溶解气体（氧、二氧化碳、甲烷）、微量金属、稳定氧同位素比（O-18/O-16）、营养物质和溶解有机碳（DOC）。该项目将编制育空河和塔纳纳河的第一个全年水化学和水质数据集，从而可以评估生物地球化学通量的季节性变化及其对流域水文和生态系统变化的反应。育空河流域是了解气候变化的哨兵分水岭，在白令海和白令海峡生态系统中起着至关重要的作用。更广泛的影响：该项目在育空河和塔纳纳河流域的农村和广泛分布的土著社区建立了能力。它培训当地部落技术人员使用标准化协议来收集、分析和解释基线水化学和水质数据，并为当地社区提供必要的工具和培训，使他们能够开展自己的研究，并以有意义的方式为更广泛的科学目标做出贡献。这些数据通过项目网站和北极合作数据和信息服务中心（AON数据存储库）免费公开提供给科学界和所有其他感兴趣的各方。ION还与nsf资助的北极地方观测和知识交流（ELOKA）合作，就将获得的TEK的记录和管理提供建议。

Intellectual Merit: This award will support the continued development of an Indigenous Observation Network (ION) that focusses on water chemistry, water quality and discharge, and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in the Yukon and Tanana river watersheds in central Alaska. This community-based effort is part of the NSF Arctic Observing Network (AON), which supports long-term, science-driven observing that enables research into understanding rapid environmental system change in the Arctic. AON is a component of the broader Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH). Operated by the Yukon River Inter-tribal Watershed Council, the ION will involve individuals and communities who will make measurements and obtain water samples year-round along the two rivers. The water samples will be analyzed at no-cost by the U.S. Geological Survey. The variables to be measured and analyzed include: water temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, major ions, alkalinity, dissolved gasses (oxygen, carbon dioxide, methane), trace metals, stable oxygen isotope ratios (O-18/O-16), nutrients and Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC). This project will produce the first year-round water chemistry and water quality data set for the Yukon and Tanana rivers, which will permit assessment of the seasonal variability of biogeochemical fluxes and their response to changing hydrology and ecosystems in the watersheds. The Yukon River watershed is a sentinel watershed for understanding climate change and plays a vital role in the Bering Sea and Bering Strait ecosystems.Broader Impacts: This project builds capacity in the rural and widely-dispersed native communities of the Yukon and Tanana river watersheds. It trains local tribal technicians to use standardized protocols to collect, analyze and interpret baseline water chemistry and water quality data, and equips local communities with the tools and training necessary for them to carry out their own research and contribute to broader scientific scientific objectives in a meaningful way. The data are freely and openly available to the scientific community and all other interested parties via a project Web site and at CADIS (Cooperative Arctic Data and Information Service), the AON data repository. The ION also collaborates with the NSF-funded Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge in the Arctic (ELOKA) for the purpose of advising on recording and curation of the TEK that will be obtained.