Surface Climate and SnowWeather Relationships of the Kuparuk Basin
3
Most studies of Arctic Slope climate have relied almost exclusively on the
coastal and coastal plain records (e.g., Searby and Hunter 1971, Wiseman and
Short 1976) or have concentrated on specific locations (Clebsch and Shanks
1968, Brown et al. 1975, Haugen et al. 1976, Thoman 1995, Wendler 1978).
Researchers have also used analyses of synoptic upper air data to derive synoptic
climatologies of the Arctic Slope (e.g., Moritz 1979, Milkovich 1991) and mean
cyclone tracks in the Alaskan Arctic (Serreze et al. 1993).
Some studies have attempted to gain a better understanding of the more
inland reaches of the coastal plain and adjacent uplands, but this work has been
limited to the warm season. Walsh (1977) used aircraft data to gain a more inte-