Use of Geobotanical Maps and Automated Mapping Techniques to Examine Cumulative Impacts in the Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska

A comprehensive approach to the problem of examining impacts on tundra landscapes is presented, using the Prudhoe Bay oilfield as a model. Development of the oilfield is documented, utilizing a series of ‘historical’ disturbance maps for the period 1949–83. Cumulative development of the entire field was mapped at a scale of 1:24,000, and an intensely developed portion of the field was mapped at 1:6,000, using an integrated geobotanical and historical disturbance map (IGHDM). The IGHDM data were automated, and a series of maps was made which depict a variety of information—including geobotany of the area as of 1949, and the historical sequence of development from 1968 to 1983.