From left to right: Jon Maakestad, Field Technician at USACE/CRREL, Capt Christopher Edlund, AFIT master’s student, Dr. Diedrich Prigge, Assistant Professor of Engineering Management, Kevin Bjella, PE, Research Civil Engineer at USACE/CRREL. (photo by: A1C Hunter Slivka)

A team from AFIT recently traveled to Eielson AFB, Alaska to characterize the anthropogenic and climate induced changes to permafrost soils in the Arctic.  During their one-week study, the team conducted Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) surveys to locate permafrost underground, and installed two long term ground temperature monitoring stations.  The stations will measure ground temperature and soil moisture content at different depths beneath the surface. The data provided from this long-term effort will help engineers design and maintain resilient facilities in a changing Arctic environment.  The work is in collaboration with the US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory located in Fairbanks.