The US Arctic Research and Policy Act (ARPA) of 1984 defines the Arctic in section 112; "the term 'Arctic' means all United States and foreign territory north of the Arctic Circle and all United States territory north and west of the boundary formed by the Porcupine, Yukon, and Kuskokwim Rivers; all contiguous seas, including the Arctic Ocean and the Beaufort, Bering and Chukchi Seas; and the Aleutian chain."
The purpose of this digital data layer is to illustrate the ARPA boundary.
The establishment of polygon topology was required to allow for shading the area encompassed by the ARPA definition. For this reason, a line connecting the 45 km gap between the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers was added (following 160 degrees West Longitude) and a line demarcating the southern boundary of the Aleutian chain was created (based on the 24 nm buffer around the islands known as the "Contiguous Zone." For a detailed description of this area see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_sea and http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/csdl/mbound.htm)
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Please cite these data as: J. Farrell, K. Farrow, A. Gaylord, 2009. Arctic Research Policy Act defined boundary of the Arctic. Washington D.C., USA: US Arctic Research Commission. Digital Media. http://www.arctic.gov/
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Funding for this map was provided by the National Science Foundation through the Arctic Research Mapping Application (armap.org) and contract #0520837 to CH2M HILL for the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC).
Unique attributes for the 2 polygons are included to allow for shading to differentiate the area defined within the ARPA boundary and the area north of 45 degrees north latitude.
The establishment of polygon topology was required to allow for shading the area encompassed by the ARPA definition.
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No accuracy assessment has been performed against real world positions. The representation of the southern boundary of the Aleutian Chain has been approximated for illustration purposes.
Relevant portions of the Arctic Circle and 160 degrees West Longitude were derived from this data.
The Yukon, Porcupine and Kuskokwim Rivers were queried and copied from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Adadromous Waters Catalog of regional GIS layers (of the Arctic, Western and Interior regions.)
This data set was used to create the shoreline boundary from the mouth of the Kuskokwim River out to the end of the Alaska Peninsula.
The 24 nm Contiguous Zone boundary was utilized in developing a southern boundary of the Aleutian Chain (gaps between the 24 nm buffers were simply connected to ensure polygon topology.)
These sources were used to confirm the extent of the Aleutuan Chain. The Aleutian Islands extend west from the Alaska Peninsula beginning at Sanak Island and extend to Attu Island.)
Relevant sections of the data layers were selected using the attribute query tool and trace tool in ArcGIS ArcMap. For example, the Yukon, Porcupine and Kuskokwim Rivers were queried and copied from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's GIS layers of anadromous rivers catalog. The relevant portion of the Arctic Circle was traced from the "Named Latitiudes and Longitudes" from the ESRI Data and Maps DVDs. A 45 km portion of 160 degrees west longititude (also from "Names Latitudes and Longitudes") was utilized to join the gap between the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers (to establish polygon topology.) The generalized coast of Alaska (based on 1:63,360 scale digital data) was used for the shoreline boundary from the mouth of the Kuskokwim River out to the end of the Alaska Peninsula. The 24 nm Contiguous Zone boundary was utilized in developing a southern boundary of the Aleutian Chain (gaps between the 24 nm buffers were simply connected to ensure polygon topology.)
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US Arctic Research Commission
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US Arctic Research Commission
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The US Arctic Research Commission shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. The data are not better than the original sources from which they were derived. It is the responsibility of the data user to use the data appropriately and consistently within the limitations of geospatial data in general and these data in particular. The US Arctic Research Commission gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of these data. These data and related graphics are not legal documents and are not intended to be used as such. This disclaimer applies both to individual use of the data and aggregate use with other data.
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