UAV-Based Remote Sensing for Managing Alaskan Native Heritage Landscapes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta

Abstract

The Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta is home to the Alaskan Native Yup’ik people who have inhabited this remote, subarctic tundra for over 1500 years. Today, their ancestral lifeways and cultural landscapes are at risk from severe climate change-related threats. In turn, we propose that remote sensing technologies, particularly with sensors mounted on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platforms, are uniquely suited for protecting Yup’ik landscape heritage. Based on collaborative, community-based fieldwork in Quinhagak, AK, we present evidence that cultural sites—ranging from historic fishing camps to pre-contact winter villages—exhibit predictably atypical vegetation patterns based on the local ecological biome. Furthermore, these vegetation patterns can be recorded and statistically quantified through the analysis of multispectral imagery obtained from UAV-mounted sensors with three different false color composite rasters and vegetation indices depending on biome type. Finally, we suggest how the Yupiit can combine these methodologies/workflows with local knowledge to monitor the broader heritage landscape in the face of climate change.