There are two major difficulties that are widely acknowledged when the Arctic observing systems are being discussed:

1. sparse observational network and
2. changes in the observational network over time.

A long-term hydrologic monitoring network was established in the Kuparuk River and adjacent watersheds in the mid-1980s. This network has been maintained by the Water and Environmental Research Center (WERC) at University of Alaska Fairbanks led by Dr. Douglas Kane and funded by numerous research projects. The data collection was initiated in 1985 in the small Imnavait Creek watershed just north of the Brooks Range. Over the years, data collection extended to include the Upper Kuparuk River watershed in the early 1990s, the entire Kuparuk River watershed in the late 1990s and then the adjacent watersheds in 2000s.

As of today, observational network includes the Kuparuk River, Putuligayuk River and Roche Mountannee Creek watersheds to obtain continuous hydro-climatological data streams for a new program funded by the Arctic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). This newly directed observation effort, the Terrestrial Environmental Observing Network (TEON), joins the legacy of hydro-climatic monitoring and research in the Kuparuk with new permafrost and vegetation observation programs to start building integrated datasets to benefit a variety of Arctic Alaska stakeholders.

• Maintain instrumentation on river gauges and meteorological stations in the Upper Kuparuk, Imnaviat, Putuligayuk, and Roche Moutonnee watersheds.
• Conduct spatially distributed end-of-winter snow surveys to estimate watershed-scale snow water equivalent (SWE) and spring ablation measurements to estimate timing and rate of snowmelt.
• Conduct research and guide scientific training of students in TEON-Kuparuk catchments and using historic and current datasets. Foster collaboration and synergistic activities with other scientists in the study area.

1984-1993: Department of Energy, Office of Health and Environmental Research
1993-2010: National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs
2008-2013: US Fish and Wildlife Service and Alaska Department of Transportation
2014-2017: Arctic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (Arctic LCC, US Fish and Wildlife Service)