Land Over the Beautiful Horizon
NASA’s Frontlines of Rapidly Transforming Ecosystems (FORTE) project is a multi-year research mission studying how environmental changes across Alaska’s North Slope are affecting rivers, deltas, coastlines, nearshore waters, and the Arctic Ocean. The project focuses on major North Slope river systems, including the Colville River, and examines changes in river flow, water quality, permafrost, coastal erosion, carbon, nutrients, and Arctic ecosystems.
The Native Village of Nuiqsut has partnered with the FORTE team since the project’s early planning stages, bringing local knowledge and community priorities into the research. In 2025, the team installed a long-term monitoring station in the Nechelik Channel of the Colville River near Nuiqsut to continuously measure river flow and water quality.
FORTE will combine information collected from satellites, aircraft, drones, research vessels, small boats, environmental monitoring equipment, and local observations. Major field campaigns are planned for 2027 and 2028, with the goal of better understanding how rapid environmental changes affect Arctic ecosystems, marine resources, and North Slope communities.
Learn more about the FORTE mission, research, field activities, and project updates.
NASA FORTE Environmental Monitoring Report
Nigliq Channel, Nuiqsut, Alaska | July-October 2025
Kid's Corner!
Explore NASA science through games, quizzes, and interactive activities. Learn about the tiny organisms that support ocean life, what is floating in our atmosphere, and NASA’s work studying Earth and space.
Take this fun quiz to find out which phytoplankton matches you, while learning about the tiny plants and algae that form the base of the marine food web.
Explore the world of phytoplankton and learn about different species, their role in ocean ecosystems, which can be harmful, and how NASA’s PACE mission studies them from space.
Take NASA PACE’s interactive aerosol quiz and learn about the tiny particles found in Earth’s atmosphere.
Play NASA games and explore space, Earth science, astronauts, NASA missions, pictures, and activities. Kids’ Club includes games for different skill levels, with activities designed especially for children from pre-K through fourth grade and links to additional resources for older students.
NASA science and data on Earth’s changing climate, including the evidence, causes, and effects of climate change. Explore NASA observations and indicators for Arctic sea ice, ice sheets, sea level, ocean warming, global temperature, carbon dioxide, and methane, along with satellite imagery, interactive tools, and climate research.