What we learned from this summers data. Don and Javier came to the University of Delaware in November to assist in data analysis. Then more maps were made of the yearly deviation from the mean at each site. These differences confirmed our previous interpretations, based on statistical analysis, about patterns of spatial variability in the coastal plain and the foothills. In contrast, the large rolling foothills to the south are covered with stream networks and complex tussock, shrub and moss vegetation.
Water often forms small ponds in the depressed centers of the polygons.
The two lakes in the photo are typical of the thousands occurring in the outermost coastal plain. This one is approximately 15 inches tall, which is fairly small. They make surface processes hard to estimate, and walking on them has been compared to walking on basketballs. The summer of 1998 was warm, contributing to a thicker overall active layer than had been observed the previous three years. As the two difference maps illustrate, however, a great deal of variation exists within each grid allowing some areas to be thinner than usual.