Meteorological Observations 1997 at the Arctic Station, Qeqertarsuaq (69°15'N), Central West Greenland/A New Climate and Water-Balance Station on the Peninsula Skallingen, South West Jutland/A Quantitative Method for Analysing Landscape Structure
Niels NielsenOle HumlumBirger Ulf HansenBent HasholtUlf Pierre ThomasKirsten Wiese SimonsenL. JensenPernille HobitzAnette ReenbergJonas E. Lawesson
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Abstract An automatic meteorological station has been operating at the Arctic Station (69°15'N, 53°31'W) in West Greenland since 1990. This paper summarizes meteorological parameters during 1997, including snow and sea ice cover, ground temperatures and active layer development, and presents comments on the local permafrost thickness. In March 1997 an automatic climate and water balance station was established on the peninsula Skallingen, 55°30'N, 8°15'E. The data can be retreived by a cellular phone and a modem. The station and selected data are described. Abstract The present paper sketches out a method for a quantitative description of landscape structure, which can be used for biologically optimal landscape management. The approach suggested is based on a landscape ecological framework and emphasis is laid on spatial characterisation of the landscape. It aims at supplementing conventional landscape descriptive parameters of biological importance, which are derived from a range of empirical data, with a spatial characterization. The method is implemented in a vector-based GIS (ArcView) and allows quantification of landscape structure in different landscape types. Suggestions to further development of the method are discussed.Keywords:
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Subject of research: article is the time series of changes in the area of thermokarst lakes in the Arctic under the conditions of modern climatic changes.
Purpose of research: to analyze the time series of satellite measurements of lake areas for studying the dynamics of lakes in the West Siberian Arctic.
Methods and objects of research: we present the results of formation and analysis of time series of lake areas intended for studying the dynamics of thermokarst lakes in the Arctic zone of Western Siberia over a 36-year period. The time series were obtained based on the results of remote measurements of the lake areas on the territory of 627 thousand km2 using 688 Landsat satellite images, sampled in the period 1985-2021. The study area was divided into three ecoregions to analyze the territorial features of the vast Arctic zone of Western Siberia. The analysis of the time series showed that the change in the average lake area in the territory of the Arctic zone of Western Siberia exhibits a marked negative linear trend.
Main results of research: based on the comparison of the trends in the time series of lake areas in the territories of the three ecoregions of the West Siberian Arctic, it was found that the thermokarst lakes of Yamal exhibit the highest rate of change in the areas compared to the other Arctic ecoregions.
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Describes use of air temperatures to determine permafrost presence for engineering purposes. Annual mean temperature and thawing index (a yearly summation of daily mean temperature over 32 F) in 61 localities of northern Canada were compared with reported permafrost occurrences. The latter are divided into four categories: free of permafrost; discontinuous permafrost; continuous permafrost in forest, and in tundra. Correlations were found in all but twelve of the localities; the latter are considered individually and in some, permafrost was uncertain.
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Abstract Ground thermal conditions in marginal permafrost in Mongolia were assessed using ground temperatures measured year‐round at 69 borehole sites. Permafrost is continuous in northern Mongolia and exists as sporadic/isolated patches in the south. Ground temperatures are strongly controlled by local environmental factors, such as topographic depressions that concentrate cold air during winter, ice‐rich strata that prevent penetration of sensible heat, and tree cover that reduces incident solar radiation. Permafrost temperatures are typically between −1 and 0°C; colder permafrost (< −2°C) occurs in the northern extent of continuous permafrost and at high elevations in the sporadic/isolated permafrost zones. Relict permafrost, which is thermally disconnected from seasonal air temperature fluctuations, is present near the latitudinal and elevational limits of perennially frozen ground. Cold and thermally responsive permafrost is dominant in the continuous and discontinuous zones, while warm and thermally unresponsive permafrost is dominant in the sporadic and isolated zones. Overall, the climate‐driven permafrost in the colder regions is stable, while the ecosystem‐driven permafrost in the warmer regions is degrading.
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The objectives include: (1) building a data base of modern surface pollen samples from across the eastern and central Canadian arctic as well as along the North Slope of Alaska; (2) documenting changes in the pollen spectra at a series of peat and lake sites in northern Labrador, Baffin Island, and Keewatin; (3) preparing a series of transfer functions that relate modern climatic data to modern surface pollen spectra and applying the equations to fossil pollen spectra in the eastern Canadian arctic; and (4) discussing the significance of spikes of exotic tree and shrub pollen in high arctic peat and lake samples as paleoclimatic indicators.
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Using continuous data obtained from 17 monitoring sites, the permafrost temperature profiles and the depths of zero annual amplitude (DZAA) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are examined. Permafrost thermal trumpet curves are generally narrow and the DZAAs are generally shallow in warm permafrost regions, especially at sites where the permafrost temperature is close to 0 °C. The observed DZAAs in warm permafrost regions are indeed generally less than 7.0 m and for three sites less than 4.0 m. In low-temperature permafrost areas, the situation is reversed: the thermal trumpet curves are generally wide and the DZAAs are generally deep. Theoretical and numerical analyses clearly show there is a causal relationship between permafrost warming and the decrease of the DZAA. Latent heat effects are buffering the increase of permafrost temperature and result in narrow thermal trumpet curves and shallow DZAAs. Based on observations and numerical analyses, this research suggests that most of the permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is undergoing internal thaw and the latent heat effects have important implications on the permafrost thermal regime. The temperature-dependent adjustments in permafrost will promote both the downward and upward degradation of permafrost as a result of climate warming.
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Radium isotope fingerprinting of permafrost ‐ applications to thawing and intra‐permafrost processes
Abstract Permafrost in circum‐polar regions has been recently undergoing thawing, with severe environmental consequences, including the release of greenhouse gases and amplification of global warming. Although highly important, direct methods of tracking thawing hardly exist. In a research study conducted at Adventdalen, Svalbard, we identified a permafrost radioisotope fingerprint, and show that it can be used to track thawing. Ratios of long‐ to the shorter‐lived radium isotopes are higher in ground ice than in active layer water, which we attribute to the permafrost closed system and possibly to the long residence time of ground ice in the permafrost. Also, daughter–parent 224 Ra/ 228 Ra ratios are lower in permafrost than in the active layer. These fingerprints were also identified in a local stream, confirming the applicability of this tool to tracing thawed permafrost in periglacial watersheds. A combination of radium isotope ratios and 3 H allowed the identification of recent intra‐permafrost segregation processes. The permafrost radium fingerprint should be applicable to other permafrost areas, which could assist in regional quantification of the extent of permafrost thawing and carbon emissions to the atmosphere.
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Abstract Permafrost covers a wide area of the Northern Hemisphere, including high-altitude mountainous areas and even at mid-latitudes. There is concern that the thawing of mountain permafrost can cause slope instability and substantially impact alpine ecosystems, and because permafrost in mountainous areas is difficult to observe, detailed analyses have not been performed on its current distribution and future changes. Although previous studies have observed permafrost only at a limited number of points in Japan (e.g., Daisetsu Mountains, Mt. Fuji, and Mt. Tateyama in the Northern Japan Alps), we show that permafrost potentially exists in nine domains in Japan (Daisetsu Mountains, Mt. Fuji, Northern and Southern Japan Alps, Hidaka Mountains, Mt. Shiretokodake, Sharidake, Akandake, and Yotei). In the Daisetsu Mountains and Mt. Fuji, the environmental conditions required for maintaining at least some permafrost are projected to remain in the future if a decarbonized society is achieved (RCP2.6 or RCP4.5). However, if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase (RCP8.5), the environmental conditions required for sustaining permafrost are projected to disappear in the second half of the twenty-first century. In other domains, the environmental conditions required for maintaining permafrost are either projected to disappear in the next ten years (Hidaka Mountains, Northern Japan Alps) or they have almost disappeared already (Southern Japan Alps, Mt. Shiretokodake, Sharidake, Akandake, and Yotei). Our projections show that climate change has a tremendous impact on Japan's mountain permafrost environment and suggests the importance of monitoring the mountain environment and considering measures for adapting to future climate change.
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