Active layer thickness（ALT） is critical to the understanding of the surface energy balance, hydrological cycles, plant growth, and cold region engineering projects in permafrost regions. The temperature at the botto...Active layer thickness（ALT） is critical to the understanding of the surface energy balance, hydrological cycles, plant growth, and cold region engineering projects in permafrost regions. The temperature at the bottom of the active layer, a boundary layer between the equilibrium thermal state（in permafrost below） and transient thermal state（in the atmosphere and surface canopies above）, is an important parameter to reflect the existence and thermal stability of permafrost. In this study, the Geophysical Institute Permafrost Model（GIPL） was used to model the spatial distribution of and changes in ALT and soil temperature in the Source Area of the Yellow River（SAYR）, where continuous, discontinuous, and sporadic permafrost coexists with seasonally frozen ground. Monthly air temperatures downscaled from the CRU TS3.0 datasets, monthly snow depth derived from the passive microwave remote-sensing data SMMR and SSM/I, and vegetation patterns and soil properties at scale of 1：1000000 were used as input data after modified with GIS techniques. The model validation was carried out carefully with in-situ ALT in the SAYR interpolated from the field-measured soil temperature data. The results of the model indicate that the average ALT in the SAYR has significantly increased from 1.8 m in 1980 to 2.4 m in 2006 at an average rate of 2.2 cm yr–1. The mean annual temperature at the bottom of the active layer, or temperature at the top of permafrost（TTOP） rose substantially from –1.1°C in 1980 to –0.6°C in 2006 at an average rate of 0.018°C yr–1. The increasing rate of the ALT and TTOP has accelerated since 2000. Regional warming and degradation of permafrost has also occurred, and the changes in the areal extent of regions with a sub-zero TTOP shrank from 2.4×104 to 2.2×104 km2 at an average rate of 74 km2 yr–1. Changes of ALT and temperature have adversely affected the environmental stability in the SAYR.展开更多
Snow water equivalent (SWE) is important for investigations of annual to decadal-scale changes in Arctic environment and energy-water cycles. Passive microwave satellite-based retrieval algorithm estimates of SWE now ...Snow water equivalent (SWE) is important for investigations of annual to decadal-scale changes in Arctic environment and energy-water cycles. Passive microwave satellite-based retrieval algorithm estimates of SWE now span more than three decades. SWE retrievals by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observation System (AMSR-E) onboard the NASA-Aqua satellite ended at October 2011. A critical parameter in the AMSR-E retrieval algorithm is snow density assumed from surveys in Canada and Russia from 1940s-1990s. We compare ground SWE measurements in Alaska to those of AMSR-E, European Space Agency GlobSnow, and GIPL model. AMSR-E SWE underperforms (is less than on average) ground SWE measurements in Alaska through 2011. Snow density measurements along the Alaska permafrost transect in April 2009 and 2010 show a significant latitude-gradient in snow density increasing to the Arctic coast at Prudhoe Bay. Large differences are apparent in comparisons of our measured mean snow densities on a same snow cover class basis March-April 2009-2011 Alaska to those measured in Alaska winter 1989-1992 and Canadian March-April 1961-1990. Snow density like other properties of snow is an indicator of climate and a non-stationary variable of SWE.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41301068, 41121061)the State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soils Engineering (Grant No. Y252J41001,)the Foundation for Excellent Youth Scholars of CAREERI, CAS (Grant No. 51Y351051)
文摘Active layer thickness（ALT） is critical to the understanding of the surface energy balance, hydrological cycles, plant growth, and cold region engineering projects in permafrost regions. The temperature at the bottom of the active layer, a boundary layer between the equilibrium thermal state（in permafrost below） and transient thermal state（in the atmosphere and surface canopies above）, is an important parameter to reflect the existence and thermal stability of permafrost. In this study, the Geophysical Institute Permafrost Model（GIPL） was used to model the spatial distribution of and changes in ALT and soil temperature in the Source Area of the Yellow River（SAYR）, where continuous, discontinuous, and sporadic permafrost coexists with seasonally frozen ground. Monthly air temperatures downscaled from the CRU TS3.0 datasets, monthly snow depth derived from the passive microwave remote-sensing data SMMR and SSM/I, and vegetation patterns and soil properties at scale of 1：1000000 were used as input data after modified with GIS techniques. The model validation was carried out carefully with in-situ ALT in the SAYR interpolated from the field-measured soil temperature data. The results of the model indicate that the average ALT in the SAYR has significantly increased from 1.8 m in 1980 to 2.4 m in 2006 at an average rate of 2.2 cm yr–1. The mean annual temperature at the bottom of the active layer, or temperature at the top of permafrost（TTOP） rose substantially from –1.1°C in 1980 to –0.6°C in 2006 at an average rate of 0.018°C yr–1. The increasing rate of the ALT and TTOP has accelerated since 2000. Regional warming and degradation of permafrost has also occurred, and the changes in the areal extent of regions with a sub-zero TTOP shrank from 2.4×104 to 2.2×104 km2 at an average rate of 74 km2 yr–1. Changes of ALT and temperature have adversely affected the environmental stability in the SAYR.
文摘Snow water equivalent (SWE) is important for investigations of annual to decadal-scale changes in Arctic environment and energy-water cycles. Passive microwave satellite-based retrieval algorithm estimates of SWE now span more than three decades. SWE retrievals by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observation System (AMSR-E) onboard the NASA-Aqua satellite ended at October 2011. A critical parameter in the AMSR-E retrieval algorithm is snow density assumed from surveys in Canada and Russia from 1940s-1990s. We compare ground SWE measurements in Alaska to those of AMSR-E, European Space Agency GlobSnow, and GIPL model. AMSR-E SWE underperforms (is less than on average) ground SWE measurements in Alaska through 2011. Snow density measurements along the Alaska permafrost transect in April 2009 and 2010 show a significant latitude-gradient in snow density increasing to the Arctic coast at Prudhoe Bay. Large differences are apparent in comparisons of our measured mean snow densities on a same snow cover class basis March-April 2009-2011 Alaska to those measured in Alaska winter 1989-1992 and Canadian March-April 1961-1990. Snow density like other properties of snow is an indicator of climate and a non-stationary variable of SWE.
