HR: 09:30h
AN: C11A-07    [PDF]
TI: Spatial variability of the active layer thickness: observations, analysis, and modeling.
AU: * Shiklomanov, N I
EM: shiklom@udel.edu
AF: Department of Geography, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 United States
AU: Nelson, F E
EM: fnelson@udel.edu
AF: Department of Geography, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 United States
AU: Hinkel, K
EM: Kenneth.Hinkel@uc.edu
AF: Department of Geography,, University of Cincinnati, 401 Braunstein Hall,, Cincinnati, OH 45221 United States
AU: Klene, A
EM: klene@selway.umt.edu
AF: Department of Geography, The University of Montana, Social Science 203, Missoula, MT 59812 United States
AB: The uppermost layer of seasonal thawing above permafrost (the active layer) is an important regulator of energy and mass fluxes between the surface and the atmosphere in the polar regions. A major difficulty in predicting and mapping active-layer thickness stems from its large spatial variability over a wide range of geographic scale, in response to many interacting climatic and terrestrial factors. Here we address the problem of spatial and temporal variability of active-layer thickness over a wide range of scales, and the landscape-specific effects of this variability in several environmental settings. Data from eight years of extensive, spatially oriented field investigations conducted in North-Central Alaska are used to examine regularities in thaw depth for several landscape types and to provide a comprehensive evaluation of spatial and temporal active-layer variability under contemporary climate. The results can be used to facilitate detailed characterization of active-layer thickness at small geographical scale, evaluation of currently available spatially-distributed permafrost models, and bridge a critical gap between models of climate-permafrost interactions and localized thaw depth measurements.
DE: 1630 Impact phenomena
DE: 1694 Instruments and techniques
DE: 1823 Frozen ground
DE: 1848 Networks
DE: 9350 North America
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting