HR: 11:35h
AN: C11E-06    [PDF]
TI: Mapping Active-Layer Thickness in an Urbanized Environment: The Barrow Urban Heat Island Study
AU: * Klene, A E
EM: klene@udel.edu
AF: University of Montana, Department of Geography 203 Social Science, Missoula, MT 59812 United States
AU: Hinkel, K M
EM: Kenneth.Hinkel@uc.edu
AF: University of Cincinnati, Department of Geography 400E Braunstein Hall, Cincinnati, OH 45221 United States
AU: Nelson, F E
EM: fnelson@udel.edu
AF: University of Delaware, Department of Geography 216 Pearson Hall, Newark, DE 19716 United States
AU: Shiklomanov, N I
EM: shiklom@udel.edu
AF: University of Delaware, Department of Geography 216 Pearson Hall, Newark, DE 19716 United States
AB: Local and global changes in the Arctic climate may have profound impacts on hydrology, soil stability, and infrastructure, such as roads, buildings, and water, gas, or oil pipelines. These changes will be manifested in large part through permafrost, which can influence virtually all physical, chemical, and biological processes occurring in the soil. The "Barrow Urban Heat Island Study" (BUHIS) is an ongoing project in northern Alaska that examines the effects of urbanization on air and soil temperatures in and around Barrow. At 4600 residents, Barrow is the largest native settlement in the circumarctic region and the northernmost urban area in the United States. Initiated in summer 2001, BUHIS is recording temperature and thaw depth at more than 60 locations throughout the village, the developing suburbs, and surrounding undisturbed tundra. This paper describes one part of study examining the active layer and anthropogenic influences on its thickness. Summer air and soil temperature data, together with digital vegetation and soil maps, are used as input to a modified Stefan solution to map depth of thaw over an area of 100 square kilometers that includes both the village of Barrow and the surrounding tundra. Maps representing end-of-summer conditions for 2001 provide the first spatial/temporal representation of active-layer variability within an urbanized area. Increasing urban development in Arctic regions is causing information about changes accompanying industrial development and urbanization to become more vital, particularly given the possibility of a warming climate.
DE: 1620 Climate dynamics (3309)
DE: 3322 Land/atmosphere interactions
DE: 9315 Arctic region
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting