Articles | Volume 14, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2581-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2581-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
12 Aug 2020
Research article |
| 12 Aug 2020
| 12 Aug 2020
The ERA5-Land soil temperature bias in permafrost regions
National Tibetan Plateau Data Center, Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environmental Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Stephan Gruber
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
National Tibetan Plateau Data Center, Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environmental Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Xin Li
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
National Tibetan Plateau Data Center, Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environmental Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Related authors
Bin Cao, Gabriele Arduini, and Ervin Zsoter
The Cryosphere, 16, 2701–2708, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2701-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2701-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We implemented a new multi-layer snow scheme in the land surface scheme of ERA5-Land with revised snow densification parameterizations. The revised HTESSEL improved the representation of soil temperature in permafrost regions compared to ERA5-Land; in particular, warm bias in winter was significantly reduced, and the resulting modeled near-surface permafrost extent was improved.
Bin Cao, Xiaojing Quan, Nicholas Brown, Emilie Stewart-Jones, and Stephan Gruber
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 4661–4679, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4661-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4661-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
GlobSim is a tool for simulating land-surface processes and phenomena at point locations globally, even where no site-specific meteorological observations exist. This is important because simulation can add insight to the analysis of observations or help in anticipating climate-change impacts and because site-specific simulation can help in model evaluation.
Bin Cao, Tingjun Zhang, Qingbai Wu, Yu Sheng, Lin Zhao, and Defu Zou
The Cryosphere, 13, 511–519, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-511-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-511-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Many maps have been produced to estimate permafrost distribution over the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. However the evaluation and inter-comparisons of them are poorly understood due to limited in situ measurements. We provided an in situ inventory of evidence of permafrost presence or absence, with 1475 sites over the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Based on the in situ measurements, our evaluation results showed a wide range of map performance, and the estimated permafrost region and area are extremely large.
Bin Cao, Stephan Gruber, and Tingjun Zhang
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 2905–2923, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-2905-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-2905-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
To derive the air temperature in mountain enviroments, we propose a new downscaling method with a spatially variable magnitude of surface effects. Our findings suggest that the difference between near-surface air temperature and upper-air temerpature is a good proxy of surface effects. It can be used to improve downscaling results, especially in valleys with strong surface effects and cold air pooling during winter.
Yaoming Ma, Zhipeng Xie, Yingying Chen, Shaomin Liu, Tao Che, Ziwei Xu, Lunyu Shang, Xiaobo He, Xianhong Meng, Weiqiang Ma, Baiqing Xu, Huabiao Zhao, Junbo Wang, Guangjian Wu, and Xin Li
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3017–3043, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3017-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3017-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Current models and satellites struggle to accurately represent the land–atmosphere (L–A) interactions over the Tibetan Plateau. We present the most extensive compilation of in situ observations to date, comprising 17 years of data on L–A interactions across 12 sites. This quality-assured benchmark dataset provides independent validation to improve models and remote sensing for the region, and it enables new investigations of fine-scale L–A processes and their mechanistic drivers.
Paolo Nasta, Günter Blöschl, Heye R. Bogena, Steffen Zacharias, Roland Baatz, Gabriëlle De Lannoy, Karsten H. Jensen, Salvatore Manfreda, Laurent Pfister, Ana M. Tarquis, Ilja van Meerveld, Marc Voltz, Yijian Zeng, William Kustas, Xin Li, Harry Vereecken, and Nunzio Romano
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1678, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1678, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Unsolved Problems in Hydrology (UPH) initiative has emphasized the need to establish networks of multi-decadal hydrological observatories to tackle catchment-scale challenges on a global scale. This opinion paper provocatively discusses two end members of possible future hydrological observatory (HO) networks for a given hypothesized community budget: a comprehensive set of moderately instrumented observatories or, alternatively, a small number of highly instrumented super-sites.
Zhen Zhang, Benjamin Poulter, Joe R. Melton, William J. Riley, George H. Allen, David J. Beerling, Philippe Bousquet, Josep G. Canadell, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Philippe Ciais, Nicola Gedney, Peter O. Hopcroft, Akihiko Ito, Robert B. Jackson, Atul K. Jain, Katherine Jensen, Fortunat Joos, Thomas Kleinen, Sara Knox, Tingting Li, Xin Li, Xiangyu Liu, Kyle McDonald, Gavin McNicol, Paul A. Miller, Jurek Müller, Prabir K. Patra, Changhui Peng, Shushi Peng, Zhangcai Qin, Ryan M. Riggs, Marielle Saunois, Qing Sun, Hanqin Tian, Xiaoming Xu, Yuanzhi Yao, Xi Yi, Wenxin Zhang, Qing Zhu, Qiuan Zhu, and Qianlai Zhuang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1584, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1584, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study assesses global methane emissions from wetlands between 2000 and 2020 using multiple models. We found that wetland emissions increased by 6–7 Tg CH4 per year in the 2010s compared to the 2000s. Rising temperatures primarily drove this increase, while changes in precipitation and CO2 levels also played roles. Our findings highlight the importance of wetlands in the global methane budget and the need for continuous monitoring to understand their impact on climate change.
Shaomin Liu, Ziwei Xu, Tao Che, Xin Li, Tongren Xu, Zhiguo Ren, Yang Zhang, Junlei Tan, Lisheng Song, Ji Zhou, Zhongli Zhu, Xiaofan Yang, Rui Liu, and Yanfei Ma
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 4959–4981, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-4959-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-4959-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present a suite of observational datasets from artificial and natural oases–desert systems that consist of long-term turbulent flux and auxiliary data, including hydrometeorological, vegetation, and soil parameters, from 2012 to 2021. We confirm that the 10-year, long-term dataset presented in this study is of high quality with few missing data, and we believe that the data will support ecological security and sustainable development in oasis–desert areas.
Yaozhi Jiang, Kun Yang, Youcun Qi, Xu Zhou, Jie He, Hui Lu, Xin Li, Yingying Chen, Xiaodong Li, Bingrong Zhou, Ali Mamtimin, Changkun Shao, Xiaogang Ma, Jiaxin Tian, and Jianhong Zhou
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 621–638, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-621-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-621-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Our work produces a long-term (1979–2020) high-resolution (1/30°, daily) precipitation dataset for the Third Pole (TP) region by merging an advanced atmospheric simulation with high-density rain gauge (more than 9000) observations. Validation shows that the produced dataset performs better than the currently widely used precipitation datasets in the TP. This dataset can be used for hydrological, meteorological and ecological studies in the TP.
Pei Zhang, Donghai Zheng, Rogier van der Velde, Jun Wen, Yaoming Ma, Yijian Zeng, Xin Wang, Zuoliang Wang, Jiali Chen, and Zhongbo Su
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 5513–5542, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5513-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5513-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Soil moisture and soil temperature (SMST) are important state variables for quantifying the heat–water exchange between land and atmosphere. Yet, long-term, regional-scale in situ SMST measurements at multiple depths are scarce on the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The presented dataset would be valuable for the evaluation and improvement of long-term satellite- and model-based SMST products on the TP, enhancing the understanding of TP hydrometeorological processes and their response to climate change.
Alessandro Cicoira, Samuel Weber, Andreas Biri, Ben Buchli, Reynald Delaloye, Reto Da Forno, Isabelle Gärtner-Roer, Stephan Gruber, Tonio Gsell, Andreas Hasler, Roman Lim, Philippe Limpach, Raphael Mayoraz, Matthias Meyer, Jeannette Noetzli, Marcia Phillips, Eric Pointner, Hugo Raetzo, Cristian Scapozza, Tazio Strozzi, Lothar Thiele, Andreas Vieli, Daniel Vonder Mühll, Vanessa Wirz, and Jan Beutel
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 5061–5091, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5061-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5061-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This paper documents a monitoring network of 54 positions, located on different periglacial landforms in the Swiss Alps: rock glaciers, landslides, and steep rock walls. The data serve basic research but also decision-making and mitigation of natural hazards. It is the largest dataset of its kind, comprising over 209 000 daily positions and additional weather data.
Francisco José Cuesta-Valero, Hugo Beltrami, Stephan Gruber, Almudena García-García, and J. Fidel González-Rouco
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 7913–7932, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7913-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7913-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Inversions of subsurface temperature profiles provide past long-term estimates of ground surface temperature histories and ground heat flux histories at timescales of decades to millennia. Theses estimates complement high-frequency proxy temperature reconstructions and are the basis for studying continental heat storage. We develop and release a new bootstrap method to derive meaningful confidence intervals for the average surface temperature and heat flux histories from any number of profiles.
Élise G. Devoie, Stephan Gruber, and Jeffrey M. McKenzie
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3365–3377, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3365-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3365-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Soil freezing characteristic curves (SFCCs) relate the temperature of a soil to its ice content. SFCCs are needed in all physically based numerical models representing freezing and thawing soils, and they affect the movement of water in the subsurface, biogeochemical processes, soil mechanics, and ecology. Over a century of SFCC data exist, showing high variability in SFCCs based on soil texture, water content, and other factors. This repository summarizes all available SFCC data and metadata.
Yijie Sui, Min Feng, Chunling Wang, and Xin Li
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3349–3363, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3349-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3349-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
High-latitude water bodies differ greatly in their morphological and topological characteristics related to their formation, type, and vulnerability. In this paper, we present a water body dataset for the North American high latitudes (WBD-NAHL). Nearly 6.5 million water bodies were identified, with approximately 6 million (~90 %) of them smaller than 0.1 km2.
Bin Cao, Gabriele Arduini, and Ervin Zsoter
The Cryosphere, 16, 2701–2708, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2701-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2701-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We implemented a new multi-layer snow scheme in the land surface scheme of ERA5-Land with revised snow densification parameterizations. The revised HTESSEL improved the representation of soil temperature in permafrost regions compared to ERA5-Land; in particular, warm bias in winter was significantly reduced, and the resulting modeled near-surface permafrost extent was improved.
Yanxing Hu, Tao Che, Liyun Dai, Yu Zhu, Lin Xiao, Jie Deng, and Xin Li
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2022-63, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2022-63, 2022
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
We propose a data fusion framework based on the random forest regression algorithm to derive a comprehensive snow depth product for the Northern Hemisphere from 1980 to 2019. This new fused snow depth dataset not only provides information about snow depth and its variation over the Northern Hemisphere but also presents potential value for hydrological and water cycle studies related to seasonal snowpacks.
Youhua Ran, Xin Li, Guodong Cheng, Jingxin Che, Juha Aalto, Olli Karjalainen, Jan Hjort, Miska Luoto, Huijun Jin, Jaroslav Obu, Masahiro Hori, Qihao Yu, and Xiaoli Chang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 865–884, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-865-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-865-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Datasets including ground temperature, active layer thickness, the probability of permafrost occurrence, and the zonation of hydrothermal condition with a 1 km resolution were released by integrating unprecedentedly large amounts of field data and multisource remote sensing data using multi-statistical\machine-learning models. It updates the understanding of the current thermal state and distribution for permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere.
Guoqing Zhang, Youhua Ran, Wei Wan, Wei Luo, Wenfeng Chen, Fenglin Xu, and Xin Li
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 3951–3966, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3951-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3951-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Lakes can be effective indicators of climate change, especially over the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Here, we provide the most comprehensive lake mapping covering the past 100 years. The new features of this data set are (1) its temporal length, providing the longest period of lake observations from maps, (2) the data set provides a state-of-the-art lake inventory for the Landsat era (from the 1970s to 2020), and (3) it provides the densest lake observations for lakes with areas larger than 1 km2.
Yongkang Xue, Tandong Yao, Aaron A. Boone, Ismaila Diallo, Ye Liu, Xubin Zeng, William K. M. Lau, Shiori Sugimoto, Qi Tang, Xiaoduo Pan, Peter J. van Oevelen, Daniel Klocke, Myung-Seo Koo, Tomonori Sato, Zhaohui Lin, Yuhei Takaya, Constantin Ardilouze, Stefano Materia, Subodh K. Saha, Retish Senan, Tetsu Nakamura, Hailan Wang, Jing Yang, Hongliang Zhang, Mei Zhao, Xin-Zhong Liang, J. David Neelin, Frederic Vitart, Xin Li, Ping Zhao, Chunxiang Shi, Weidong Guo, Jianping Tang, Miao Yu, Yun Qian, Samuel S. P. Shen, Yang Zhang, Kun Yang, Ruby Leung, Yuan Qiu, Daniele Peano, Xin Qi, Yanling Zhan, Michael A. Brunke, Sin Chan Chou, Michael Ek, Tianyi Fan, Hong Guan, Hai Lin, Shunlin Liang, Helin Wei, Shaocheng Xie, Haoran Xu, Weiping Li, Xueli Shi, Paulo Nobre, Yan Pan, Yi Qin, Jeff Dozier, Craig R. Ferguson, Gianpaolo Balsamo, Qing Bao, Jinming Feng, Jinkyu Hong, Songyou Hong, Huilin Huang, Duoying Ji, Zhenming Ji, Shichang Kang, Yanluan Lin, Weiguang Liu, Ryan Muncaster, Patricia de Rosnay, Hiroshi G. Takahashi, Guiling Wang, Shuyu Wang, Weicai Wang, Xu Zhou, and Yuejian Zhu
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 4465–4494, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-4465-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-4465-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The subseasonal prediction of extreme hydroclimate events such as droughts/floods has remained stubbornly low for years. This paper presents a new international initiative which, for the first time, introduces spring land surface temperature anomalies over high mountains to improve precipitation prediction through remote effects of land–atmosphere interactions. More than 40 institutions worldwide are participating in this effort. The experimental protocol and preliminary results are presented.
Pei Zhang, Donghai Zheng, Rogier van der Velde, Jun Wen, Yijian Zeng, Xin Wang, Zuoliang Wang, Jiali Chen, and Zhongbo Su
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 3075–3102, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3075-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3075-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This paper reports on the status of the Tibet-Obs and presents a 10-year (2009–2019) surface soil moisture (SM) dataset produced based on in situ measurements taken at a depth of 5 cm collected from the Tibet-Obs. This surface SM dataset includes the original 15 min in situ measurements collected by multiple SM monitoring sites of three networks (i.e. the Maqu, Naqu, and Ngari networks) and the spatially upscaled SM records produced for the Maqu and Shiquanhe networks.
Zhe Jin, Xiangjun Tian, Rui Han, Yu Fu, Xin Li, Huiqin Mao, and Cuihong Chen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2021-210, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2021-210, 2021
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
Here we present a global and regional resolved terrestrial ecosystem and ocean carbon flux dataset during 2015–2019. The dataset was generated using the Tan-Tracker inversion system by absorbing satellite CO2 observations. The posterior 5-year annual mean global net carbon emissions were 5.35 PgC yr−1; the terrestrial ecosystem and ocean sinks were −4.07 and −3.33 PgC yr−1, respectively. This dataset can help understand global and regional carbon cycle, and support climate policy formulation.
Jan G. Hofste, Rogier van der Velde, Jun Wen, Xin Wang, Zuoliang Wang, Donghai Zheng, Christiaan van der Tol, and Zhongbo Su
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 2819–2856, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-2819-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-2819-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The dataset reported in this paper concerns the measurement of microwave reflections from an alpine meadow over the Tibetan Plateau. These microwave reflections were measured continuously over 1 year. With it, variations in soil water content due to evaporation, precipitation, drainage, and soil freezing/thawing can be seen. A better understanding of the effects aforementioned processes have on microwave reflections may improve methods for estimating soil water content used by satellites.
Niccolò Tubini, Stephan Gruber, and Riccardo Rigon
The Cryosphere, 15, 2541–2568, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2541-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2541-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new method to compute temperature changes with melting and freezing – a fundamental challenge in cryosphere research – extremely efficiently and with guaranteed correctness of the energy balance for any time step size. This is a key feature since the integration time step can then be chosen according to the timescale of the processes to be studied, from seconds to days.
John Mohd Wani, Renoj J. Thayyen, Chandra Shekhar Prasad Ojha, and Stephan Gruber
The Cryosphere, 15, 2273–2293, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2273-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2273-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We study the surface energy balance from a cold-arid permafrost environment in the Indian Himalayan region. The GEOtop model was used for the modelling of surface energy balance. Our results show that the variability in the turbulent heat fluxes is similar to that reported from the seasonally frozen ground and permafrost regions of the Tibetan Plateau. Further, the low relative humidity could be playing a critical role in the surface energy balance and the permafrost processes.
Rupesh Subedi, Steven V. Kokelj, and Stephan Gruber
The Cryosphere, 14, 4341–4364, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4341-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4341-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Permafrost beneath tundra near Lac de Gras (Northwest Territories, Canada) contains more ice and less organic carbon than shown in global compilations. Excess-ice content of 20–60 %, likely remnant Laurentide basal ice, is found in upland till. This study is based on 24 boreholes up to 10 m deep. Findings highlight geology and glacial legacy as determinants of a mosaic of permafrost characteristics with potential for thaw subsidence up to several metres in some locations.
Hui Lu, Donghai Zheng, Kun Yang, and Fan Yang
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 5745–5758, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5745-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5745-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The Tibetan Plateau (TP), known as the Asian water tower, plays an important role in the regional climate system, while the land surface process is a key component through which the TP impacts the water and energy cycles. In this paper, we reviewed the progress achieved in the last decade in understanding and modeling the land surface processes on the TP. Based on this review, perspectives on the further improvement of land surface modelling on the TP are also provided.
Stephan Gruber
The Cryosphere, 14, 1437–1447, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1437-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1437-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
A simple method to record heave and subsidence of the land surface at specific field locations is described. Hourly observations from three sites, over two winters and one summer, are analyzed and discussed. The data are rich in features that point to the influence of freezing and thawing and of wetting and drying of the soil. This type of observation may offer new insight into the processes of heat and mass transfer in soil and help to monitor climate change impacts.
Wenjun Tang, Kun Yang, Jun Qin, Xin Li, and Xiaolei Niu
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 1905–1915, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1905-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1905-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This study produced a 16-year (2000–2015) global surface solar radiation dataset (3 h, 10 km) based on recently updated ISCCP H-series cloud products with a physically based retrieval scheme. Its spatial resolution and accuracy are both higher than those of the ISCCP-FD, GEWEX-SRB and CERES. The dataset will contribute to photovoltaic applications and research related to the simulation of land surface processes.
Bin Cao, Xiaojing Quan, Nicholas Brown, Emilie Stewart-Jones, and Stephan Gruber
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 4661–4679, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4661-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4661-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
GlobSim is a tool for simulating land-surface processes and phenomena at point locations globally, even where no site-specific meteorological observations exist. This is important because simulation can add insight to the analysis of observations or help in anticipating climate-change impacts and because site-specific simulation can help in model evaluation.
Joe R. Melton, Diana L. Verseghy, Reinel Sospedra-Alfonso, and Stephan Gruber
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 4443–4467, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4443-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4443-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Soils in cold regions store large amounts of carbon that could be released to the atmosphere if the soils thaw. To best simulate these soils, we explored different configurations and parameterizations of the CLASS-CTEM model and compared to observations. The revised model with a deeper soil column, new soil depth dataset, and inclusion of moss simulated greatly improved annual thaw depths and ground temperatures. We estimate subgrid-scale features limit further improvements against observations.
Tao Che, Xin Li, Shaomin Liu, Hongyi Li, Ziwei Xu, Junlei Tan, Yang Zhang, Zhiguo Ren, Lin Xiao, Jie Deng, Rui Jin, Mingguo Ma, Jian Wang, and Xiaofan Yang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 1483–1499, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1483-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1483-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents a suite of datasets consisting of long-term hydrometeorological, snow cover and frozen ground data for investigating watershed science and functions from an integrated, distributed and multiscale observation network in the upper reaches of the Heihe River Basin in China. These data are expected to serve as a testing platform to provide accurate forcing data and validate and evaluate remote-sensing products and hydrological models in cold regions for a broader community.
Samuel Weber, Jan Beutel, Reto Da Forno, Alain Geiger, Stephan Gruber, Tonio Gsell, Andreas Hasler, Matthias Keller, Roman Lim, Philippe Limpach, Matthias Meyer, Igor Talzi, Lothar Thiele, Christian Tschudin, Andreas Vieli, Daniel Vonder Mühll, and Mustafa Yücel
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 1203–1237, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1203-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1203-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, we describe a unique 10-year or more data record obtained from in situ measurements in steep bedrock permafrost in an Alpine environment on the Matterhorn Hörnligrat, Zermatt, Switzerland, at 3500 m a.s.l. By documenting and sharing these data in this form, we contribute to facilitating future research based on them, e.g., in the area of analysis methodology, comparative studies, assessment of change in the environment, natural hazard warning and the development of process models.
Bin Cao, Tingjun Zhang, Qingbai Wu, Yu Sheng, Lin Zhao, and Defu Zou
The Cryosphere, 13, 511–519, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-511-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-511-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Many maps have been produced to estimate permafrost distribution over the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. However the evaluation and inter-comparisons of them are poorly understood due to limited in situ measurements. We provided an in situ inventory of evidence of permafrost presence or absence, with 1475 sites over the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Based on the in situ measurements, our evaluation results showed a wide range of map performance, and the estimated permafrost region and area are extremely large.
Bin Cao, Stephan Gruber, and Tingjun Zhang
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 2905–2923, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-2905-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-2905-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
To derive the air temperature in mountain enviroments, we propose a new downscaling method with a spatially variable magnitude of surface effects. Our findings suggest that the difference between near-surface air temperature and upper-air temerpature is a good proxy of surface effects. It can be used to improve downscaling results, especially in valleys with strong surface effects and cold air pooling during winter.
Stephan Gruber, Renate Fleiner, Emilie Guegan, Prajjwal Panday, Marc-Olivier Schmid, Dorothea Stumm, Philippus Wester, Yinsheng Zhang, and Lin Zhao
The Cryosphere, 11, 81–99, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-81-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-81-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We review what can be inferred about permafrost in the mountains of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region. This is important because the area of permafrost exceeds that of glaciers in this region. Climate change will produce diverse permafrost-related impacts on vegetation, water quality, geohazards, and livelihoods. To mitigate this, a better understanding of high-elevation permafrost in subtropical latitudes as well as the pathways connecting environmental change and human livelihoods, is needed.
V. Wirz, S. Gruber, R. S. Purves, J. Beutel, I. Gärtner-Roer, S. Gubler, and A. Vieli
Earth Surf. Dynam., 4, 103–123, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-103-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-103-2016, 2016
M.-O. Schmid, P. Baral, S. Gruber, S. Shahi, T. Shrestha, D. Stumm, and P. Wester
The Cryosphere, 9, 2089–2099, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2089-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2089-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
The extent and distribution of permafrost in the mountainous parts of the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region are largely unknown. This article provides a first-order assessment of the two available permafrost maps in the HKH region based on the mapping of rock glaciers in Google Earth. The Circum-Arctic Map of Permafrost and Ground Ice Conditions does not reproduce mapped conditions in the HKH region adequately, whereas the Global Permafrost Zonation Index does so with more success.
A. Hasler, M. Geertsema, V. Foord, S. Gruber, and J. Noetzli
The Cryosphere, 9, 1025–1038, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1025-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1025-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper we describe surface and thermal offsets derived from distributed measurements at seven field sites in British Columbia. Key findings are i) a small variation of the surface offsets between surface types; ii) small thermal offsets at all sites; iii) a clear influence of the micro-topography due to snow cover effects; iv) a north--south difference of the surface offset of 4°C in vertical bedrock and of 1.5–-3°C on open gentle slopes; v) only small macroclimatic differences.
J. Fiddes, S. Endrizzi, and S. Gruber
The Cryosphere, 9, 411–426, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-411-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-411-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
This paper demonstrates a new land surface modelling approach that uses globally available data sets to generate high-resolution simulation results of land surface processes. We successfully simulate a highly resolution-dependent variable, ground surface temperatures, over the entire Swiss Alps at high resolution. We use a large evaluation data set to test the model. We suggest that this scheme represents a useful step in application of numerical models over large areas in heterogeneous terrain.
S. Endrizzi, S. Gruber, M. Dall'Amico, and R. Rigon
Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 2831–2857, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-2831-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-2831-2014, 2014
Short summary
Short summary
GEOtop is a fine scale grid-based simulator that represents the heat and water budgets at and below the soil surface, reproduces the highly non-linear interactions between the water and energy balance during soil freezing and thawing and simulates snow cover. The core components of GEOtop 2.0. are described. Based on a synthetic simulation, it is shown that the interaction of processes represented in GEOtop 2.0. can result in phenomena that are relevant for applications involving frozen soils.
V. Wirz, J. Beutel, S. Gruber, S. Gubler, and R. S. Purves
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 14, 2503–2520, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-14-2503-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-14-2503-2014, 2014
J. Fiddes and S. Gruber
Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 387–405, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-387-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-387-2014, 2014
S. Gubler, S. Endrizzi, S. Gruber, and R. S. Purves
Geosci. Model Dev., 6, 1319–1336, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-6-1319-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-6-1319-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Discipline: Frozen ground | Subject: Frozen Ground
Effect of surficial geology mapping scale on modelled ground ice in Canadian Shield terrain
Spectral Induced Polarization survey for the estimation of hydrogeological parameters in an active rock glacier
InSAR-measured permafrost degradation of palsa peatlands in northern Sweden
The evolution of Arctic permafrost over the last 3 centuries from ensemble simulations with the CryoGridLite permafrost model
Permafrost saline water and Early to mid-Holocene permafrost aggradation in Svalbard
Environmental spaces for palsas and peat plateaus are disappearing at a circumpolar scale
Post-Little Ice Age rock wall permafrost evolution in Norway
Modelling rock glacier ice content based on InSAR-derived velocity, Khumbu and Lhotse valleys, Nepal
The temperature-dependent shear strength of ice-filled joints in rock mass considering the effect of joint roughness, opening and shear rates
Significant underestimation of peatland permafrost along the Labrador Sea coastline in northern Canada
Estimation of stream water components and residence time in a permafrost catchment in the central Tibetan Plateau using long-term water stable isotopic data
Brief communication: Improving ERA5-Land soil temperature in permafrost regions using an optimized multi-layer snow scheme
Towards accurate quantification of ice content in permafrost of the Central Andes – Part 2: An upscaling strategy of geophysical measurements to the catchment scale at two study sites
Long-term analysis of cryoseismic events and associated ground thermal stress in Adventdalen, Svalbard
Seismic physics-based characterization of permafrost sites using surface waves
Three in one: GPS-IR measurements of ground surface elevation changes, soil moisture, and snow depth at a permafrost site in the northeastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau
Surface temperatures and their influence on the permafrost thermal regime in high-Arctic rock walls on Svalbard
Consequences of permafrost degradation for Arctic infrastructure – bridging the model gap between regional and engineering scales
Passive seismic recording of cryoseisms in Adventdalen, Svalbard
Projecting circum-Arctic excess-ground-ice melt with a sub-grid representation in the Community Land Model
Ground ice, organic carbon and soluble cations in tundra permafrost soils and sediments near a Laurentide ice divide in the Slave Geological Province, Northwest Territories, Canada
Brief Communication: The reliability of gas extraction techniques for analysing CH4 and N2O compositions in gas trapped in permafrost ice wedges
Geochemical signatures of pingo ice and its origin in Grøndalen, west Spitsbergen
Mountain permafrost degradation documented through a network of permanent electrical resistivity tomography sites
Permafrost variability over the Northern Hemisphere based on the MERRA-2 reanalysis
Distinguishing ice-rich and ice-poor permafrost to map ground temperatures and ground ice occurrence in the Swiss Alps
New ground ice maps for Canada using a paleogeographic modelling approach
Origin, burial and preservation of late Pleistocene-age glacier ice in Arctic permafrost (Bylot Island, NU, Canada)
Characteristics and fate of isolated permafrost patches in coastal Labrador, Canada
Rock glaciers in Daxue Shan, south-eastern Tibetan Plateau: an inventory, their distribution, and their environmental controls
Microtopographic control on the ground thermal regime in ice wedge polygons
H. Brendan O'Neill, Stephen A. Wolfe, Caroline Duchesne, and Ryan J. H. Parker
The Cryosphere, 18, 2979–2990, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2979-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2979-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Maps that show ground ice in permafrost at circumpolar or hemispherical scales offer only general depictions of broad patterns in ice content. In this paper, we show that using more detailed surficial geology in a ground ice computer model significantly improves the depiction of ground ice and makes the mapping useful for assessments of the effects of permafrost thaw and for reconnaissance planning of infrastructure routing.
Clemens Moser, Umberto Morra di Cella, Christian Hauck, and Adrián Flores Orozco
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1444, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1444, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We quantify hydrogeological properties in an active rock glacier by using electrical conductivity and induced polarization in an imaging framework and we used geophysical monitoring to track tracer test injections. The water content is spatially variable, and the water can move rapidly with a velocity in the range of cm/s through the active layer of the rock glacier. Hydrogeological parameters were linked to kinematic data to investigate the role of water content on rock glacier movement.
Samuel Valman, Matthias B. Siewert, Doreen Boyd, Martha Ledger, David Gee, Betsabé de la Barreda-Bautista, Andrew Sowter, and Sofie Sjögersten
The Cryosphere, 18, 1773–1790, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1773-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1773-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Climate warming is thawing permafrost that makes up palsa (frost mound) peatlands, risking ecosystem collapse and carbon release as methane. We measure this regional degradation using radar satellite technology to examine ground elevation changes and show how terrain roughness measurements can be used to estimate local permafrost damage. We find that over half of Sweden's largest palsa peatlands are degrading, with the worse impacts to the north linked to increased winter precipitation.
Moritz Langer, Jan Nitzbon, Brian Groenke, Lisa-Marie Assmann, Thomas Schneider von Deimling, Simone Maria Stuenzi, and Sebastian Westermann
The Cryosphere, 18, 363–385, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-363-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-363-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using a model that can simulate the evolution of Arctic permafrost over centuries to millennia, we find that post-industrialization permafrost warming has three "hotspots" in NE Canada, N Alaska, and W Siberia. The extent of near-surface permafrost has decreased substantially since 1850, with the largest area losses occurring in the last 50 years. The simulations also show that volcanic eruptions have in some cases counteracted the loss of near-surface permafrost for a few decades.
Dotan Rotem, Vladimir Lyakhovsky, Hanne Hvidtfeldt Christiansen, Yehudit Harlavan, and Yishai Weinstein
The Cryosphere, 17, 3363–3381, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3363-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3363-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Frozen saline pore water, left over from post-glacial marine ingression, was found in shallow permafrost in a Svalbard fjord valley. This suggests that freezing occurred immediately after marine regression due to isostatic rebound. We conducted top-down freezing simulations, which confirmed that with Early to mid-Holocene temperatures (e.g. −4 °C), freezing could progress down to 20–40 m within 200 years. This, in turn, could inhibit flow through the sediment, therefore preserving saline fluids.
Oona Leppiniemi, Olli Karjalainen, Juha Aalto, Miska Luoto, and Jan Hjort
The Cryosphere, 17, 3157–3176, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3157-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3157-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
For the first time, suitable environments for palsas and peat plateaus were modeled for the whole Northern Hemisphere. The hotspots of occurrences were in northern Europe, western Siberia, and subarctic Canada. Climate change was predicted to cause almost complete loss of the studied landforms by the late century. Our predictions filled knowledge gaps in the distribution of the landforms, and they can be utilized in estimation of the pace and impacts of the climate change over northern regions.
Justyna Czekirda, Bernd Etzelmüller, Sebastian Westermann, Ketil Isaksen, and Florence Magnin
The Cryosphere, 17, 2725–2754, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2725-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2725-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We assess spatio-temporal permafrost variations in selected rock walls in Norway over the last 120 years. Ground temperature is modelled using the two-dimensional ground heat flux model CryoGrid 2D along nine profiles. Permafrost probably occurs at most sites. All simulations show increasing ground temperature from the 1980s. Our simulations show that rock wall permafrost with a temperature of −1 °C at 20 m depth could thaw at this depth within 50 years.
Yan Hu, Stephan Harrison, Lin Liu, and Joanne Laura Wood
The Cryosphere, 17, 2305–2321, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2305-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2305-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Rock glaciers are considered to be important freshwater reservoirs in the future climate. However, the amount of ice stored in rock glaciers is poorly quantified. Here we developed an empirical model to estimate ice content in rock the glaciers in the Khumbu and Lhotse valleys, Nepal. The modelling results confirmed the hydrological importance of rock glaciers in the study area. The developed approach shows promise in being applied to permafrost regions to assess water storage of rock glaciers.
Shibing Huang, Haowei Cai, Zekun Xin, and Gang Liu
The Cryosphere, 17, 1205–1223, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1205-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1205-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, the warming degradation mechanism of ice-filled joints is revealed, and the effect of temperature, normal stress, shear rate and joint opening on the shear strength of rough ice-filled joints is investigated. The shear rupture modes include shear cracking of joint ice and debonding of the ice–rock interface, which is related to the above factors. The bonding strength of the ice–rock interface is larger than the shear strength of joint ice when the temperature is below −1 ℃.
Yifeng Wang, Robert G. Way, Jordan Beer, Anika Forget, Rosamond Tutton, and Meredith C. Purcell
The Cryosphere, 17, 63–78, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-63-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-63-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Peatland permafrost in northeastern Canada has been misrepresented by models, leading to significant underestimates of peatland permafrost and permafrost distribution along the Labrador Sea coastline. Our multi-stage, multi-mapper, consensus-based inventorying process, supported by field- and imagery-based validation efforts, identifies peatland permafrost complexes all along the coast. The highest density of complexes is found to the south of the current sporadic discontinuous permafrost limit.
Shaoyong Wang, Xiaobo He, Shichang Kang, Hui Fu, and Xiaofeng Hong
The Cryosphere, 16, 5023–5040, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5023-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5023-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study used the sine-wave exponential model and long-term water stable isotopic data to estimate water mean residence time (MRT) and its influencing factors in a high-altitude permafrost catchment (5300 m a.s.l.) in the central Tibetan Plateau (TP). MRT for stream and supra-permafrost water was estimated at 100 and 255 d, respectively. Climate and vegetation factors affected the MRT of stream and supra-permafrost water mainly by changing the thickness of the permafrost active layer.
Bin Cao, Gabriele Arduini, and Ervin Zsoter
The Cryosphere, 16, 2701–2708, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2701-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2701-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We implemented a new multi-layer snow scheme in the land surface scheme of ERA5-Land with revised snow densification parameterizations. The revised HTESSEL improved the representation of soil temperature in permafrost regions compared to ERA5-Land; in particular, warm bias in winter was significantly reduced, and the resulting modeled near-surface permafrost extent was improved.
Tamara Mathys, Christin Hilbich, Lukas U. Arenson, Pablo A. Wainstein, and Christian Hauck
The Cryosphere, 16, 2595–2615, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2595-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2595-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
With ongoing climate change, there is a pressing need to understand how much water is stored as ground ice in permafrost. Still, field-based data on permafrost in the Andes are scarce, resulting in large uncertainties regarding ground ice volumes and their hydrological role. We introduce an upscaling methodology of geophysical-based ground ice quantifications at the catchment scale. Our results indicate that substantial ground ice volumes may also be present in areas without rock glaciers.
Rowan Romeyn, Alfred Hanssen, and Andreas Köhler
The Cryosphere, 16, 2025–2050, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2025-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2025-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We have investigated a long-term record of ground vibrations, recorded by a seismic array installed in Adventdalen, Svalbard. This record contains a large number of
frost quakes, a type of ground shaking that can be produced by cracks that form as the ground cools rapidly. We use underground temperatures measured in a nearby borehole to model forces of thermal expansion and contraction that can cause these cracks. We also use the seismic measurements to estimate where these cracks occurred.
Hongwei Liu, Pooneh Maghoul, and Ahmed Shalaby
The Cryosphere, 16, 1157–1180, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1157-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1157-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The knowledge of physical and mechanical properties of permafrost and its location is critical for the management of permafrost-related geohazards. Here, we developed a hybrid inverse and multiphase poromechanical approach to quantitatively estimate the physical and mechanical properties of a permafrost site. Our study demonstrates the potential of surface wave techniques coupled with our proposed data-processing algorithm to characterize a permafrost site more accurately.
Jiahua Zhang, Lin Liu, Lei Su, and Tao Che
The Cryosphere, 15, 3021–3033, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3021-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3021-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We improve the commonly used GPS-IR algorithm for estimating surface soil moisture in permafrost areas, which does not consider the bias introduced by seasonal surface vertical movement. We propose a three-in-one framework to integrate the GPS-IR observations of surface elevation changes, soil moisture, and snow depth at one site and illustrate it by using a GPS site in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. This study is the first to use GPS-IR to measure environmental variables in the Tibetan Plateau.
Juditha Undine Schmidt, Bernd Etzelmüller, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Florence Magnin, Julia Boike, Moritz Langer, and Sebastian Westermann
The Cryosphere, 15, 2491–2509, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2491-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2491-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents rock surface temperatures (RSTs) of steep high-Arctic rock walls on Svalbard from 2016 to 2020. The field data show that coastal cliffs are characterized by warmer RSTs than inland locations during winter seasons. By running model simulations, we analyze factors leading to that effect, calculate the surface energy balance and simulate different future scenarios. Both field data and model results can contribute to a further understanding of RST in high-Arctic rock walls.
Thomas Schneider von Deimling, Hanna Lee, Thomas Ingeman-Nielsen, Sebastian Westermann, Vladimir Romanovsky, Scott Lamoureux, Donald A. Walker, Sarah Chadburn, Erin Trochim, Lei Cai, Jan Nitzbon, Stephan Jacobi, and Moritz Langer
The Cryosphere, 15, 2451–2471, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2451-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2451-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Climate warming puts infrastructure built on permafrost at risk of failure. There is a growing need for appropriate model-based risk assessments. Here we present a modelling study and show an exemplary case of how a gravel road in a cold permafrost environment in Alaska might suffer from degrading permafrost under a scenario of intense climate warming. We use this case study to discuss the broader-scale applicability of our model for simulating future Arctic infrastructure failure.
Rowan Romeyn, Alfred Hanssen, Bent Ole Ruud, Helene Meling Stemland, and Tor Arne Johansen
The Cryosphere, 15, 283–302, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-283-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-283-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A series of unusual ground motion signatures were identified in geophone recordings at a frost polygon site in Adventdalen on Svalbard. By analysing where the ground motion originated in time and space, we are able to classify them as cryoseisms, also known as frost quakes, a ground-cracking phenomenon that occurs as a result of freezing processes. The waves travelling through the ground produced by these frost quakes also allow us to measure the structure of the permafrost in the near surface.
Lei Cai, Hanna Lee, Kjetil Schanke Aas, and Sebastian Westermann
The Cryosphere, 14, 4611–4626, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4611-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4611-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
A sub-grid representation of excess ground ice in the Community Land Model (CLM) is developed as novel progress in modeling permafrost thaw and its impacts under the warming climate. The modeled permafrost degradation with sub-grid excess ice follows the pathway that continuous permafrost transforms into discontinuous permafrost before it disappears, including surface subsidence and talik formation, which are highly permafrost-relevant landscape changes excluded from most land models.
Rupesh Subedi, Steven V. Kokelj, and Stephan Gruber
The Cryosphere, 14, 4341–4364, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4341-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4341-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Permafrost beneath tundra near Lac de Gras (Northwest Territories, Canada) contains more ice and less organic carbon than shown in global compilations. Excess-ice content of 20–60 %, likely remnant Laurentide basal ice, is found in upland till. This study is based on 24 boreholes up to 10 m deep. Findings highlight geology and glacial legacy as determinants of a mosaic of permafrost characteristics with potential for thaw subsidence up to several metres in some locations.
Ji-Woong Yang, Jinho Ahn, Go Iwahana, Sangyoung Han, Kyungmin Kim, and Alexander Fedorov
The Cryosphere, 14, 1311–1324, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1311-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1311-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Thawing permafrost may lead to decomposition of soil carbon and nitrogen and emission of greenhouse gases. Thus, methane and nitrous oxide compositions in ground ice may provide information on their production mechanisms in permafrost. We test conventional wet and dry extraction methods. We find that both methods extract gas from the easily extractable parts of the ice and yield similar results for mixing ratios. However, both techniques are unable to fully extract gas from the ice.
Nikita Demidov, Sebastian Wetterich, Sergey Verkulich, Aleksey Ekaykin, Hanno Meyer, Mikhail Anisimov, Lutz Schirrmeister, Vasily Demidov, and Andrew J. Hodson
The Cryosphere, 13, 3155–3169, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3155-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3155-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
As Norwegian geologist Liestøl (1996) recognised,
in connection with formation of pingos there are a great many unsolved questions. Drillings and temperature measurements through the pingo mound and also through the surrounding permafrost are needed before the problems can be better understood. To shed light on pingo formation here we present the results of first drilling of pingo on Spitsbergen together with results of detailed hydrochemical and stable-isotope studies of massive-ice samples.
Coline Mollaret, Christin Hilbich, Cécile Pellet, Adrian Flores-Orozco, Reynald Delaloye, and Christian Hauck
The Cryosphere, 13, 2557–2578, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2557-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2557-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We present a long-term multisite electrical resistivity tomography monitoring network (more than 1000 datasets recorded from six mountain permafrost sites). Despite harsh and remote measurement conditions, the datasets are of good quality and show consistent spatio-temporal variations yielding significant added value to point-scale borehole information. Observed long-term trends are similar for all permafrost sites, showing ongoing permafrost thaw and ground ice loss due to climatic conditions.
Jing Tao, Randal D. Koster, Rolf H. Reichle, Barton A. Forman, Yuan Xue, Richard H. Chen, and Mahta Moghaddam
The Cryosphere, 13, 2087–2110, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2087-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2087-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The active layer thickness (ALT) in middle-to-high northern latitudes from 1980 to 2017 was produced at 81 km2 resolution by a global land surface model (NASA's CLSM) with forcing fields from a reanalysis data set, MERRA-2. The simulated permafrost distribution and ALTs agree reasonably well with an observation-based map and in situ measurements, respectively. The accumulated above-freezing air temperature and maximum snow water equivalent explain most of the year-to-year variability of ALT.
Robert Kenner, Jeannette Noetzli, Martin Hoelzle, Hugo Raetzo, and Marcia Phillips
The Cryosphere, 13, 1925–1941, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1925-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1925-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
A new permafrost mapping method distinguishes between ice-poor and ice-rich permafrost. The approach was tested for the entire Swiss Alps and highlights the dominating influence of the factors elevation and solar radiation on the distribution of ice-poor permafrost. Our method enabled the indication of mean annual ground temperatures and the cartographic representation of permafrost-free belts, which are bounded above by ice-poor permafrost and below by permafrost-containing excess ice.
H. Brendan O'Neill, Stephen A. Wolfe, and Caroline Duchesne
The Cryosphere, 13, 753–773, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-753-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-753-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, we present new models to depict ground ice in permafrost in Canada, incorporating knowledge from recent studies. The model outputs we present reproduce observed regional ground ice conditions and are generally comparable with previous mapping. However, our results are more detailed and more accurately reflect ground ice conditions in many regions. The new mapping is an important step toward understanding terrain response to permafrost degradation in Canada.
Stephanie Coulombe, Daniel Fortier, Denis Lacelle, Mikhail Kanevskiy, and Yuri Shur
The Cryosphere, 13, 97–111, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-97-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-97-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides a detailed description of relict glacier ice preserved in the permafrost of Bylot Island (Nunavut). We demonstrate that the 18O composition (-34.0 0.4 ‰) of the ice is consistent with the late Pleistocene age ice in the Barnes Ice Cap. As most of the glaciated Arctic landscapes are still strongly determined by their glacial legacy, the melting of these large ice bodies could have significant impacts on permafrost geosystem landscape dynamics and ecosystems.
Robert G. Way, Antoni G. Lewkowicz, and Yu Zhang
The Cryosphere, 12, 2667–2688, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2667-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2667-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Isolated patches of permafrost in southeast Labrador are among the southernmost lowland permafrost features in Canada. Local characteristics at six sites were investigated from Cartwright, NL (~ 54° N) to Blanc-Sablon, QC (~ 51° N). Annual ground temperatures varied from −0.7 °C to −2.3 °C with permafrost thicknesses of 1.7–12 m. Ground temperatures modelled for two sites showed permafrost disappearing at the southern site by 2060 and persistence beyond 2100 at the northern site only for RCP2.6.
Zeze Ran and Gengnian Liu
The Cryosphere, 12, 2327–2340, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2327-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2327-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This article provides the first rock glacier inventory of Daxue Shan, south- eastern Tibetan Plateau. This study provides important data for exploring the relation between maritime periglacial environments and the development of rock glaciers on the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau (TP). It may also highlight the characteristics typical of rock glaciers found in a maritime setting.
Charles J. Abolt, Michael H. Young, Adam L. Atchley, and Dylan R. Harp
The Cryosphere, 12, 1957–1968, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1957-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1957-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the relationship between ice wedge polygon topography and near-surface ground temperature using a combination of field work and numerical modeling. We analyze a year-long record of ground temperature across a low-centered polygon, then demonstrate that lower rims and deeper troughs promote warmer conditions in the ice wedge in winter. This finding implies that ice wedge cracking and growth, which are driven by cold conditions, can be impeded by rim erosion or trough subsidence.
Cited articles
Aas, K. S., Martin, L., Nitzbon, J., Langer, M., Boike, J., Lee, H., Berntsen, T. K., and Westermann, S.: Thaw processes in ice-rich permafrost landscapes represented with laterally coupled tiles in a land surface model, The Cryosphere, 13, 591–609, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-591-2019, 2019. a
Albergel, C., Balsamo, G., de Rosnay, P., Muñoz-Sabater, J., and Boussetta, S.: A bare ground evaporation revision in the ECMWF land-surface scheme: evaluation of its impact using ground soil moisture and satellite microwave data, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 3607–3620, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3607-2012, 2012. a
Albergel, C., Dutra, E., Munier, S., Calvet, J.-C., Munoz-Sabater, J., de Rosnay, P., and Balsamo, G.: ERA-5 and ERA-Interim driven ISBA land surface model simulations: which one performs better?, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3515–3532, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3515-2018, 2018. a
Balsamo, G., Viterbo, P., Beijaars, A., van den Hurk, B., Hirschi, M., Betts,
A. K., and Scipal, K.: A revised hydrology for the ECMWF model: Verification
from field site to terrestrial water storage and impact in the integrated
forecast system, J. Hydrometeorol., 10, 623–643,
https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JHM1068.1, 2009. a
Biskaborn, B. K., Lanckman, J.-P., Lantuit, H., Elger, K., Streletskiy, D. A., Cable, W. L., and Romanovsky, V. E.: The new database of the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P), Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 7, 245–259, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-7-245-2015, 2015. a, b
Boike, J., Juszak, I., Lange, S., Chadburn, S., Burke, E. J., Overduin, P. P., Roth, K., Ippisch, O., Bornemann, N., Stern, L., Gouttevin, I., Hauber, E., and Westermann, S.: Measurements in soil and air at Bayelva Station, PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.880120, 2017. a
Boike, J., Juszak, I., Lange, S., Chadburn, S., Burke, E., Overduin, P. P., Roth, K., Ippisch, O., Bornemann, N., Stern, L., Gouttevin, I., Hauber, E., and Westermann, S.: A 20-year record (1998–2017) of permafrost, active layer and meteorological conditions at a high Arctic permafrost research site (Bayelva, Spitsbergen), Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 355–390, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-355-2018, 2018. a, b
Boike, J., Nitzbon, J., Anders, K., Grigoriev, M., Bolshiyanov, D., Langer, M., Lange, S., Bornemann, N., Morgenstern, A., Schreiber, P., Wille, C., Chadburn, S., Gouttevin, I., Burke, E., and Kutzbach, L.: A 16-year record (2002–2017) of permafrost, active-layer, and meteorological conditions at the Samoylov Island Arctic permafrost research site, Lena River delta, northern Siberia: an opportunity to validate remote-sensing data and land surface, snow, and permafrost models, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 261–299, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-261-2019, 2019a. a, b
Boike, J., Nitzbon, J., Anders, K., Grigoriev, M. N., Bolshiyanov, D. Y., Langer, M., Lange, S., Bornemann, N., Morgenstern, A., Schreiber, P., Wille, C., Chadburn, S., Gouttevin, I., and Kutzbach, L.: Measurements in soil and air at Samoylov Station (2002–2018), version 201908. Alfred Wegener Institute – Research Unit Potsdam, PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.905236, 2019b. a
Boone, A. A. and Etchevers, P.: An intercomparison of three snow schemes of
varying complexity coupled to the same land surface model: Local-scale
evaluation at an alpine site, J. Hydrometeorol., 2, 374–394,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1525-7541(2001)002<0374:AIOTSS>2.0.CO;2, 2001. a
Boussetta, S., Balsamo, G., Beljaars, A., Panareda, A. A., Calvet, J. C.,
Jacobs, C., Van Den Hurk, B., Viterbo, P., Lafont, S., Dutra, E., Jarlan, L.,
Balzarolo, M., Papale, D., and Van Der Werf, G.: Natural land carbon dioxide
exchanges in the ECMWF integrated forecasting system: Implementation and
offline validation, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118,
5923–5946, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50488, 2013. a
Brown, J., Ferrians, O., Heginbottom, J., and Melnikov, E.: Circum-Arctic map
of permafrost and ground-ice conditions, Circum-pacific map series CP-45,
scale 1 : 10,000,000, Tech. rep., U.S. Geological Survey in Cooperation with
the Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources, Washington, DC,
1997. a, b
Cao, B., Gruber, S., Zhang, T., Li, L., Peng, X., Wang, K., Zheng, L., Shao,
W., and Guo, H.: Spatial variability of active layer thickness detected by
ground-penetrating radar in the Qilian Mountains, Western China, J.
Geophys. Res.-Earth, 122, 574–591,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JF004018, 2017. a
Cao, B., Quan, X., Brown, N., Stewart-Jones, E., and Gruber, S.: GlobSim (v1.0): deriving meteorological time series for point locations from multiple global reanalyses, Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 4661–4679, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4661-2019, 2019a. a, b, c, d
Cao, B., Zhang, T., Wu, Q., Sheng, Y., Zhao, L., and Zou, D.: Permafrost
zonation index map and statistics over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau based on
field evidence, Permafrost Periglac., 30, 178–194,
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2006, 2019b. a
Chadburn, S. E., Burke, E. J., Essery, R. L. H., Boike, J., Langer, M., Heikenfeld, M., Cox, P. M., and Friedlingstein, P.: Impact of model developments on present and future simulations of permafrost in a global land-surface model, The Cryosphere, 9, 1505–1521, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1505-2015, 2015. a, b
Che, T., Li, X., Liu, S., Li, H., Xu, Z., Tan, J., Zhang, Y., Ren, Z., Xiao, L., Deng, J., Ma, M., Wang, J., and Yang, X.: Integrated hydrometeorological – snow – frozen ground observations in the alpine region of the Heihe River Basin, China, National Tibetan Plateau Data Center, https://doi.org/10.3972/hiwater.001.2019.db, 2018. a
Che, T., Li, X., Liu, S., Li, H., Xu, Z., Tan, J., Zhang, Y., Ren, Z., Xiao, L., Deng, J., Jin, R., Ma, M., Wang, J., and Yang, X.: Integrated hydrometeorological, snow and frozen-ground observations in the alpine region of the Heihe River Basin, China, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 1483–1499, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1483-2019, 2019. a, b
Cheng, G. and Wu, T.: Responses of permafrost to climate change and their
environmental significance, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, J. Geophys.
Res.-Earth, 112, 1–10, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JF000631, 2007. a
Data Store:
Welcome to the Data Store, available at: https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/, last access: 4 August 2020. a
Domine, F., Picard, G., Morin, S., Barrere, M., Madore, J.-B., and Langlois,
A.: Major Issues in Simulating Some Arctic Snowpack Properties Using Current
Detailed Snow Physics Models: Consequences for the Thermal Regime and Water
Budget of Permafrost, J. Adv. Model. Earth Sy., 11,
34–44, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018MS001445, 2019. a
Douville, H., Royer, J. F., and Mahfouf, J. F.: A new snow parameterization
for the Météo-France climate model: Part I: validation in
stand-alone experiments, Clim. Dynam., 12, 21–35,
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00208760, 1995. a
Dutra, E., Balsamo, G., Viterbo, P., Miranda, P. M., Beljaars, A., Schar, C.,
and Elder, K.: An improved snow scheme for the ECMWF land surface model:
Description and offline validation, J. Hydrometeorol., 11,
899–916, https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JHM1249.1, 2010. a, b, c
Endrizzi, S., Gruber, S., Dall'Amico, M., and Rigon, R.: GEOtop 2.0: simulating the combined energy and water balance at and below the land surface accounting for soil freezing, snow cover and terrain effects, Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 2831–2857, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-2831-2014, 2014. a, b
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts: Part IV: Physical
processes, in: IFS Documentation CY45R1, no. 4 in IFS Documentation, ECMWF, Shinfield Park, Reading, RG2 9AX, England,
2018. a
Fiddes, J., Endrizzi, S., and Gruber, S.: Large-area land surface simulations in heterogeneous terrain driven by global data sets: application to mountain permafrost, The Cryosphere, 9, 411–426, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-411-2015, 2015. a, b
Graham, R. M., Hudson, S. R., and Maturilli, M.: Improved Performance of ERA5
in Arctic Gateway Relative to Four Global Atmospheric Reanalyses,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, 6138–6147, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082781,
2019. a
Gruber, S.: Derivation and analysis of a high-resolution estimate of global permafrost zonation, The Cryosphere, 6, 221–233, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-221-2012, 2012. a, b, c, d
Gruber, S.: Specification of a permafrost reference product in succession of
the IPA Map (Action Group Report), Tech. rep., International Permafrost
Association, available at: https://ipa.arcticportal.org/activities/action-groups (last access: 7 August 2020), 2016. a
Gruber, S., Brown, N., Stewart-Jones, E., Karunaratne, K., Riddick, J., Peart,
C., Subedi, R., and Kokelj, S.: Ground temperature and site characterization
data from the Canadian Shield tundra near Lac de Gras, N.W.T., Canada,
Nordicana D, https://doi.org/10.5885/45561XD-2C7AB3DCF3D24AD8, 2018. a
GTN-P: GTN-P database, available at: https://gtnp.arcticportal.org/, last access: 4 August 2020. a
Gubler, S., Fiddes, J., Keller, M., and Gruber, S.: Scale-dependent measurement and analysis of ground surface temperature variability in alpine terrain, The Cryosphere, 5, 431–443, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-431-2011, 2011. a
Guo, D. and Wang, H.: Simulated Historical (1901–2010) Changes in the
Permafrost Extent and Active Layer Thickness in the Northern Hemisphere,
J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 122, 285–.12,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027691, 2017. a
Gupta, H. V., Beven, K. J., and Wagener, T.: Model Calibration and Uncertainty
Estimation, in: Encyclopedia of Hydrological Sciences, chap. 131, American
Cancer Society, John Wiley, https://doi.org/10.1002/0470848944.hsa138,
2006. a
Hersbach, H., Bell, B., Berrisford, P., Hirahara, S., Horányi, A.,
Muñoz‐Sabater, J., Nicolas, J., Peubey, C., Radu, R., Schepers, D.,
Simmons, A., Soci, C., Abdalla, S., Abellan, X., Balsamo, G., Bechtold, P.,
Biavati, G., Bidlot, J., Bonavita, M., Chiara, G., Dahlgren, P., Dee, D.,
Diamantakis, M., Dragani, R., Flemming, J., Forbes, R., Fuentes, M., Geer,
A., Haimberger, L., Healy, S., Hogan, R. J., Hólm, E., Janisková,
M., Keeley, S., Laloyaux, P., Lopez, P., Lupu, C., Radnoti, G., Rosnay, P.,
Rozum, I., Vamborg, F., Villaume, S., and Thépaut, J.-N.: The ERA5
Global Reanalysis, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc.,
https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3803, online first, 2020. a, b
Hu, G., Zhao, L., Li, R., Wu, X., Wu, T., Xie, C., Zhu, X., and Su, Y.:
Variations in soil temperature from 1980 to 2015 in permafrost regions on
the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau based on observed and reanalysis products,
Geoderma, 337, 893–905, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2018.10.044, 2019. a
Jordan, R. E., Andreas, E. L., and Makshtas, A. P.: Heat budget of
snow-covered sea ice at North Pole 4, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 104, 7785–7806, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JC900011, 1999. a
Karjalainen, O., Aalto, J., Luoto, M., Westermann, S., Romanovsky, V. E.,
Nelson, F. E., Etzelmüller, B., and Hjort, J.: Data descriptor:
Circumpolar permafrost maps and geohazard indices for near-future
infrastructure risk assessments, Scientific Data, 6, 1–16,
https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2019.37, 2019a. a, b, c
Karjalainen, O., Luoto, M., Aalto, J., and Hjort, J.: New insights into the environmental factors controlling the ground thermal regime across the Northern Hemisphere: a comparison between permafrost and non-permafrost areas, The Cryosphere, 13, 693–707, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-693-2019, 2019b. a, b, c
Koven, C. D., Riley, W. J., and Stern, A.: Analysis of permafrost thermal
dynamics and response to climate change in the CMIP5 earth system models,
J. Climate, 26, 1877–1900, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00228.1, 2013. a
Koven, C. D., Lawrence, D. M., and Riley, W. J.: Permafrost carbon−climate
feedback is sensitive to deep soil carbon decomposability but not deep soil
nitrogen dynamics, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 112,
201415123, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1415123112, 2015. a
Lawrence, D. M., Slater, A. G., Romanovsky, V. E., and Nicolsky, D. J.:
Sensitivity of a model projection of near-surface permafrost degradation to
soil column depth and representation of soil organic matter, J.
Geophys. Res.-Earth, 113, 1–14, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JF000883,
2008. a
Luo, D., Liu, L., Jin, H., Wang, X., and Chen, F.: Characteristics of ground
surface temperature at Chalaping in the Source Area of the Yellow River,
northeastern Tibetan Plateau, Agr. Forest Meteorol., 281,
107819, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2019.107819, 2020. a
Lynch-Stieglitz, M.: The Development and Validation of a Simple Snow Model for
the GISS GCM, J. Climate, 7, 1842–1855,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1994)007<1842:TDAVOA>2.0.CO;2, 1994. a, b
Melton, J. R., Verseghy, D. L., Sospedra-Alfonso, R., and Gruber, S.: Improving permafrost physics in the coupled Canadian Land Surface Scheme (v.3.6.2) and Canadian Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (v.2.1) (CLASS-CTEM), Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 4443–4467, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4443-2019, 2019. a, b, c, d
Noël, B., van Kampenhout, L., van de Berg, W. J., Lenaerts, J. T. M., Wouters, B., and van den Broeke, M. R.: Brief communication: CESM2 climate forcing (1950–2014) yields realistic Greenland ice sheet surface mass balance, The Cryosphere, 14, 1425–1435, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1425-2020, 2020. a
Nordicana D: Mission, available at: http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/nordicanad/en_index.aspx, last access: 4 August 2020. a
Obu, J., Westermann, S., Bartsch, A., Berdnikov, N., Christiansen, H. H.,
Dashtseren, A., Delaloye, R., Elberling, B., Etzelmüller, B., Kholodov,
A., Khomutov, A., Kääb, A., Leibman, M. O., Lewkowicz, A. G.,
Panda, S. K., Romanovsky, V., Way, R. G., Westergaard-Nielsen, A., Wu, T.,
Yamkhin, J., and Zou, D.: Northern Hemisphere permafrost map based on TTOP
modelling for 2000–2016 at 1 km2 scale, Earth-Sci. Rev., 193,
299–316, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.04.023, 2019. a, b, c, d, e
Orsolini, Y., Wegmann, M., Dutra, E., Liu, B., Balsamo, G., Yang, K., de Rosnay, P., Zhu, C., Wang, W., Senan, R., and Arduini, G.: Evaluation of snow depth and snow cover over the Tibetan Plateau in global reanalyses using in situ and satellite remote sensing observations, The Cryosphere, 13, 2221–2239, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2221-2019, 2019. a
Peng, X., Zhang, T., Frauenfeld, O. W., Wang, K., Luo, D., Cao, B., Su, H.,
Jin, H., and Wu, Q.: Spatiotemporal Changes in Active Layer Thickness under
Contemporary and Projected Climate in the Northern Hemisphere, J.
Climate, 31, 251–266, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0721.1, 2018. a, b
Permafrost Laboratory: Data and Maps, available at: https://permafrost.gi.alaska.edu/content/data-and-maps, last access: 4 August 2020. a
Peters-Lidard, C. D., Blackburn, E., Liang, X., and Wood, E. F.: The effect of
soil thermal conductivity parameterization on surface energy fluxes and
temperatures, J. Atmos. Sci., 55, 1209–1224,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1998)055<1209:TEOSTC>2.0.CO;2, 1998. a
Pomeroy, J. W., Gray, D. M., and Landine, P. G.: The Prairie Blowing Snow
Model: characteristics, validation, operation, J. Hydrol., 144,
165–192, https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1694(93)90171-5, 1993. a, b
Qin, Y., Wu, T., Zhao, L., Wu, X., Li, R., Xie, C., Pang, Q., Hu, G., Qiao, Y.,
Zhao, G., Liu, G., Zhu, X., and Hao, J.: Numerical Modeling of the Active
Layer Thickness and Permafrost Thermal State Across Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau,
J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 122, 604–11,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD026858, 2017. a
Ran, Y., Li, X., and Cheng, G.: Climate warming over the past half century has led to thermal degradation of permafrost on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, The Cryosphere, 12, 595–608, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-595-2018, 2018. a
Rouse, W. R.: Microclimate of Arctic Tree Line 2. Soil Microclimate of Tundra
and Forest, Water Resour. Res., 20, 67–73,
https://doi.org/10.1029/WR020i001p00067, 1984. a
Schuur, E. A. G., McGuire, A. D., Schädel, C., Grosse, G., Harden, J. W.,
Hayes, D. J., Hugelius, G., Koven, C. D., Kuhry, P., Lawrence, D. M., Natali,
S. M., Olefeldt, D., Romanovsky, V. E., Schaefer, K., Turetsky, M. R., Treat,
C. C., and Vonk, J. E.: Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback,
Nature, 520, 171–179, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14338, 2015. a
Slater, A. G. and Lawrence, D. M.: Diagnosing Present and Future Permafrost
from Climate Models, J. Climate, 26, 5608–5623,
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00341.1, 2013. a, b
Smith, M. W. and Riseborough, D. W.: Climate and the limits of permafrost: A
zonal analysis, Permafrost Periglac., 13, 1–15,
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.410, 2002. a
Su, B. and Yang, K.: Time-lapse observation dataset of soil temperature and humidity on the Tibetan Plateau (2008–2016), National Tibetan Plateau Data Center,
https://doi.org/10.11888/Soil.tpdc.270110, 2019. a
Su, Z., Wen, J., Dente, L., van der Velde, R., Wang, L., Ma, Y., Yang, K., and Hu, Z.: The Tibetan Plateau observatory of plateau scale soil moisture and soil temperature (Tibet-Obs) for quantifying uncertainties in coarse resolution satellite and model products, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 15, 2303–2316, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-15-2303-2011, 2011. a, b
Tao, J., Koster, R. D., Reichle, R. H., Forman, B. A., Xue, Y., Chen, R. H., and Moghaddam, M.: Permafrost variability over the Northern Hemisphere based on the MERRA-2 reanalysis, The Cryosphere, 13, 2087–2110, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2087-2019, 2019. a
Urban, F. E. and Clow, G. D.: DOI/GTN-P Climate and Active-Layer Data
Acquired in the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska and the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, 1998–2015, USGS Data Series, 1021, 546 pp.,
https://doi.org/10.3133/ds1021, 2017.
a, b
Walvoord, M. A. and Kurylyk, B. L.: Hydrologic Impacts of Thawing
Permafrost – A Review, Vadose Zone J., 15, 1–20,
https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2016.01.0010, 2016. a
Wang, K., Zhang, T., and Zhong, X.: Changes in the timing and duration of the near-surface soil freeze/thaw status from 1956 to 2006 across China, The Cryosphere, 9, 1321–1331, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1321-2015, 2015. a, b
Wang, K., Jafarov, E., Overeem, I., Romanovsky, V., Schaefer, K., Clow, G., Urban, F., Cable, W., Piper, M., Schwalm, C., Zhang, T., Kholodov, A., Sousanes, P., Loso, M., and Hill, K.: A synthesis dataset of permafrost-affected soil thermal conditions for Alaska, USA, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 2311–2328, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-2311-2018, 2018. a, b, c, d
WDC: World Data Centers (WDC) in Russia and Ukraine, available at: http://www.wdcb.ru/, last access: 4 August 2020. a
Westermann, S., Lüers, J., Langer, M., Piel, K., and Boike, J.: The annual surface energy budget of a high-arctic permafrost site on Svalbard, Norway, The Cryosphere, 3, 245–263, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-3-245-2009, 2009. a
Yang, K. and Zhang, J.: Evaluation of reanalysis datasets against
observational soil temperature data over China, Clim. Dynam., 50,
317–337, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-017-3610-4, 2018. a
Yang, K., Qin, J., Zhao, L., Chen, Y., Tang, W., Han, M., Lazhu, Chen, Z.,
Lv, N., Ding, B., Wu, H., and Lin, C.: A Multiscale Soil Moisture and
Freeze–Thaw Monitoring Network on the Third Pole, B. Am.
Meteorol. Soc., 94, 1907–1916, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00203.1,
2013. a, b
Zhao, L., Wu, Q., Marchenko, S., and Sharkhuu, N.: Thermal state of permafrost
and active layer in Central Asia during the international polar year,
Permafrost Periglac., 21, 198–207, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.688,
2010. a
Short summary
This study reports that ERA5-Land (ERA5L) soil temperature bias in permafrost regions correlates with the bias in air temperature and with maximum snow height. While global reanalyses are important drivers for permafrost study, ERA5L soil data are not well suited for directly informing permafrost research decision making due to their warm bias in winter. To address this, future soil temperature products in reanalyses will require permafrost-specific alterations to their land surface models.
This study reports that ERA5-Land (ERA5L) soil temperature bias in permafrost regions correlates...
