Articles | Volume 17, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5283-2023
© Author(s) 2023. 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-17-5283-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
13 Dec 2023
Research article |
| 13 Dec 2023
| 13 Dec 2023
Characterization of atmospheric methane release in the outer Mackenzie River delta from biogenic and thermogenic sources
Daniel Wesley
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, B2G 2W5, Canada
Department of Environmental Science, Memorial University, St. John's, A1C 5S7, Canada
Scott Dallimore
Geological Survey of Canada-Pacific, Natural Resources Canada, Sidney, V8L 4B2, Canada
Roger MacLeod
Geological Survey of Canada-Pacific, Natural Resources Canada, Sidney, V8L 4B2, Canada
Torsten Sachs
Department of Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
David Risk
Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, B2G 2W5, Canada
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Nithin D. Pillai, Christian Wille, Felix Nieberding, Manuel Helbig, and Torsten Sachs
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-530, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-530, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Biogeosciences (BG).
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The Tibetan Plateau is warming rapidly, affecting carbon cycles in its ecosystems. Using two measurement heights (3 m and 19 m) in an alpine steppe near Nam Co, we explored how spatial scale impacts CO2 fluxes. CO2 fluxes varied with spatial scale due to landscape heterogeneity. This variability shows that the measurement scale can shift the ecosystem's carbon balance from CO2 sink to either carbon neutral or CO2 source, highlighting the importance of considering spatial scale in carbon studies.
Inge Wiekenkamp, Anna Katharina Lehmann, Alexander Bütow, Jörg Hartmann, Stefan Metzger, Thomas Ruhtz, Christian Wille, Mathias Zöllner, and Torsten Sachs
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 749–772, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-749-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-749-2025, 2025
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Airborne eddy covariance platforms are crucial to measure three-dimensional wind and turbulent matter and energy transport between the surface and the atmosphere at larger scales. In this study, we introduce a new airborne eddy covariance platform (Schleicher ASK-16) and demonstrate that this platform is able to accurately measure turbulent fluxes and wind vectors. Data from this platform can help to build bridges between local tower measurements and remote-sensing-based products.
Tabea Rettelbach, Ingmar Nitze, Inge Grünberg, Jennika Hammar, Simon Schäffler, Daniel Hein, Matthias Gessner, Tilman Bucher, Jörg Brauchle, Jörg Hartmann, Torsten Sachs, Julia Boike, and Guido Grosse
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 5767–5798, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-5767-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-5767-2024, 2024
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Permafrost landscapes in the Arctic are rapidly changing due to climate warming. Here, we publish aerial images and elevation models with very high spatial detail that help study these landscapes in northwestern Canada and Alaska. The images were collected using the Modular Aerial Camera System (MACS). This dataset has significant implications for understanding permafrost landscape dynamics in response to climate change. It is publicly available for further research.
Jacob A. Nelson, Sophia Walther, Fabian Gans, Basil Kraft, Ulrich Weber, Kimberly Novick, Nina Buchmann, Mirco Migliavacca, Georg Wohlfahrt, Ladislav Šigut, Andreas Ibrom, Dario Papale, Mathias Göckede, Gregory Duveiller, Alexander Knohl, Lukas Hörtnagl, Russell L. Scott, Jiří Dušek, Weijie Zhang, Zayd Mahmoud Hamdi, Markus Reichstein, Sergio Aranda-Barranco, Jonas Ardö, Maarten Op de Beeck, Dave Billesbach, David Bowling, Rosvel Bracho, Christian Brümmer, Gustau Camps-Valls, Shiping Chen, Jamie Rose Cleverly, Ankur Desai, Gang Dong, Tarek S. El-Madany, Eugenie Susanne Euskirchen, Iris Feigenwinter, Marta Galvagno, Giacomo A. Gerosa, Bert Gielen, Ignacio Goded, Sarah Goslee, Christopher Michael Gough, Bernard Heinesch, Kazuhito Ichii, Marcin Antoni Jackowicz-Korczynski, Anne Klosterhalfen, Sara Knox, Hideki Kobayashi, Kukka-Maaria Kohonen, Mika Korkiakoski, Ivan Mammarella, Mana Gharun, Riccardo Marzuoli, Roser Matamala, Stefan Metzger, Leonardo Montagnani, Giacomo Nicolini, Thomas O'Halloran, Jean-Marc Ourcival, Matthias Peichl, Elise Pendall, Borja Ruiz Reverter, Marilyn Roland, Simone Sabbatini, Torsten Sachs, Marius Schmidt, Christopher R. Schwalm, Ankit Shekhar, Richard Silberstein, Maria Lucia Silveira, Donatella Spano, Torbern Tagesson, Gianluca Tramontana, Carlo Trotta, Fabio Turco, Timo Vesala, Caroline Vincke, Domenico Vitale, Enrique R. Vivoni, Yi Wang, William Woodgate, Enrico A. Yepez, Junhui Zhang, Donatella Zona, and Martin Jung
Biogeosciences, 21, 5079–5115, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5079-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5079-2024, 2024
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The movement of water, carbon, and energy from the Earth's surface to the atmosphere, or flux, is an important process to understand because it impacts our lives. Here, we outline a method called FLUXCOM-X to estimate global water and CO2 fluxes based on direct measurements from sites around the world. We go on to demonstrate how these new estimates of net CO2 uptake/loss, gross CO2 uptake, total water evaporation, and transpiration from plants compare to previous and independent estimates.
Pia Gottschalk, Aram Kalhori, Zhan Li, Christian Wille, and Torsten Sachs
Biogeosciences, 21, 3593–3616, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3593-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3593-2024, 2024
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To improve the accuracy of spatial carbon exchange estimates, we evaluated simple linear models for net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and gross primary productivity (GPP) and how they can be used to upscale the CO2 exchange of agricultural fields. The models are solely driven by Sentinel-2-derived vegetation indices (VIs). Evaluations show that different VIs have variable power to estimate NEE and GPP of crops in different years. The overall performance is as good as results from complex crop models.
Qing Ying, Benjamin Poulter, Jennifer D. Watts, Kyle A. Arndt, Anna-Maria Virkkala, Lori Bruhwiler, Youmi Oh, Brendan M. Rogers, Susan M. Natali, Hilary Sullivan, Luke D. Schiferl, Clayton Elder, Olli Peltola, Annett Bartsch, Amanda Armstrong, Ankur R. Desai, Eugénie Euskirchen, Mathias Göckede, Bernhard Lehner, Mats B. Nilsson, Matthias Peichl, Oliver Sonnentag, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Torsten Sachs, Aram Kalhori, Masahito Ueyama, and Zhen Zhang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-84, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-84, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
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We present daily methane fluxes of northern wetlands at 10-km resolution during 2016–2022 (WetCH4) derived from a novel machine-learning framework with improved accuracy. We estimated an average annual CH4 emissions of 20.8 ±2.1 Tg CH4 yr-1. Emissions were intensified in 2016, 2020, and 2022, with the largest interannual variations coming from West Siberia. Continued, all-season tower observations and improved soil moisture products are needed for future improvement of CH4 upscaling.
Judith Vogt, David Risk, Evelise Bourlon, Kumiko Azetsu-Scott, Evan N. Edinger, and Owen A. Sherwood
Biogeosciences, 20, 1773–1787, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1773-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1773-2023, 2023
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The release of the greenhouse gas methane from Arctic submarine sources could exacerbate climate change in a positive feedback. Continuous monitoring of atmospheric methane levels over a 5100 km voyage in the western margin of the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay revealed above-global averages likely affected by both onshore and offshore methane sources. Instantaneous sea–air methane fluxes were near zero at all measured stations, including a persistent cold-seep location.
Lutz Beckebanze, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Josefine Walz, Christian Wille, David Holl, Manuel Helbig, Julia Boike, Torsten Sachs, and Lars Kutzbach
Biogeosciences, 19, 3863–3876, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3863-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3863-2022, 2022
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In this study, we present observations of lateral and vertical carbon fluxes from a permafrost-affected study site in the Russian Arctic. From this dataset we estimate the net ecosystem carbon balance for this study site. We show that lateral carbon export has a low impact on the net ecosystem carbon balance during the complete study period (3 months). Nevertheless, our results also show that lateral carbon export can exceed vertical carbon uptake at the beginning of the growing season.
Hanna K. Lappalainen, Tuukka Petäjä, Timo Vihma, Jouni Räisänen, Alexander Baklanov, Sergey Chalov, Igor Esau, Ekaterina Ezhova, Matti Leppäranta, Dmitry Pozdnyakov, Jukka Pumpanen, Meinrat O. Andreae, Mikhail Arshinov, Eija Asmi, Jianhui Bai, Igor Bashmachnikov, Boris Belan, Federico Bianchi, Boris Biskaborn, Michael Boy, Jaana Bäck, Bin Cheng, Natalia Chubarova, Jonathan Duplissy, Egor Dyukarev, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Martin Forsius, Martin Heimann, Sirkku Juhola, Vladimir Konovalov, Igor Konovalov, Pavel Konstantinov, Kajar Köster, Elena Lapshina, Anna Lintunen, Alexander Mahura, Risto Makkonen, Svetlana Malkhazova, Ivan Mammarella, Stefano Mammola, Stephany Buenrostro Mazon, Outi Meinander, Eugene Mikhailov, Victoria Miles, Stanislav Myslenkov, Dmitry Orlov, Jean-Daniel Paris, Roberta Pirazzini, Olga Popovicheva, Jouni Pulliainen, Kimmo Rautiainen, Torsten Sachs, Vladimir Shevchenko, Andrey Skorokhod, Andreas Stohl, Elli Suhonen, Erik S. Thomson, Marina Tsidilina, Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, Petteri Uotila, Aki Virkkula, Nadezhda Voropay, Tobias Wolf, Sayaka Yasunaka, Jiahua Zhang, Yubao Qiu, Aijun Ding, Huadong Guo, Valery Bondur, Nikolay Kasimov, Sergej Zilitinkevich, Veli-Matti Kerminen, and Markku Kulmala
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4413–4469, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4413-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4413-2022, 2022
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We summarize results during the last 5 years in the northern Eurasian region, especially from Russia, and introduce recent observations of the air quality in the urban environments in China. Although the scientific knowledge in these regions has increased, there are still gaps in our understanding of large-scale climate–Earth surface interactions and feedbacks. This arises from limitations in research infrastructures and integrative data analyses, hindering a comprehensive system analysis.
Elodie Salmon, Fabrice Jégou, Bertrand Guenet, Line Jourdain, Chunjing Qiu, Vladislav Bastrikov, Christophe Guimbaud, Dan Zhu, Philippe Ciais, Philippe Peylin, Sébastien Gogo, Fatima Laggoun-Défarge, Mika Aurela, M. Syndonia Bret-Harte, Jiquan Chen, Bogdan H. Chojnicki, Housen Chu, Colin W. Edgar, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Lawrence B. Flanagan, Krzysztof Fortuniak, David Holl, Janina Klatt, Olaf Kolle, Natalia Kowalska, Lars Kutzbach, Annalea Lohila, Lutz Merbold, Włodzimierz Pawlak, Torsten Sachs, and Klaudia Ziemblińska
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 2813–2838, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-2813-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-2813-2022, 2022
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A methane model that features methane production and transport by plants, the ebullition process and diffusion in soil, oxidation to CO2, and CH4 fluxes to the atmosphere has been embedded in the ORCHIDEE-PEAT land surface model, which includes an explicit representation of northern peatlands. This model, ORCHIDEE-PCH4, was calibrated and evaluated on 14 peatland sites. Results show that the model is sensitive to temperature and substrate availability over the top 75 cm of soil depth.
Anna-Maria Virkkala, Susan M. Natali, Brendan M. Rogers, Jennifer D. Watts, Kathleen Savage, Sara June Connon, Marguerite Mauritz, Edward A. G. Schuur, Darcy Peter, Christina Minions, Julia Nojeim, Roisin Commane, Craig A. Emmerton, Mathias Goeckede, Manuel Helbig, David Holl, Hiroki Iwata, Hideki Kobayashi, Pasi Kolari, Efrén López-Blanco, Maija E. Marushchak, Mikhail Mastepanov, Lutz Merbold, Frans-Jan W. Parmentier, Matthias Peichl, Torsten Sachs, Oliver Sonnentag, Masahito Ueyama, Carolina Voigt, Mika Aurela, Julia Boike, Gerardo Celis, Namyi Chae, Torben R. Christensen, M. Syndonia Bret-Harte, Sigrid Dengel, Han Dolman, Colin W. Edgar, Bo Elberling, Eugenie Euskirchen, Achim Grelle, Juha Hatakka, Elyn Humphreys, Järvi Järveoja, Ayumi Kotani, Lars Kutzbach, Tuomas Laurila, Annalea Lohila, Ivan Mammarella, Yojiro Matsuura, Gesa Meyer, Mats B. Nilsson, Steven F. Oberbauer, Sang-Jong Park, Roman Petrov, Anatoly S. Prokushkin, Christopher Schulze, Vincent L. St. Louis, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Juha-Pekka Tuovinen, William Quinton, Andrej Varlagin, Donatella Zona, and Viacheslav I. Zyryanov
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 179–208, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-179-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-179-2022, 2022
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The effects of climate warming on carbon cycling across the Arctic–boreal zone (ABZ) remain poorly understood due to the relatively limited distribution of ABZ flux sites. Fortunately, this flux network is constantly increasing, but new measurements are published in various platforms, making it challenging to understand the ABZ carbon cycle as a whole. Here, we compiled a new database of Arctic–boreal CO2 fluxes to help facilitate large-scale assessments of the ABZ carbon cycle.
Kyle B. Delwiche, Sara Helen Knox, Avni Malhotra, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Gavin McNicol, Sarah Feron, Zutao Ouyang, Dario Papale, Carlo Trotta, Eleonora Canfora, You-Wei Cheah, Danielle Christianson, Ma. Carmelita R. Alberto, Pavel Alekseychik, Mika Aurela, Dennis Baldocchi, Sheel Bansal, David P. Billesbach, Gil Bohrer, Rosvel Bracho, Nina Buchmann, David I. Campbell, Gerardo Celis, Jiquan Chen, Weinan Chen, Housen Chu, Higo J. Dalmagro, Sigrid Dengel, Ankur R. Desai, Matteo Detto, Han Dolman, Elke Eichelmann, Eugenie Euskirchen, Daniela Famulari, Kathrin Fuchs, Mathias Goeckede, Sébastien Gogo, Mangaliso J. Gondwe, Jordan P. Goodrich, Pia Gottschalk, Scott L. Graham, Martin Heimann, Manuel Helbig, Carole Helfter, Kyle S. Hemes, Takashi Hirano, David Hollinger, Lukas Hörtnagl, Hiroki Iwata, Adrien Jacotot, Gerald Jurasinski, Minseok Kang, Kuno Kasak, John King, Janina Klatt, Franziska Koebsch, Ken W. Krauss, Derrick Y. F. Lai, Annalea Lohila, Ivan Mammarella, Luca Belelli Marchesini, Giovanni Manca, Jaclyn Hatala Matthes, Trofim Maximov, Lutz Merbold, Bhaskar Mitra, Timothy H. Morin, Eiko Nemitz, Mats B. Nilsson, Shuli Niu, Walter C. Oechel, Patricia Y. Oikawa, Keisuke Ono, Matthias Peichl, Olli Peltola, Michele L. Reba, Andrew D. Richardson, William Riley, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Youngryel Ryu, Torsten Sachs, Ayaka Sakabe, Camilo Rey Sanchez, Edward A. Schuur, Karina V. R. Schäfer, Oliver Sonnentag, Jed P. Sparks, Ellen Stuart-Haëntjens, Cove Sturtevant, Ryan C. Sullivan, Daphne J. Szutu, Jonathan E. Thom, Margaret S. Torn, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Jessica Turner, Masahito Ueyama, Alex C. Valach, Rodrigo Vargas, Andrej Varlagin, Alma Vazquez-Lule, Joseph G. Verfaillie, Timo Vesala, George L. Vourlitis, Eric J. Ward, Christian Wille, Georg Wohlfahrt, Guan Xhuan Wong, Zhen Zhang, Donatella Zona, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Benjamin Poulter, and Robert B. Jackson
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 3607–3689, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3607-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3607-2021, 2021
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Methane is an important greenhouse gas, yet we lack knowledge about its global emissions and drivers. We present FLUXNET-CH4, a new global collection of methane measurements and a critical resource for the research community. We use FLUXNET-CH4 data to quantify the seasonality of methane emissions from freshwater wetlands, finding that methane seasonality varies strongly with latitude. Our new database and analysis will improve wetland model accuracy and inform greenhouse gas budgets.
Leah Birch, Christopher R. Schwalm, Sue Natali, Danica Lombardozzi, Gretchen Keppel-Aleks, Jennifer Watts, Xin Lin, Donatella Zona, Walter Oechel, Torsten Sachs, Thomas Andrew Black, and Brendan M. Rogers
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 3361–3382, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3361-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3361-2021, 2021
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The high-latitude landscape or Arctic–boreal zone has been warming rapidly, impacting the carbon balance both regionally and globally. Given the possible global effects of climate change, it is important to have accurate climate model simulations. We assess the simulation of the Arctic–boreal carbon cycle in the Community Land Model (CLM 5.0). We find biases in both the timing and magnitude photosynthesis. We then use observational data to improve the simulation of the carbon cycle.
Felix Nieberding, Christian Wille, Gerardo Fratini, Magnus O. Asmussen, Yuyang Wang, Yaoming Ma, and Torsten Sachs
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2705–2724, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2705-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2705-2020, 2020
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We present the first long-term eddy covariance CO2 and H2O flux measurements from the large but underrepresented alpine steppe ecosystem on the central Tibetan Plateau. We applied careful corrections and rigorous quality filtering and analyzed the turbulent flow regime to provide meaningful fluxes. This comprehensive data set allows potential users to put the gas flux dynamics into context with ecosystem properties and potential flux drivers and allows for comparisons with other data sets.
Tuukka Petäjä, Ella-Maria Duplissy, Ksenia Tabakova, Julia Schmale, Barbara Altstädter, Gerard Ancellet, Mikhail Arshinov, Yurii Balin, Urs Baltensperger, Jens Bange, Alison Beamish, Boris Belan, Antoine Berchet, Rossana Bossi, Warren R. L. Cairns, Ralf Ebinghaus, Imad El Haddad, Beatriz Ferreira-Araujo, Anna Franck, Lin Huang, Antti Hyvärinen, Angelika Humbert, Athina-Cerise Kalogridis, Pavel Konstantinov, Astrid Lampert, Matthew MacLeod, Olivier Magand, Alexander Mahura, Louis Marelle, Vladimir Masloboev, Dmitri Moisseev, Vaios Moschos, Niklas Neckel, Tatsuo Onishi, Stefan Osterwalder, Aino Ovaska, Pauli Paasonen, Mikhail Panchenko, Fidel Pankratov, Jakob B. Pernov, Andreas Platis, Olga Popovicheva, Jean-Christophe Raut, Aurélie Riandet, Torsten Sachs, Rosamaria Salvatori, Roberto Salzano, Ludwig Schröder, Martin Schön, Vladimir Shevchenko, Henrik Skov, Jeroen E. Sonke, Andrea Spolaor, Vasileios K. Stathopoulos, Mikko Strahlendorff, Jennie L. Thomas, Vito Vitale, Sterios Vratolis, Carlo Barbante, Sabine Chabrillat, Aurélien Dommergue, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Jyri Heilimo, Kathy S. Law, Andreas Massling, Steffen M. Noe, Jean-Daniel Paris, André S. H. Prévôt, Ilona Riipinen, Birgit Wehner, Zhiyong Xie, and Hanna K. Lappalainen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8551–8592, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8551-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8551-2020, 2020
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The role of polar regions is increasing in terms of megatrends such as globalization, new transport routes, demography, and the use of natural resources with consequent effects on regional and transported pollutant concentrations. Here we summarize initial results from our integrative project exploring the Arctic environment and pollution to deliver data products, metrics, and indicators for stakeholders.
Astrid Lampert, Falk Pätzold, Magnus O. Asmussen, Lennart Lobitz, Thomas Krüger, Thomas Rausch, Torsten Sachs, Christian Wille, Denis Sotomayor Zakharov, Dominik Gaus, Stephan Bansmer, and Ellen Damm
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 1937–1952, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1937-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1937-2020, 2020
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Methane has high climate warming potential. Sources of methane can be distinguished by the isotopic composition. To investigate the origin of methane, an airborne sampling system has been developed that can take air samples worldwide and at various altitudes. The article shows the performance of the overall system, from taking samples to laboratory analyses. As known methane source, a rewetted peatland site, was studied, and the vertical distribution of the isotopic composition is investigated.
Tara Hanlon and David Risk
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 191–203, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-191-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-191-2020, 2020
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In this study, we aimed to improve accuracy of wind speed and direction measurements from an anemometer mounted atop a research vehicle. Controlled field tests and computer simulations showed that the vehicle shape biases airflow above the vehicle. The results indicate that placing an anemometer at a significant height (> 1 m) above the vehicle, and calibrating anemometer measurements for vehicle shape and wind angle, can be effective in reducing bias in measurements of wind speed and direction.
Jocelyn E. Egan, David R. Bowling, and David A. Risk
Biogeosciences, 16, 3197–3205, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3197-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3197-2019, 2019
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Traditionally a mass-dependent correction is made when measuring the radiocarbon composition in organic samples. This correction has not been evaluated for the soil gas environment where gas transport processes are important. Here, we show using theory that this traditional correction is not appropriate for estimating the radiocarbon composition of soil biological production. We also propose a new solution that accounts for soil gas transport processes.
Olli Peltola, Timo Vesala, Yao Gao, Olle Räty, Pavel Alekseychik, Mika Aurela, Bogdan Chojnicki, Ankur R. Desai, Albertus J. Dolman, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Thomas Friborg, Mathias Göckede, Manuel Helbig, Elyn Humphreys, Robert B. Jackson, Georg Jocher, Fortunat Joos, Janina Klatt, Sara H. Knox, Natalia Kowalska, Lars Kutzbach, Sebastian Lienert, Annalea Lohila, Ivan Mammarella, Daniel F. Nadeau, Mats B. Nilsson, Walter C. Oechel, Matthias Peichl, Thomas Pypker, William Quinton, Janne Rinne, Torsten Sachs, Mateusz Samson, Hans Peter Schmid, Oliver Sonnentag, Christian Wille, Donatella Zona, and Tuula Aalto
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 1263–1289, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1263-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1263-2019, 2019
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Here we develop a monthly gridded dataset of northern (> 45 N) wetland methane (CH4) emissions. The data product is derived using a random forest machine-learning technique and eddy covariance CH4 fluxes from 25 wetland sites. Annual CH4 emissions from these wetlands calculated from the derived data product are comparable to prior studies focusing on these areas. This product is an independent estimate of northern wetland CH4 emissions and hence could be used, e.g. for process model evaluation.
Andrew M. Cunliffe, George Tanski, Boris Radosavljevic, William F. Palmer, Torsten Sachs, Hugues Lantuit, Jeffrey T. Kerby, and Isla H. Myers-Smith
The Cryosphere, 13, 1513–1528, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1513-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1513-2019, 2019
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Episodic changes of permafrost coastlines are poorly understood in the Arctic. By using drones, satellite images, and historic photos we surveyed a permafrost coastline on Qikiqtaruk – Herschel Island. We observed short-term coastline retreat of 14.5 m per year (2016–2017), exceeding long-term average rates of 2.2 m per year (1952–2017). Our study highlights the value of these tools to assess understudied episodic changes of eroding permafrost coastlines in the context of a warming Arctic.
Franziska Koebsch, Matthias Winkel, Susanne Liebner, Bo Liu, Julia Westphal, Iris Schmiedinger, Alejandro Spitzy, Matthias Gehre, Gerald Jurasinski, Stefan Köhler, Viktoria Unger, Marian Koch, Torsten Sachs, and Michael E. Böttcher
Biogeosciences, 16, 1937–1953, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-1937-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-1937-2019, 2019
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In natural coastal wetlands, high supplies of marine sulfate suppress methane production. We found these natural methane suppression mechanisms to be suspended by humane interference in a brackish wetland. Here, diking and freshwater rewetting had caused an efficient depletion of the sulfate reservoir and opened up favorable conditions for an intensive methane production. Our results demonstrate how human disturbance can turn coastal wetlands into distinct sources of the greenhouse gas methane.
David Holl, Christian Wille, Torsten Sachs, Peter Schreiber, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Lutz Beckebanze, Moritz Langer, Julia Boike, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Irina Fedorova, Dimitry Y. Bolshianov, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, and Lars Kutzbach
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 221–240, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-221-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-221-2019, 2019
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We present a multi-annual time series of land–atmosphere carbon dioxide fluxes measured in situ with the eddy covariance technique in the Siberian Arctic. In arctic permafrost regions, climate–carbon feedbacks are amplified. Therefore, increased efforts to better represent these regions in global climate models have been made in recent years. Up to now, the available database of in situ measurements from the Arctic was biased towards Alaska and records from the Eurasian Arctic were scarce.
Xi Wen, Viktoria Unger, Gerald Jurasinski, Franziska Koebsch, Fabian Horn, Gregor Rehder, Torsten Sachs, Dominik Zak, Gunnar Lischeid, Klaus-Holger Knorr, Michael E. Böttcher, Matthias Winkel, Paul L. E. Bodelier, and Susanne Liebner
Biogeosciences, 15, 6519–6536, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6519-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6519-2018, 2018
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Rewetting drained peatlands may lead to prolonged emission of the greenhouse gas methane, but the underlying factors are not well described. In this study, we found two rewetted fens with known high methane fluxes had a high ratio of microbial methane producers to methane consumers and a low abundance of methane consumers compared to pristine wetlands. We therefore suggest abundances of methane-cycling microbes as potential indicators for prolonged high methane emissions in rewetted peatlands.
Sophia Walther, Luis Guanter, Birgit Heim, Martin Jung, Gregory Duveiller, Aleksandra Wolanin, and Torsten Sachs
Biogeosciences, 15, 6221–6256, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6221-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6221-2018, 2018
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We explored the timing of the peak of the short annual growing season in tundra ecosystems as indicated by an extensive suite of satellite indicators of vegetation productivity. Delayed peak greenness compared to peak photosynthesis is consistently found across years and land-cover classes. Plants also experience growth after optimal conditions for assimilation regarding light and temperature have passed. Our results have implications for the modelling of the circumpolar carbon balance.
Jörg Hartmann, Martin Gehrmann, Katrin Kohnert, Stefan Metzger, and Torsten Sachs
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 4567–4581, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4567-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4567-2018, 2018
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We present new in-flight calibration procedures for airborne turbulence measurements that exploit suitable regular flight legs without the need for dedicated calibration patterns. Furthermore we estimate the accuracy of the airborne wind measurement and of the turbulent fluxes of the traces gases methane and carbon dioxide.
Andrei Serafimovich, Stefan Metzger, Jörg Hartmann, Katrin Kohnert, Donatella Zona, and Torsten Sachs
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 10007–10023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10007-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10007-2018, 2018
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In order to support the evaluation of coupled atmospheric–land-surface models we investigated spatial patterns of energy fluxes in relation to land-surface properties and upscaled airborne flux measurements to high resolution flux maps. A machine learning technique allows us to estimate environmental response functions between spatially and temporally resolved flux observations and corresponding biophysical and meteorological drivers.
Astrid Lampert, Jörg Hartmann, Falk Pätzold, Lennart Lobitz, Peter Hecker, Katrin Kohnert, Eric Larmanou, Andrei Serafimovich, and Torsten Sachs
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 2523–2536, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2523-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2523-2018, 2018
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We compared two different fast-response humidity sensors simultaneously on different airborne platforms. One is a particular, well-establed Lyman-alpha hygrometer that has been used for decades as the standard for fast airborne humidity measurements. However, it is not available any more. The other one is a hygrometer based on the absorption of infrared radiation, from LI-COR. For an environment of low vibrations, the LI-COR sensor is suitable for fast airborne water vapour measurements.
Laura Graham and David Risk
Biogeosciences, 15, 847–859, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-847-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-847-2018, 2018
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Winter carbon dioxide (CO2) respiration from soils is a significant and understudied component of the global carbon (C) cycle. In this study, we were able to show with a field campaign and a model how windy (advective) conditions can affect the usually slow (diffusive) transport of CO2 from soils and out of snowpacks. This research is important to help with understanding winter CO2 dynamics, especially for continued accurate accounting of the annual global C cycle.
Chunjing Qiu, Dan Zhu, Philippe Ciais, Bertrand Guenet, Gerhard Krinner, Shushi Peng, Mika Aurela, Christian Bernhofer, Christian Brümmer, Syndonia Bret-Harte, Housen Chu, Jiquan Chen, Ankur R. Desai, Jiří Dušek, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Krzysztof Fortuniak, Lawrence B. Flanagan, Thomas Friborg, Mateusz Grygoruk, Sébastien Gogo, Thomas Grünwald, Birger U. Hansen, David Holl, Elyn Humphreys, Miriam Hurkuck, Gerard Kiely, Janina Klatt, Lars Kutzbach, Chloé Largeron, Fatima Laggoun-Défarge, Magnus Lund, Peter M. Lafleur, Xuefei Li, Ivan Mammarella, Lutz Merbold, Mats B. Nilsson, Janusz Olejnik, Mikaell Ottosson-Löfvenius, Walter Oechel, Frans-Jan W. Parmentier, Matthias Peichl, Norbert Pirk, Olli Peltola, Włodzimierz Pawlak, Daniel Rasse, Janne Rinne, Gaius Shaver, Hans Peter Schmid, Matteo Sottocornola, Rainer Steinbrecher, Torsten Sachs, Marek Urbaniak, Donatella Zona, and Klaudia Ziemblinska
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 497–519, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-497-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-497-2018, 2018
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Northern peatlands store large amount of soil carbon and are vulnerable to climate change. We implemented peatland hydrological and carbon accumulation processes into the ORCHIDEE land surface model. The model was evaluated against EC measurements from 30 northern peatland sites. The model generally well reproduced the spatial gradient and temporal variations in GPP and NEE at these sites. Water table depth was not well predicted but had only small influence on simulated NEE.
Emmaline Atherton, David Risk, Chelsea Fougère, Martin Lavoie, Alex Marshall, John Werring, James P. Williams, and Christina Minions
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 12405–12420, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12405-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12405-2017, 2017
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Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and leaks from natural gas infrastructure are thought to be a significant emission source. We used a mobile survey method to measure GHGs near Canadian infrastructure. Our results show that ~ 47 % of active wells were emitting. Abandoned and aging wells were also associated with emissions. We estimate methane emissions from this development are just over 111 Mt year−1, which is more than previous government estimates, but less than similar studies in the US.
Stefan Metzger, David Durden, Cove Sturtevant, Hongyan Luo, Natchaya Pingintha-Durden, Torsten Sachs, Andrei Serafimovich, Jörg Hartmann, Jiahong Li, Ke Xu, and Ankur R. Desai
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 3189–3206, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3189-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3189-2017, 2017
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We apply the
development and systems operationssoftware development model to create the eddy4R–Docker open-source, flexible, and modular eddy-covariance data processing environment. Test applications to aircraft and tower data, as well as a software cross validation demonstrate its efficiency and consistency. Key improvements in accessibility, extensibility, and reproducibility build the foundation for deploying complex scientific algorithms in an effective and scalable manner.
Sonja Kaiser, Mathias Göckede, Karel Castro-Morales, Christian Knoblauch, Altug Ekici, Thomas Kleinen, Sebastian Zubrzycki, Torsten Sachs, Christian Wille, and Christian Beer
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 333–358, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-333-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-333-2017, 2017
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A new consistent, process-based methane module that is integrated with permafrost processes is presented. It was developed within a global land surface scheme and evaluated at a polygonal tundra site in Samoylov, Russia. The calculated methane emissions show fair agreement with field data and capture detailed differences between the explicitly modelled gas transport processes and in the gas dynamics under varying soil water and temperature conditions during seasons and on different microsites.
Mathias Hoffmann, Maximilian Schulz-Hanke, Juana Garcia Alba, Nicole Jurisch, Ulrike Hagemann, Torsten Sachs, Michael Sommer, and Jürgen Augustin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 109–118, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-109-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-109-2017, 2017
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Processes driving production and transport of CH4 in wetlands are complex. We present an algorithm to separate open-water automatic chamber CH4 fluxes into diffusion and ebullition. This helps to reveal dynamics, identify drivers and obtain reliable CH4 emissions. The algorithm is based on sudden concentration changes during single measurements. A variable filter is applied using a multiple of the interquartile range. The algorithm was verified for data of a rewetted former fen grassland site.
Daniela Franz, Franziska Koebsch, Eric Larmanou, Jürgen Augustin, and Torsten Sachs
Biogeosciences, 13, 3051–3070, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3051-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3051-2016, 2016
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Based on the eddy covariance method we investigate the ecosystem–atmosphere exchange of CH4 and CO2 at a eutrophic shallow lake as a challenging ecosystem often evolving during peatland rewetting. Both open water and emergent vegetation are net emitters of CH4 and CO2, but with strikingly different release rates. Even after 9 years of rewetting the lake ecosystem exhibits a considerable carbon loss and global warming impact, the latter mainly driven by high CH4 emissions from the open waterbody.
Robyn N. C. Latimer and David A. Risk
Biogeosciences, 13, 2111–2122, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2111-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2111-2016, 2016
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This study examines an inversion approach for estimating Q10 and depth of production using a physically based soil model, constrained by observed high-frequency surface fluxes and/or five concentrations. Inversions using exclusively surface flux measurements were successful, but using multiple shallow subsurface CO2 measurements yielded the best results. This work is a first step toward building a reliable computing framework for removing physical artefacts from high-frequency soil CO2 data.
D. R. Bowling, J. E. Egan, S. J. Hall, and D. A. Risk
Biogeosciences, 12, 5143–5160, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5143-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5143-2015, 2015
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Soil respiration and its stable isotopes were studied in a subalpine forest. There was strong diel variability in soil efflux but not in the isotope content of soil efflux or CO2 from biological activity in the soil. Following rain, soil efflux increased, but the isotope content of these fluxes did not change. Temporal variation in the isotope content of soil efflux was unrelated to environmental variables. Results confirmed established theory regarding diffusive soil gas transport.
M. Hoffmann, M. Schulz-Hanke, J. Garcia Alba, N. Jurisch, U. Hagemann, T. Sachs, M. Sommer, and J. Augustin
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bgd-12-12923-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bgd-12-12923-2015, 2015
Manuscript not accepted for further review
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Processes driving the production, transformation and transport of CH4 in wetlands are highly complex. Thus, serious challenges are constitutes in terms of process understanding, potential drivers and the calculation of reliable CH4 emission estimates. We present a simple calculation algorithm to separate CH4 fluxes measured with closed chambers into diffusion- and ebullition-derived components, which helps facilitating the identification of underlying dynamics and potential drivers.
H. N. Mbufong, M. Lund, M. Aurela, T. R. Christensen, W. Eugster, T. Friborg, B. U. Hansen, E. R. Humphreys, M. Jackowicz-Korczynski, L. Kutzbach, P. M. Lafleur, W. C. Oechel, F. J. W. Parmentier, D. P. Rasse, A. V. Rocha, T. Sachs, M. K. van der Molen, and M. P. Tamstorf
Biogeosciences, 11, 4897–4912, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-4897-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-4897-2014, 2014
J. D. Watts, J. S. Kimball, F. J. W. Parmentier, T. Sachs, J. Rinne, D. Zona, W. Oechel, T. Tagesson, M. Jackowicz-Korczyński, and M. Aurela
Biogeosciences, 11, 1961–1980, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-1961-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-1961-2014, 2014
S. Dengel, D. Zona, T. Sachs, M. Aurela, M. Jammet, F. J. W. Parmentier, W. Oechel, and T. Vesala
Biogeosciences, 10, 8185–8200, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-8185-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-8185-2013, 2013
B. R. K. Runkle, T. Sachs, C. Wille, E.-M. Pfeiffer, and L. Kutzbach
Biogeosciences, 10, 1337–1349, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-1337-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-1337-2013, 2013
T. Krings, K. Gerilowski, M. Buchwitz, J. Hartmann, T. Sachs, J. Erzinger, J. P. Burrows, and H. Bovensmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 151–166, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-151-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-151-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Discipline: Frozen ground | Subject: Arctic (e.g. Greenland)
Validation of pan-Arctic soil temperatures in modern reanalysis and data assimilation systems
Accelerated mobilization of organic carbon from retrogressive thaw slumps on the northern Taymyr Peninsula
The importance of freeze–thaw cycles for lateral tracer transport in ice-wedge polygons
The cryostratigraphy of the Yedoma cliff of Sobo-Sise Island (Lena delta) reveals permafrost dynamics in the central Laptev Sea coastal region during the last 52 kyr
Thermokarst lake inception and development in syngenetic ice-wedge polygon terrain during a cooling climatic trend, Bylot Island (Nunavut), eastern Canadian Arctic
The current state and 125 kyr history of permafrost on the Kara Sea shelf: modeling constraints
Estimation of subsurface porosities and thermal conductivities of polygonal tundra by coupled inversion of electrical resistivity, temperature, and moisture content data
A distributed temperature profiling method for assessing spatial variability in ground temperatures in a discontinuous permafrost region of Alaska
New insights into the environmental factors controlling the ground thermal regime across the Northern Hemisphere: a comparison between permafrost and non-permafrost areas
Circumpolar patterns of potential mean annual ground temperature based on surface state obtained from microwave satellite data
Tyler C. Herrington, Christopher G. Fletcher, and Heather Kropp
The Cryosphere, 18, 1835–1861, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1835-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1835-2024, 2024
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Here we validate soil temperatures from eight reanalysis products across the pan-Arctic and compare their performance to a newly calculated ensemble mean soil temperature product. We find that most product soil temperatures have a relatively large RMSE of 2–9 K. It is found that the ensemble mean product outperforms individual reanalysis products. Therefore, we recommend the ensemble mean soil temperature product for the validation of climate models and for input to hydrological models.
Philipp Bernhard, Simon Zwieback, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 16, 2819–2835, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2819-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2819-2022, 2022
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With climate change, Arctic hillslopes above ice-rich permafrost are vulnerable to enhanced carbon mobilization. In this work elevation change estimates generated from satellite observations reveal a substantial acceleration of carbon mobilization on the Taymyr Peninsula in Siberia between 2010 and 2021. The strong increase occurring in 2020 coincided with a severe Siberian heatwave and highlights that carbon mobilization can respond sharply and non-linearly to increasing temperatures.
Elchin E. Jafarov, Daniil Svyatsky, Brent Newman, Dylan Harp, David Moulton, and Cathy Wilson
The Cryosphere, 16, 851–862, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-851-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-851-2022, 2022
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Recent research indicates the importance of lateral transport of dissolved carbon in the polygonal tundra, suggesting that the freeze-up period could further promote lateral carbon transport. We conducted subsurface tracer simulations on high-, flat-, and low-centered polygons to test the importance of the freeze–thaw cycle and freeze-up time for tracer mobility. Our findings illustrate the impact of hydraulic and thermal gradients on tracer mobility, as well as of the freeze-up time.
Sebastian Wetterich, Alexander Kizyakov, Michael Fritz, Juliane Wolter, Gesine Mollenhauer, Hanno Meyer, Matthias Fuchs, Aleksei Aksenov, Heidrun Matthes, Lutz Schirrmeister, and Thomas Opel
The Cryosphere, 14, 4525–4551, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4525-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4525-2020, 2020
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In the present study, we analysed geochemical and sedimentological properties of relict permafrost and ground ice exposed at the Sobo-Sise Yedoma cliff in the eastern Lena delta in NE Siberia. We obtained insight into permafrost aggradation and degradation over the last approximately 52 000 years and the climatic and morphodynamic controls on regional-scale permafrost dynamics of the central Laptev Sea coastal region.
Frédéric Bouchard, Daniel Fortier, Michel Paquette, Vincent Boucher, Reinhard Pienitz, and Isabelle Laurion
The Cryosphere, 14, 2607–2627, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2607-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2607-2020, 2020
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We combine lake mapping, landscape observations and sediment core analyses to document the evolution of a thermokarst (thaw) lake in the Canadian Arctic over the last millennia. We conclude that temperature is not the only driver of thermokarst development, as the lake likely started to form during a cooler period around 2000 years ago. The lake is now located in frozen layers with an organic carbon content that is an order of magnitude higher than the usually reported values across the Arctic.
Anatoliy Gavrilov, Vladimir Pavlov, Alexandr Fridenberg, Mikhail Boldyrev, Vanda Khilimonyuk, Elena Pizhankova, Sergey Buldovich, Natalia Kosevich, Ali Alyautdinov, Mariia Ogienko, Alexander Roslyakov, Maria Cherbunina, and Evgeniy Ospennikov
The Cryosphere, 14, 1857–1873, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1857-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1857-2020, 2020
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The geocryological study of the Arctic shelf remains insufficient for economic activity. The article presents a study of its evolution by methods of math modeling of heat transfer in rocks. As a result, a model of the evolution and current state of the cryolithozone of the Kara shelf was created based on ideas about the history of its geocryological development over the past 125 kyr. The modeling results are correlated to the available field data and are presented as a geocryological map.
Elchin E. Jafarov, Dylan R. Harp, Ethan T. Coon, Baptiste Dafflon, Anh Phuong Tran, Adam L. Atchley, Youzuo Lin, and Cathy J. Wilson
The Cryosphere, 14, 77–91, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-77-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-77-2020, 2020
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Improved subsurface parameterization and benchmarking data are needed to reduce current uncertainty in predicting permafrost response to a warming climate. We developed a subsurface parameter estimation framework that can be used to estimate soil properties where subsurface data are available. We utilize diverse geophysical datasets such as electrical resistance data, soil moisture data, and soil temperature data to recover soil porosity and soil thermal conductivity.
Emmanuel Léger, Baptiste Dafflon, Yves Robert, Craig Ulrich, John E. Peterson, Sébastien C. Biraud, Vladimir E. Romanovsky, and Susan S. Hubbard
The Cryosphere, 13, 2853–2867, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2853-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2853-2019, 2019
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We propose a new strategy called distributed temperature profiling (DTP) for improving the estimation of soil thermal properties through the use of an unprecedented number of laterally and vertically distributed temperature measurements. We tested a DTP system prototype by moving it sequentially across a discontinuous permafrost environment. The DTP enabled high-resolution identification of near-surface permafrost location and covariability with topography, vegetation, and soil properties.
Olli Karjalainen, Miska Luoto, Juha Aalto, and Jan Hjort
The Cryosphere, 13, 693–707, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-693-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-693-2019, 2019
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Using a statistical modelling framework, we examined the environmental factors controlling ground thermal regimes inside and outside the Northern Hemisphere permafrost domain. We found that climatic factors were paramount in both regions, but with varying relative importance and effect size. The relationships were often non-linear, especially in permafrost conditions. Our results suggest that these non-linearities should be accounted for in future ground thermal models at the hemisphere scale.
Christine Kroisleitner, Annett Bartsch, and Helena Bergstedt
The Cryosphere, 12, 2349–2370, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2349-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2349-2018, 2018
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Knowledge about permafrost extent is required with respect to climate change. We used borehole temperature records from across the Arctic for the assessment of surface status information (frozen or unfrozen) derived from space-borne microwave sensors for permafrost extent mapping. The comparison to mean annual ground temperature (MAGT) at the coldest sensor depth revealed that not only extent but also temperature can be obtained from C-band-derived surface state with a residual error of 2.22 °C.
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Short summary
The Mackenzie River delta (MRD) is an ecosystem with high rates of methane production from biologic and geologic sources, but little research has been done to determine how often geologic or biogenic methane is emitted to the atmosphere. Stable carbon isotope analysis was used to identify the source of CH4 at several sites. Stable carbon isotope (δ13C-CH4) signatures ranged from −42 to −88 ‰ δ13C-CH4, indicating that CH4 emission in the MRD is caused by biologic and geologic sources.
The Mackenzie River delta (MRD) is an ecosystem with high rates of methane production from...
