Cooperative US/USSR Research on Small-Scale Permafrost Mapping

小地理比例尺的永久冻土分布图通常采用一种分类方法，即根据永久冻土的面积连续性或优势程度对高纬度地区进行细分。这种地图的实用性是值得怀疑的，因为不同国家和调查人员的分类标准差别很大。一种使用明确定义和几个已知影响多年冻土发育的变量来划定纬度多年冻土区的物理技术在北美冻土分布广为人知的地区复制经验结果方面取得了相当大的成功。这项调查将把这种计算方法推广到苏联，苏联是地球冰晶数据的最丰富来源，这将使编制标准化的世界永久冻土图成为可能，并将有助于比较过去、现在和未来的永久冻土地理位置。

Maps of permafrost distribution at small geographical scales commonly employ a classification in which high-latitude regions are subdivided on the basis of the areal continuity or dominance of permafrost. The utility of such maps is questionable because classificatory criteria vary radically between different countries and investigators. A physically-based technique for delineating latitudinal permafrost zones using explicit definitions and several variables known to influence permafrost development has had considerable success in replicating empirical results in areas of North America where the distribution of permafrost is well known. This investigation will extend this computational method into the Soviet Union, the richest source of geocryological data, will make a compilation of a standardized world permafrost map feasible and will facilitate comparison of past, present, and future permafrost geographies.