Heat-Transfer Processes in Discontinuous Permafrost Regions

高纬度地区气候变暖的可能性 人们越来越担心， 北极大片地区的永久冻土。 这种动力 然而，永久冻土的融化还没有被完全理解。 长期观点 将传导热传递作为主要机制的理论， 新的理论认为非传导性热传递 在冻土的冻融过程中也起着重要的作用。 本项目将评估这些机制中的每一种机制 和其他可能的过程会以各种方式影响永久冻土动态 阿拉斯加中部的一个地方 测量各种不同的 土壤、冰雪、温度和湿度条件将 收集在一组成对的永久冻土和非永久冻土网站。 这些数据将用于分析这些不同的 变量，并测试不同的传热模型， 永久冻土 该项目将提供有关以下条件的宝贵新数据： 以及永久冻土和非永久冻土中土壤的正上方 它将提供一个有效的测试竞争的假设 关于影响稳定性的热传递机制， 永久冻土 除了有助于对以下方面的新见解之外， 多年冻土动力学，该项目也将使方法 通过测试新工具在苛刻环境中的功效， 环境.

The possibility of climatic warming in high-latitude zones has fueled growing concern about prospects for widespread melting of permafrost across large areas of the Arctic. The dynamics by which permafrost melts are not fully understood, however. Longstanding views that held conductive heat transfer as the primary mechanism have been challenged by new theories that hold that nonconductive heat transfer also plays an important role in the freezing and thawing of permafrost. This project will assess the degree to which each of these mechanisms and other possible processes affects permafrost dynamics in a variety of settings in central Alaska. Measurements of a variety of different soil, snow and ice, temperature, and moisture conditions will be collected at a set of paired permafrost and non-permafrost sites. These data will be used to analyze relationships among these different variables and to test different models of heat transfer within permafrost. This project will provide valuable new data on conditions within and immediately above the soil in permafrost and non-permafrost regions, and it will provide an effective test of competing hypotheses regarding heat transfer mechanisms that affect the stability of permafrost. In addition to contributing to new insights about permafrost dynamics, this project also will make methodological contributions by testing the efficacy of new instruments in harsh environments.