Detection of Heat and Moisture Movement in the Upper Permafrost, Northern Alaska

该项目将在阿拉斯加北坡的巴罗环境观测站研究将热量从大气转移到永久冻土的过程。数据记录仪将在多个地点的土壤中安装在3米深的地方，以监测上层冻土层季节性冻融循环期间水分对热量传递的影响。这些数据将被用来确定水分和气候如何影响永久冻土，从而可以预测气候变化对永久冻土层的潜在影响。这项研究将测试一种关于永久冻土对季节性温度变化的反应方式的新理论，以检验全球变暖对北极地表冻土层可能起到的作用。这些结果对于规划气候变化对北极地区建筑、道路和其他基础设施建设的潜在影响至关重要。

This project will examine the processes for transfer of heat from the atmosphere into the permafrost at the Barrow Environmental Observatory on the North Slope of Alaska. Data loggers will be installed at 3 m depth in the soil at numerous sites to monitor the effects moisture on heat transfer during the seasonal freeze/thaw cycle of the upper permafrost layer. The data will be used to establish how moisture and climate affect the permafrost so that the potential effects of climate change on the permafrost layer may be predicted. The research will test a new theory about the way permafrost responds to seasonal temperature changes in order to examine the role that global warming may play on the surficial frozen soil layer in the arctic. The results are critically important to planning for the potential impacts of proposed climate change on the construction of buildings, roads, and other infrastructure in the arctic.