Coupled water flow and heat transport in frozen soils

尽管温度低于冰点，液态水仍然存在于冻土中，重要的土壤过程，如养分循环，在低于冰点的温度下是活跃的。在土壤水分平衡方面，季节性冻土中的土壤冻结深度显著影响融雪进入地表径流或土壤水分的分配，这可能会在丰水年引起洪水或在干旱年减轻干旱。冻土中瞬时土壤水分含量的精确测量和模拟是理解这些过程的环境意义以及气候变化对这些过程的影响的关键。因此，本研究的长期目标是：增加对冻土中耦合的水流和热传输过程的理解，并发展这些过程的测量技术。

Despite sub-freezing temperatures, liquid water is still present in frozen soils and important soil processes such as nutrient cycling are active at sub-freezing temperatures. With respect to the soil water balance, soil frost depths in seasonally frozen soils significantly influence the partitioning of snowmelt into surface runoff or soil moisture which may potentially cause flooding in wet years or mitigate drought in dry years. Accurate measurement and simulation of transient soil moisture contents in frozen soils is key to understanding the environmental significance of these processes and the influence of climate change on these processes. Therefore, the long-term objective of this research is: To increase understanding of coupled water flow and heat transport processes in frozen soil and develop the state of the art with respect to measurement of these processes.