Effect of Snow Cover on the Active‐Layer Thermal Regime – A Case Study from James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula

Abstract The response of active‐layer thickness and the ground thermal regime to climatic conditions on the Ulu Peninsula (James Ross Island, northeastern Antarctic Peninsula) in 2011–13 is presented. The mean air temperature over this period was –8.0°C and ground temperature at 5 cm depth varied fr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Permafrost and Periglacial Processes
Main Authors: Hrbáček, Filip, Láska, Kamil, Engel, Zbyněk
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1871
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fppp.1871
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ppp.1871
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Summary:Abstract The response of active‐layer thickness and the ground thermal regime to climatic conditions on the Ulu Peninsula (James Ross Island, northeastern Antarctic Peninsula) in 2011–13 is presented. The mean air temperature over this period was –8.0°C and ground temperature at 5 cm depth varied from –6.4°C (2011–12) to –6.7°C (2012–13). The active‐layer thickness ranged between 58 cm (January 2012) and 52 cm (February 2013). Correlation analyses indicate that air temperature affects ground temperature more significantly on snow‐free days (R 2 = 0.82) than on snow cover days (R 2 = 0.53). Although the effect of snow cover on the daily amplitude of ground temperature was observable to 20 cm depth, the overall influence of snow depth on ground temperature was negligible (freezing n ‐factor of 0.95–0.97). Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.