Permafrost Monitoring at Scotty Creek Research Station, 2011-2017 [Northwest Territories, Canada]

• Main Authors: Quinton, William L., Connon, Ryan F., Devoie, Élise G.
• Other Authors: Devoie, Élise G
• Language: English
• Published: Borealis 2018
• Subjects: Earth and Environmental Sciences; Permafrost; Soil Temperature; Active Layer Refreeze; Deep Thermistors; Freeze-Thaw Modelling; Peatlands; Canada; Northwest Territories; Scotty Creek; Talik; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5683/SP2/BTRLHO

A physically-based one-dimensional sharp-interface model of active layer evolution and permafrost thaw is presented. This computationally efficient, semi-analytical, non-equilibrium solution to soil freeze-thaw problems in partially saturated media is proposed as a component of hydrological models to describe seasonal ground ice, active layer evolution and changes in permafrost temperature and extent. The model is developed and validated against the analytical Stefan solution and a finite volume coupled heat and mass transfer model of freeze-thaw in unsaturated porous media. Unlike analytic models, the interface model provides a non-equilibrium solution to the heat equation while permitting a wide range of temporally variable boundary conditions and supporting the simulation of multiple interfaces between frozen and unfrozen soils. The model is implemented for use in discontinuous permafrost peatlands where soil properties are highly dependent on soil ice content and infiltration capacity is high. It is demonstrated that the model is suitable for the representation of variably saturated active layer and permafrost evolution in cases both with and without a talik.