Impacts of microtopographic snow redistribution and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states in an Arctic polygonal ground ecosystem: a case study using ELM-3D v1.0
Microtopographic features, such as polygonal ground, are characteristic sources of landscape heterogeneity in the Alaskan Arctic coastal plain. Here, we analyze the effects of snow redistribution (SR) and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states at a polygonal tundra site near B...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt0028j8cs 2024-01-07T09:41:36+01:00 Impacts of microtopographic snow redistribution and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states in an Arctic polygonal ground ecosystem: a case study using ELM-3D v1.0 Bisht, Gautam Riley, William J Wainwright, Haruko M Dafflon, Baptiste Yuan, Fengming Romanovsky, Vladimir E 61 - 76 2018-01-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0028j8cs unknown eScholarship, University of California qt0028j8cs https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0028j8cs public Geoscientific Model Development, vol 11, iss 1 Hydrology Earth Sciences article 2018 ftcdlib 2023-12-11T19:07:59Z Microtopographic features, such as polygonal ground, are characteristic sources of landscape heterogeneity in the Alaskan Arctic coastal plain. Here, we analyze the effects of snow redistribution (SR) and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states at a polygonal tundra site near Barrow, Alaska. We extended the land model integrated in the E3SM to redistribute incoming snow by accounting for microtopography and incorporated subsurface lateral transport of water and energy (ELM-3D v1.0). Multiple 10-year-long simulations were performed for a transect across a polygonal tundra landscape at the Barrow Environmental Observatory in Alaska to isolate the impact of SR and subsurface process representation. When SR was included, model predictions better agreed (higher R2, lower bias and RMSE) with observed differences in snow depth between polygonal rims and centers. The model was also able to accurately reproduce observed soil temperature vertical profiles in the polygon rims and centers (overall bias, RMSE, and R2 of 0.59°C, 1.82°C, and 0.99, respectively). The spatial heterogeneity of snow depth during the winter due to SR generated surface soil temperature heterogeneity that propagated in depth and time and led to ∼10 cm shallower and ∼5 cm deeper maximum annual thaw depths under the polygon rims and centers, respectively. Additionally, SR led to spatial heterogeneity in surface energy fluxes and soil moisture during the summer. Excluding lateral subsurface hydrologic and thermal processes led to small effects on mean states but an overestimation of spatial variability in soil moisture and soil temperature as subsurface liquid pressure and thermal gradients were artificially prevented from spatially dissipating over time. The effect of lateral subsurface processes on maximum thaw depths was modest, with mean absolute differences of ∼3 cm. Our integration of three-dimensional subsurface hydrologic and thermal subsurface dynamics in the E3SM land model will facilitate a wide range of analyses ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Barrow Tundra Alaska University of California: eScholarship Arctic |
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University of California: eScholarship |
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unknown |
topic |
Hydrology Earth Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Hydrology Earth Sciences Bisht, Gautam Riley, William J Wainwright, Haruko M Dafflon, Baptiste Yuan, Fengming Romanovsky, Vladimir E Impacts of microtopographic snow redistribution and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states in an Arctic polygonal ground ecosystem: a case study using ELM-3D v1.0 |
topic_facet |
Hydrology Earth Sciences |
description |
Microtopographic features, such as polygonal ground, are characteristic sources of landscape heterogeneity in the Alaskan Arctic coastal plain. Here, we analyze the effects of snow redistribution (SR) and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states at a polygonal tundra site near Barrow, Alaska. We extended the land model integrated in the E3SM to redistribute incoming snow by accounting for microtopography and incorporated subsurface lateral transport of water and energy (ELM-3D v1.0). Multiple 10-year-long simulations were performed for a transect across a polygonal tundra landscape at the Barrow Environmental Observatory in Alaska to isolate the impact of SR and subsurface process representation. When SR was included, model predictions better agreed (higher R2, lower bias and RMSE) with observed differences in snow depth between polygonal rims and centers. The model was also able to accurately reproduce observed soil temperature vertical profiles in the polygon rims and centers (overall bias, RMSE, and R2 of 0.59°C, 1.82°C, and 0.99, respectively). The spatial heterogeneity of snow depth during the winter due to SR generated surface soil temperature heterogeneity that propagated in depth and time and led to ∼10 cm shallower and ∼5 cm deeper maximum annual thaw depths under the polygon rims and centers, respectively. Additionally, SR led to spatial heterogeneity in surface energy fluxes and soil moisture during the summer. Excluding lateral subsurface hydrologic and thermal processes led to small effects on mean states but an overestimation of spatial variability in soil moisture and soil temperature as subsurface liquid pressure and thermal gradients were artificially prevented from spatially dissipating over time. The effect of lateral subsurface processes on maximum thaw depths was modest, with mean absolute differences of ∼3 cm. Our integration of three-dimensional subsurface hydrologic and thermal subsurface dynamics in the E3SM land model will facilitate a wide range of analyses ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bisht, Gautam Riley, William J Wainwright, Haruko M Dafflon, Baptiste Yuan, Fengming Romanovsky, Vladimir E |
author_facet |
Bisht, Gautam Riley, William J Wainwright, Haruko M Dafflon, Baptiste Yuan, Fengming Romanovsky, Vladimir E |
author_sort |
Bisht, Gautam |
title |
Impacts of microtopographic snow redistribution and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states in an Arctic polygonal ground ecosystem: a case study using ELM-3D v1.0 |
title_short |
Impacts of microtopographic snow redistribution and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states in an Arctic polygonal ground ecosystem: a case study using ELM-3D v1.0 |
title_full |
Impacts of microtopographic snow redistribution and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states in an Arctic polygonal ground ecosystem: a case study using ELM-3D v1.0 |
title_fullStr |
Impacts of microtopographic snow redistribution and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states in an Arctic polygonal ground ecosystem: a case study using ELM-3D v1.0 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impacts of microtopographic snow redistribution and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states in an Arctic polygonal ground ecosystem: a case study using ELM-3D v1.0 |
title_sort |
impacts of microtopographic snow redistribution and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states in an arctic polygonal ground ecosystem: a case study using elm-3d v1.0 |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0028j8cs |
op_coverage |
61 - 76 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Barrow Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Barrow Tundra Alaska |
op_source |
Geoscientific Model Development, vol 11, iss 1 |
op_relation |
qt0028j8cs https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0028j8cs |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1787422391520985088 |