Presented by

• Main Authors: Western Spitsbergen, Zoé Lucia Lüthi, Prof Christian Schlüchter, Prof Hanne Christiansen
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Svalbard; permafrost; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.602.7140; http://www.climatestudies.unibe.ch/students/theses/msc/19.pdf

This 30 ECTS master’s thesis focuses on the different ground thermal regimes at two study sites on Spitsbergen, Svalbard. According to results of the Permafrost and Climate in Europe (PACE) project, permafrost terrains have been exposed to atmospheric warming since 1975 with greatest warmside deviations at the borehole located on Svalbard. As part of an effort to understand the regional and local response of frozen ground to climate change, the present study assessed the impact of meteorology and of site-specific factors, e.g. vegetation and snow cover, on ground temperatures. An understanding of permafrost conditions in Spitsbergen is important for the management of terrain stability in areas of increasing population, and for predictions of potential climate change effects on the environment. Thermal time series of four boreholes in central and in western Spitsbergen where chosen to represent lowland dry and wet soils at a continental and at a maritime location over an annual cycle. For the first time, a complete hydrological year of ground thermal data at all selected study sites could be analyzed in autumn 2009. The thermal regimes of the four boreholes were first analyzed