Computer modeling of temperature profiles in freezing ground ...

• Main Author: Webb, Fern Marisa
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2009
• Subjects: permafrost
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0052394; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0052394

Greater than 50% of the area of Canada is underlain by permafrost, a thermal condition defined by mean ground temperatures remaining below 0° for a minimum of two consecutive years. The condition of frozen ground bears on many aspects of northern ecology, climate, engineering and society. The temperature based definition of permafrost highlights that understanding the condition of permafrost requires understanding the temperature distribution and energy balance of the ground. Physically based numerical modeling of earth systems is a tool for understanding how past geoclimate conditions have produced current features, and how prospective changes in forcing might manifest future changes in landscape or climate. I have developed a numerical model to solve for a one-dimensional temperature distribution responding to time-dependent boundary conditions. Novel features of the model are a coordinate transformation which allows for a spatially mobile upper domain boundary, and a constituent mixture approach to define ...