Processes controlling thaw lake methane emission from lake to watershed scales in Alaska, 2015 - 2019

• Main Authors: Liljedahl, Anna, Walter-Anthony, Katey, Barnes, David, Daanen, Ronald, Romanovsky, Vladimir
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: NSF Arctic Data Center 2020
• Subjects: EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE; EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > SURFACE WATER > DISCHARGE/FLOW; SNOW WATER EQUIVALENT; SOIL TEMPERATURE; AIR TEMPERATURE; LIQUID PRECIPITATION; WIND SPEED/WIND DIRECTION; Fairbanks; permafrost; Thermokarst; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.18739/a2qj7801n; https://arcticdata.io/catalog/view/doi:10.18739/A2QJ7801N

The overarching goal was to refine the understanding of the hydrological, thermal, and biogeochemical processes that control methane emissions from thermokarst (thaw) lakes in discontinuous permafrost regions by assessing the coupled hydrology-permafrost-methane system at lake to watershed-scales. The effort included assessing the role of sub-permafrost methane as a source in lake methane emission. The study area was the Goldstream Creek watershed, Fairbanks, Interior Alaska, with field measurements during the period 2015-2018. A combination of methods were used, including numerical modeling, field measurements (meteorology, hydrology, permafrost, geochemistry), ground-based and airborne geophysics for 3D watershed-scale permafrost mapping, and laboratory incubations of permafrost, sediments, and groundwater. The temporal frequency of data ranges from three years of continuous hourly measurements to one-time samplings. The new data and findings can help to reduce uncertainties in feedbacks from permafrost-dominate landscapes to the global climate.