Active layer thickness as a function of soil water content
Active layer thickness (ALT) is a critical metric for monitoring permafrost. How soil moisture influences ALT depends on two competing hypotheses: (a) increased soil moisture increases the latent heat of fusion for thaw, resulting in shallower active layers, and (b) increased soil moisture increases...
Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfa4c https://doaj.org/article/023a88a76dbf4b60aa4f92449a5739d9 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:023a88a76dbf4b60aa4f92449a5739d9 2023-09-05T13:11:09+02:00 Active layer thickness as a function of soil water content Leah K Clayton Kevin Schaefer Michael J Battaglia Laura Bourgeau-Chavez Jingyi Chen Richard H Chen Albert Chen Kazem Bakian-Dogaheh Sarah Grelik Elchin Jafarov Lin Liu Roger John Michaelides Mahta Moghaddam Andrew D Parsekian Adrian V Rocha Sean R Schaefer Taylor Sullivan Alireza Tabatabaeenejad Kang Wang Cathy J Wilson Howard A Zebker Tingjun Zhang Yuhuan Zhao 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfa4c https://doaj.org/article/023a88a76dbf4b60aa4f92449a5739d9 EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfa4c https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abfa4c 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/023a88a76dbf4b60aa4f92449a5739d9 Environmental Research Letters, Vol 16, Iss 5, p 055028 (2021) permafrost soil moisture active layer thickness thaw depth Alaska Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfa4c 2023-08-13T00:37:11Z Active layer thickness (ALT) is a critical metric for monitoring permafrost. How soil moisture influences ALT depends on two competing hypotheses: (a) increased soil moisture increases the latent heat of fusion for thaw, resulting in shallower active layers, and (b) increased soil moisture increases soil thermal conductivity, resulting in deeper active layers. To investigate their relative influence on thaw depth, we analyzed the Field Measurements of Soil Moisture and Active Layer Thickness (SMALT) in Alaska and Canada dataset, consisting of thousands of measurements of thaw depth and soil moisture collected at dozens of sites across Alaska and Canada as part of NASA’s Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE). As bulk volumetric water content (VWC) integrated over the entire active layer increases, ALT decreases, supporting the latent heat hypothesis. However, as VWC in the top 12 cm of soil increases, ALT increases, supporting the thermal conductivity hypothesis. Regional temperature variations determine the baseline thaw depth while precipitation may influence the sensitivity of ALT to changes in VWC. Soil latent heat dominates over thermal conductivity in determining ALT, and the effect of bulk VWC on ALT appears consistent across sites. Article in Journal/Newspaper Active layer thickness Arctic permafrost Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Canada Environmental Research Letters 16 5 055028 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
permafrost soil moisture active layer thickness thaw depth Alaska Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
permafrost soil moisture active layer thickness thaw depth Alaska Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 Leah K Clayton Kevin Schaefer Michael J Battaglia Laura Bourgeau-Chavez Jingyi Chen Richard H Chen Albert Chen Kazem Bakian-Dogaheh Sarah Grelik Elchin Jafarov Lin Liu Roger John Michaelides Mahta Moghaddam Andrew D Parsekian Adrian V Rocha Sean R Schaefer Taylor Sullivan Alireza Tabatabaeenejad Kang Wang Cathy J Wilson Howard A Zebker Tingjun Zhang Yuhuan Zhao Active layer thickness as a function of soil water content |
topic_facet |
permafrost soil moisture active layer thickness thaw depth Alaska Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Active layer thickness (ALT) is a critical metric for monitoring permafrost. How soil moisture influences ALT depends on two competing hypotheses: (a) increased soil moisture increases the latent heat of fusion for thaw, resulting in shallower active layers, and (b) increased soil moisture increases soil thermal conductivity, resulting in deeper active layers. To investigate their relative influence on thaw depth, we analyzed the Field Measurements of Soil Moisture and Active Layer Thickness (SMALT) in Alaska and Canada dataset, consisting of thousands of measurements of thaw depth and soil moisture collected at dozens of sites across Alaska and Canada as part of NASA’s Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE). As bulk volumetric water content (VWC) integrated over the entire active layer increases, ALT decreases, supporting the latent heat hypothesis. However, as VWC in the top 12 cm of soil increases, ALT increases, supporting the thermal conductivity hypothesis. Regional temperature variations determine the baseline thaw depth while precipitation may influence the sensitivity of ALT to changes in VWC. Soil latent heat dominates over thermal conductivity in determining ALT, and the effect of bulk VWC on ALT appears consistent across sites. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Leah K Clayton Kevin Schaefer Michael J Battaglia Laura Bourgeau-Chavez Jingyi Chen Richard H Chen Albert Chen Kazem Bakian-Dogaheh Sarah Grelik Elchin Jafarov Lin Liu Roger John Michaelides Mahta Moghaddam Andrew D Parsekian Adrian V Rocha Sean R Schaefer Taylor Sullivan Alireza Tabatabaeenejad Kang Wang Cathy J Wilson Howard A Zebker Tingjun Zhang Yuhuan Zhao |
author_facet |
Leah K Clayton Kevin Schaefer Michael J Battaglia Laura Bourgeau-Chavez Jingyi Chen Richard H Chen Albert Chen Kazem Bakian-Dogaheh Sarah Grelik Elchin Jafarov Lin Liu Roger John Michaelides Mahta Moghaddam Andrew D Parsekian Adrian V Rocha Sean R Schaefer Taylor Sullivan Alireza Tabatabaeenejad Kang Wang Cathy J Wilson Howard A Zebker Tingjun Zhang Yuhuan Zhao |
author_sort |
Leah K Clayton |
title |
Active layer thickness as a function of soil water content |
title_short |
Active layer thickness as a function of soil water content |
title_full |
Active layer thickness as a function of soil water content |
title_fullStr |
Active layer thickness as a function of soil water content |
title_full_unstemmed |
Active layer thickness as a function of soil water content |
title_sort |
active layer thickness as a function of soil water content |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfa4c https://doaj.org/article/023a88a76dbf4b60aa4f92449a5739d9 |
geographic |
Arctic Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada |
genre |
Active layer thickness Arctic permafrost Alaska |
genre_facet |
Active layer thickness Arctic permafrost Alaska |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 16, Iss 5, p 055028 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfa4c https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abfa4c 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/023a88a76dbf4b60aa4f92449a5739d9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfa4c |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
055028 |
_version_ |
1776198057710321664 |