Tundra permafrost thaw causes significant shifts in energy partitioning
Permafrost, a key component of the arctic and global climate system, is highly sensitive to climate change. Observed and ongoing permafrost degradation influences arctic hydrology, ecology and biogeochemistry, and models predict that rapid warming is expected to significantly reduce near-surface per...
Published in: | Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Stockholm University Press
2016
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v68.30467 https://doaj.org/article/8ba1e0f9d54f47e1bca985434216ce01 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8ba1e0f9d54f47e1bca985434216ce01 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8ba1e0f9d54f47e1bca985434216ce01 2023-05-15T13:11:29+02:00 Tundra permafrost thaw causes significant shifts in energy partitioning Christian Stiegler Margareta Johansson Torben R. Christensen Mikhail Mastepanov Anders Lindroth 2016-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v68.30467 https://doaj.org/article/8ba1e0f9d54f47e1bca985434216ce01 EN eng Stockholm University Press http://www.tellusb.net/index.php/tellusb/article/view/30467/45862 https://doaj.org/toc/1600-0889 1600-0889 doi:10.3402/tellusb.v68.30467 https://doaj.org/article/8ba1e0f9d54f47e1bca985434216ce01 Tellus: Series B, Chemical and Physical Meteorology, Vol 68, Iss 0, Pp 1-11 (2016) permafrost degradation subarctic peatlands surface energy balance climate change land–atmosphere coupling Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v68.30467 2022-12-31T01:56:14Z Permafrost, a key component of the arctic and global climate system, is highly sensitive to climate change. Observed and ongoing permafrost degradation influences arctic hydrology, ecology and biogeochemistry, and models predict that rapid warming is expected to significantly reduce near-surface permafrost and seasonally frozen ground during the 21st century. These changes raise concern of how permafrost thaw affects the exchange of water and energy with the atmosphere. However, associated impacts of permafrost thaw on the surface energy balance and possible feedbacks on the climate system are largely unknown. In this study, we show that in northern subarctic Sweden, permafrost thaw and related degradation of peat plateaus significantly change the surface energy balance of three peatland complexes by enhancing latent heat flux and, to less degree, also ground heat flux at the cost of sensible heat flux. This effect is valid at all radiation levels but more pronounced at higher radiation levels. The observed differences in flux partitioning mainly result from the strong coupling between soil moisture availability, vegetation composition, albedo and surface structure. Our results suggest that ongoing and predicted permafrost degradation in northern subarctic Sweden ultimately result in changes in land–atmosphere coupling due to changes in the partitioning between latent and sensible heat fluxes. This in turn has crucial implications for how predictive climate models for the Arctic are further developed. Article in Journal/Newspaper albedo Arctic Climate change Peat permafrost Subarctic Tundra Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology 68 1 30467 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
permafrost degradation subarctic peatlands surface energy balance climate change land–atmosphere coupling Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
permafrost degradation subarctic peatlands surface energy balance climate change land–atmosphere coupling Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Christian Stiegler Margareta Johansson Torben R. Christensen Mikhail Mastepanov Anders Lindroth Tundra permafrost thaw causes significant shifts in energy partitioning |
topic_facet |
permafrost degradation subarctic peatlands surface energy balance climate change land–atmosphere coupling Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
Permafrost, a key component of the arctic and global climate system, is highly sensitive to climate change. Observed and ongoing permafrost degradation influences arctic hydrology, ecology and biogeochemistry, and models predict that rapid warming is expected to significantly reduce near-surface permafrost and seasonally frozen ground during the 21st century. These changes raise concern of how permafrost thaw affects the exchange of water and energy with the atmosphere. However, associated impacts of permafrost thaw on the surface energy balance and possible feedbacks on the climate system are largely unknown. In this study, we show that in northern subarctic Sweden, permafrost thaw and related degradation of peat plateaus significantly change the surface energy balance of three peatland complexes by enhancing latent heat flux and, to less degree, also ground heat flux at the cost of sensible heat flux. This effect is valid at all radiation levels but more pronounced at higher radiation levels. The observed differences in flux partitioning mainly result from the strong coupling between soil moisture availability, vegetation composition, albedo and surface structure. Our results suggest that ongoing and predicted permafrost degradation in northern subarctic Sweden ultimately result in changes in land–atmosphere coupling due to changes in the partitioning between latent and sensible heat fluxes. This in turn has crucial implications for how predictive climate models for the Arctic are further developed. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Christian Stiegler Margareta Johansson Torben R. Christensen Mikhail Mastepanov Anders Lindroth |
author_facet |
Christian Stiegler Margareta Johansson Torben R. Christensen Mikhail Mastepanov Anders Lindroth |
author_sort |
Christian Stiegler |
title |
Tundra permafrost thaw causes significant shifts in energy partitioning |
title_short |
Tundra permafrost thaw causes significant shifts in energy partitioning |
title_full |
Tundra permafrost thaw causes significant shifts in energy partitioning |
title_fullStr |
Tundra permafrost thaw causes significant shifts in energy partitioning |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tundra permafrost thaw causes significant shifts in energy partitioning |
title_sort |
tundra permafrost thaw causes significant shifts in energy partitioning |
publisher |
Stockholm University Press |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v68.30467 https://doaj.org/article/8ba1e0f9d54f47e1bca985434216ce01 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
albedo Arctic Climate change Peat permafrost Subarctic Tundra |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic Climate change Peat permafrost Subarctic Tundra |
op_source |
Tellus: Series B, Chemical and Physical Meteorology, Vol 68, Iss 0, Pp 1-11 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://www.tellusb.net/index.php/tellusb/article/view/30467/45862 https://doaj.org/toc/1600-0889 1600-0889 doi:10.3402/tellusb.v68.30467 https://doaj.org/article/8ba1e0f9d54f47e1bca985434216ce01 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v68.30467 |
container_title |
Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology |
container_volume |
68 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
30467 |
_version_ |
1766247626322214912 |