Spatial and Temporal Variations of Freezing and Thawing Indices From 1960 to 2020 in Mongolia
Mongolia is one of the most sensitive regions to climate change, located in the transition of several natural and permafrost zones. Long-term trends in air freezing and thawing indices can therefore enhance our understanding of climate change. This study focuses on changes of the spatiotemporal patt...
Published in: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.713498 https://doaj.org/article/a6addac76b5545a0b910d278f372af0d |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a6addac76b5545a0b910d278f372af0d |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a6addac76b5545a0b910d278f372af0d 2023-05-15T17:57:32+02:00 Spatial and Temporal Variations of Freezing and Thawing Indices From 1960 to 2020 in Mongolia Avirmed Dashtseren Khurelbaatar Temuujin Sebastian Westermann Altangerel Batbold Yondon Amarbayasgalan Dorjgotov Battogtokh 2021-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.713498 https://doaj.org/article/a6addac76b5545a0b910d278f372af0d EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2021.713498/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2021.713498 https://doaj.org/article/a6addac76b5545a0b910d278f372af0d Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 9 (2021) freezing index thawing index transition zones climate warming Mongolia Science Q article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.713498 2022-12-31T09:08:30Z Mongolia is one of the most sensitive regions to climate change, located in the transition of several natural and permafrost zones. Long-term trends in air freezing and thawing indices can therefore enhance our understanding of climate change. This study focuses on changes of the spatiotemporal patterns in air freezing and thawing indices over Mongolia from 1960 to 2020, using observations at 30 meteorological stations. Our results shows that the freezing index ranges from −945.5 to −4,793.6°C day, while the thawing index ranges from 1,164.4 to 4,021.3°C day over Mongolia, and their spatial patterns clearly link to the latitude and altitude. During the study period, the trend in the thawing index (14.4°C-day per year) was larger than the trend in the freezing index (up to −10.1°C-day per year), which results in the net increase of air temperature by 2.4°C across Mongolia. Overall, the increase in the thawing index was larger in the low latitudes and altitudes (e.g., the Gobi-desert, steppes, the Great lake depression and major river valleys) than in high latitudes and altitudes (mountain regions), while it was the opposite for the freezing index. The highest values for both thawing index and freezing index (i.e. the least negative values) have occurred during the last 2 decades. As the trends in the freezing and thawing indices and mean annual air temperature confirm intensive climate warming, increased permafrost degradation and shallower seasonally frozen ground are expected throughout Mongolia. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Earth Science 9 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
freezing index thawing index transition zones climate warming Mongolia Science Q |
spellingShingle |
freezing index thawing index transition zones climate warming Mongolia Science Q Avirmed Dashtseren Khurelbaatar Temuujin Sebastian Westermann Altangerel Batbold Yondon Amarbayasgalan Dorjgotov Battogtokh Spatial and Temporal Variations of Freezing and Thawing Indices From 1960 to 2020 in Mongolia |
topic_facet |
freezing index thawing index transition zones climate warming Mongolia Science Q |
description |
Mongolia is one of the most sensitive regions to climate change, located in the transition of several natural and permafrost zones. Long-term trends in air freezing and thawing indices can therefore enhance our understanding of climate change. This study focuses on changes of the spatiotemporal patterns in air freezing and thawing indices over Mongolia from 1960 to 2020, using observations at 30 meteorological stations. Our results shows that the freezing index ranges from −945.5 to −4,793.6°C day, while the thawing index ranges from 1,164.4 to 4,021.3°C day over Mongolia, and their spatial patterns clearly link to the latitude and altitude. During the study period, the trend in the thawing index (14.4°C-day per year) was larger than the trend in the freezing index (up to −10.1°C-day per year), which results in the net increase of air temperature by 2.4°C across Mongolia. Overall, the increase in the thawing index was larger in the low latitudes and altitudes (e.g., the Gobi-desert, steppes, the Great lake depression and major river valleys) than in high latitudes and altitudes (mountain regions), while it was the opposite for the freezing index. The highest values for both thawing index and freezing index (i.e. the least negative values) have occurred during the last 2 decades. As the trends in the freezing and thawing indices and mean annual air temperature confirm intensive climate warming, increased permafrost degradation and shallower seasonally frozen ground are expected throughout Mongolia. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Avirmed Dashtseren Khurelbaatar Temuujin Sebastian Westermann Altangerel Batbold Yondon Amarbayasgalan Dorjgotov Battogtokh |
author_facet |
Avirmed Dashtseren Khurelbaatar Temuujin Sebastian Westermann Altangerel Batbold Yondon Amarbayasgalan Dorjgotov Battogtokh |
author_sort |
Avirmed Dashtseren |
title |
Spatial and Temporal Variations of Freezing and Thawing Indices From 1960 to 2020 in Mongolia |
title_short |
Spatial and Temporal Variations of Freezing and Thawing Indices From 1960 to 2020 in Mongolia |
title_full |
Spatial and Temporal Variations of Freezing and Thawing Indices From 1960 to 2020 in Mongolia |
title_fullStr |
Spatial and Temporal Variations of Freezing and Thawing Indices From 1960 to 2020 in Mongolia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatial and Temporal Variations of Freezing and Thawing Indices From 1960 to 2020 in Mongolia |
title_sort |
spatial and temporal variations of freezing and thawing indices from 1960 to 2020 in mongolia |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.713498 https://doaj.org/article/a6addac76b5545a0b910d278f372af0d |
genre |
permafrost |
genre_facet |
permafrost |
op_source |
Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 9 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2021.713498/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2021.713498 https://doaj.org/article/a6addac76b5545a0b910d278f372af0d |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.713498 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
9 |
_version_ |
1766165983891816448 |