Impacts of variations in snow cover on permafrost stability, including simulated snow management, Dempster Highway, Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories
Permafrost conditions were examined near the Dempster Highway embankment on Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories. Ground temperatures were recorded in 2013–2015 at five sites at the embankment toe and at two sites in undisturbed (control) tundra. Annual mean ground temperatures at approximately 5 m d...
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Canadian Science Publishing
2017
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d9ccee98c1bc4d6581e8d480b1b999af 2023-05-15T14:23:38+02:00 Impacts of variations in snow cover on permafrost stability, including simulated snow management, Dempster Highway, Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories H. Brendan O’Neill Chris R. Burn 2017-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2016-0036 https://doaj.org/article/d9ccee98c1bc4d6581e8d480b1b999af EN FR eng fre Canadian Science Publishing https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2016-0036 https://doaj.org/toc/2368-7460 doi:10.1139/as-2016-0036 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/d9ccee98c1bc4d6581e8d480b1b999af Arctic Science, Vol 3, Iss 2, Pp 150-178 (2017) permafrost infrastructure highways thermal regime snow cover Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2016-0036 2022-12-31T13:21:20Z Permafrost conditions were examined near the Dempster Highway embankment on Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories. Ground temperatures were recorded in 2013–2015 at five sites at the embankment toe and at two sites in undisturbed (control) tundra. Annual mean ground temperatures at approximately 5 m depth ranged from −2.2 to 0.0 °C at the embankment toe and were −1.8 and −2.6 °C at control sites. Permafrost is degrading beside the road at four of five sites. Thaw depths are greater at the embankment toe, where deep snow accumulates, than in undisturbed tundra. A numerical model was used to examine the influence of varying snow cover properties on the ground thermal regime. Simulations indicated that delaying the onset of deep (1 m) snow accumulation and (or) prolonging the duration of the same total accumulation accelerates removal of latent heat from the active layer, increases sensible ground cooling, and results in reduced thaw depth. Furthermore, reducing snow depth and increasing snow density may rapidly raise the permafrost table, lower ground temperatures at the embankment toe, and cool permafrost at depth over several years. In consequence, mechanical snow removal and (or) compaction should be investigated as an active management strategy for mitigating permafrost degradation in ice-rich settings. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ice Northwest Territories permafrost Tundra Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Northwest Territories Arctic Science 3 2 150 178 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English French |
topic |
permafrost infrastructure highways thermal regime snow cover Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 |
spellingShingle |
permafrost infrastructure highways thermal regime snow cover Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 H. Brendan O’Neill Chris R. Burn Impacts of variations in snow cover on permafrost stability, including simulated snow management, Dempster Highway, Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories |
topic_facet |
permafrost infrastructure highways thermal regime snow cover Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 |
description |
Permafrost conditions were examined near the Dempster Highway embankment on Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories. Ground temperatures were recorded in 2013–2015 at five sites at the embankment toe and at two sites in undisturbed (control) tundra. Annual mean ground temperatures at approximately 5 m depth ranged from −2.2 to 0.0 °C at the embankment toe and were −1.8 and −2.6 °C at control sites. Permafrost is degrading beside the road at four of five sites. Thaw depths are greater at the embankment toe, where deep snow accumulates, than in undisturbed tundra. A numerical model was used to examine the influence of varying snow cover properties on the ground thermal regime. Simulations indicated that delaying the onset of deep (1 m) snow accumulation and (or) prolonging the duration of the same total accumulation accelerates removal of latent heat from the active layer, increases sensible ground cooling, and results in reduced thaw depth. Furthermore, reducing snow depth and increasing snow density may rapidly raise the permafrost table, lower ground temperatures at the embankment toe, and cool permafrost at depth over several years. In consequence, mechanical snow removal and (or) compaction should be investigated as an active management strategy for mitigating permafrost degradation in ice-rich settings. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
H. Brendan O’Neill Chris R. Burn |
author_facet |
H. Brendan O’Neill Chris R. Burn |
author_sort |
H. Brendan O’Neill |
title |
Impacts of variations in snow cover on permafrost stability, including simulated snow management, Dempster Highway, Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories |
title_short |
Impacts of variations in snow cover on permafrost stability, including simulated snow management, Dempster Highway, Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories |
title_full |
Impacts of variations in snow cover on permafrost stability, including simulated snow management, Dempster Highway, Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories |
title_fullStr |
Impacts of variations in snow cover on permafrost stability, including simulated snow management, Dempster Highway, Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impacts of variations in snow cover on permafrost stability, including simulated snow management, Dempster Highway, Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories |
title_sort |
impacts of variations in snow cover on permafrost stability, including simulated snow management, dempster highway, peel plateau, northwest territories |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2016-0036 https://doaj.org/article/d9ccee98c1bc4d6581e8d480b1b999af |
geographic |
Northwest Territories |
geographic_facet |
Northwest Territories |
genre |
Arctic Ice Northwest Territories permafrost Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ice Northwest Territories permafrost Tundra |
op_source |
Arctic Science, Vol 3, Iss 2, Pp 150-178 (2017) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2016-0036 https://doaj.org/toc/2368-7460 doi:10.1139/as-2016-0036 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/d9ccee98c1bc4d6581e8d480b1b999af |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2016-0036 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
150 |
op_container_end_page |
178 |
_version_ |
1766296140682100736 |