GROUND TEMPERATURE OBSERVATIONS GALENA, ALASKA

• Main Author: Aitken,G. W.
• Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER N H
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1963
• Subjects: CLIMATE; permafrost; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0430015; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0430015

Summaries are presented of (1) ground temperature data at 9 depths from 0.0-22.0 ft collected daily at Galena (Alaska) during 1947-1958, (2) comparative climatological data collected by the U. S. Weather Bureau for the years 1944-1957, and (3) soil data from samples obtained in July 1946 and April 1958. Tables are given of (1) the mean or average climatological data, (2) the maximum, minimum, and average ground tem peratures for the 11 years as determined from data recorded on the first day of each month, and (3) the ground temperatures recorded the first day of each month during the 1947-58 period. Ground-temperature gradients for a typical thaw and freeze season (1950-51) are graphed and the maximum and minimum temperatures recorded at each depth are also presented. Seasonal freezing varied from year to year; the averageseasonal depth of freeze was approximately 5.5 ft below the ground surface. The data show there is no permafrost at the temperature-well location to a depth of 22.5 ft, but it is probable that permafrost does exist at other locations on the Galena flood plain. (Author)