Permafrost cooled in winter by thermal bridging through snow-covered shrub branches
International audience Considerable expansion of shrubs across the Arctic tundra has been observed in recent decades. These shrubs are thought to have a warming effect on permafrost by increasing snowpack thermal insulation, thereby limiting winter cooling and accelerating thaw. Here, we use ground...
Published in: | Nature Geoscience |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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HAL CCSD
2022
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Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-04389377 https://hal.science/hal-04389377/document https://hal.science/hal-04389377/file/domine_2022_shrubs_bylot_natgeo.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00979-2 |
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ftmeteofrance:oai:HAL:hal-04389377v1 |
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openpolar |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Météo-France: HAL |
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ftmeteofrance |
language |
English |
topic |
Climate change Climate-change impacts Climate sciences Cryospheric science [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Climate change Climate-change impacts Climate sciences Cryospheric science [SDE]Environmental Sciences Domine, Florent Fourteau, Kévin Picard, Ghislain Lackner, Georg Sarrazin, Denis Poirier, Mathilde Permafrost cooled in winter by thermal bridging through snow-covered shrub branches |
topic_facet |
Climate change Climate-change impacts Climate sciences Cryospheric science [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
description |
International audience Considerable expansion of shrubs across the Arctic tundra has been observed in recent decades. These shrubs are thought to have a warming effect on permafrost by increasing snowpack thermal insulation, thereby limiting winter cooling and accelerating thaw. Here, we use ground temperature observations and heat transfer simulations to show that low shrubs can actually cool the ground in winter by providing a thermal bridge through the snowpack. Observations from unmanipulated herb tundra and shrub tundra sites on Bylot Island in the Canadian high Arctic reveal a 1.21 °C cooling effect between November and February. This is despite a snowpack that is twice as insulating in shrubs. The thermal bridging effect is reversed in spring when shrub branches absorb solar radiation and transfer heat to the ground. The overall thermal effect is likely to depend on snow and shrub characteristics and terrain aspect. The inclusion of these thermal bridging processes into climate models may have an important impact on projected greenhouse gas emissions by permafrost. |
author2 |
Takuvik Joint International Laboratory ULAVAL-CNRS Université Laval Québec (ULaval)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Centre d'Etudes Nordiques (CEN) Université Laval Québec (ULaval) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS) Centre d'Etudes de la Neige (CEN) Centre national de recherches météorologiques (CNRM) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ) Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Domine, Florent Fourteau, Kévin Picard, Ghislain Lackner, Georg Sarrazin, Denis Poirier, Mathilde |
author_facet |
Domine, Florent Fourteau, Kévin Picard, Ghislain Lackner, Georg Sarrazin, Denis Poirier, Mathilde |
author_sort |
Domine, Florent |
title |
Permafrost cooled in winter by thermal bridging through snow-covered shrub branches |
title_short |
Permafrost cooled in winter by thermal bridging through snow-covered shrub branches |
title_full |
Permafrost cooled in winter by thermal bridging through snow-covered shrub branches |
title_fullStr |
Permafrost cooled in winter by thermal bridging through snow-covered shrub branches |
title_full_unstemmed |
Permafrost cooled in winter by thermal bridging through snow-covered shrub branches |
title_sort |
permafrost cooled in winter by thermal bridging through snow-covered shrub branches |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-04389377 https://hal.science/hal-04389377/document https://hal.science/hal-04389377/file/domine_2022_shrubs_bylot_natgeo.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00979-2 |
geographic |
Arctic Bylot Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Bylot Island |
genre |
Arctic Bylot Island Climate change permafrost Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Bylot Island Climate change permafrost Tundra |
op_source |
ISSN: 1752-0894 Nature Geoscience https://hal.science/hal-04389377 Nature Geoscience, 2022, 15 (7), pp.554-560. ⟨10.1038/s41561-022-00979-2⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/s41561-022-00979-2 hal-04389377 https://hal.science/hal-04389377 https://hal.science/hal-04389377/document https://hal.science/hal-04389377/file/domine_2022_shrubs_bylot_natgeo.pdf doi:10.1038/s41561-022-00979-2 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00979-2 |
container_title |
Nature Geoscience |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
554 |
op_container_end_page |
560 |
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1802640735352127488 |
spelling |
ftmeteofrance:oai:HAL:hal-04389377v1 2024-06-23T07:50:00+00:00 Permafrost cooled in winter by thermal bridging through snow-covered shrub branches Domine, Florent Fourteau, Kévin Picard, Ghislain Lackner, Georg Sarrazin, Denis Poirier, Mathilde Takuvik Joint International Laboratory ULAVAL-CNRS Université Laval Québec (ULaval)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Centre d'Etudes Nordiques (CEN) Université Laval Québec (ULaval) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS) Centre d'Etudes de la Neige (CEN) Centre national de recherches météorologiques (CNRM) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ) Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) 2022-07-07 https://hal.science/hal-04389377 https://hal.science/hal-04389377/document https://hal.science/hal-04389377/file/domine_2022_shrubs_bylot_natgeo.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00979-2 en eng HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/s41561-022-00979-2 hal-04389377 https://hal.science/hal-04389377 https://hal.science/hal-04389377/document https://hal.science/hal-04389377/file/domine_2022_shrubs_bylot_natgeo.pdf doi:10.1038/s41561-022-00979-2 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1752-0894 Nature Geoscience https://hal.science/hal-04389377 Nature Geoscience, 2022, 15 (7), pp.554-560. ⟨10.1038/s41561-022-00979-2⟩ Climate change Climate-change impacts Climate sciences Cryospheric science [SDE]Environmental Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2022 ftmeteofrance https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00979-2 2024-06-03T23:55:14Z International audience Considerable expansion of shrubs across the Arctic tundra has been observed in recent decades. These shrubs are thought to have a warming effect on permafrost by increasing snowpack thermal insulation, thereby limiting winter cooling and accelerating thaw. Here, we use ground temperature observations and heat transfer simulations to show that low shrubs can actually cool the ground in winter by providing a thermal bridge through the snowpack. Observations from unmanipulated herb tundra and shrub tundra sites on Bylot Island in the Canadian high Arctic reveal a 1.21 °C cooling effect between November and February. This is despite a snowpack that is twice as insulating in shrubs. The thermal bridging effect is reversed in spring when shrub branches absorb solar radiation and transfer heat to the ground. The overall thermal effect is likely to depend on snow and shrub characteristics and terrain aspect. The inclusion of these thermal bridging processes into climate models may have an important impact on projected greenhouse gas emissions by permafrost. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Bylot Island Climate change permafrost Tundra Météo-France: HAL Arctic Bylot Island Nature Geoscience 15 7 554 560 |