Thaw processes in ice-rich permafrost landscapes represented with laterally coupled tiles in a land surface model
Earth system models (ESMs) are our primary tool for projecting future climate change, but their ability to represent small-scale land surface processes is currently limited. This is especially true for permafrost landscapes in which melting of excess ground ice and subsequent subsidence affect later...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2649486 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-591-2019 |
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ftnorce:oai:norceresearch.brage.unit.no:11250/2649486 2023-05-15T16:36:47+02:00 Thaw processes in ice-rich permafrost landscapes represented with laterally coupled tiles in a land surface model Aas, Kjetil Schanke Martin, Leo Celestin Paul Nitzbon, Jan Langer, Moritz Boike, Julia Lee, Hanna Berntsen, Terje Koren Westermann, Sebastian 2019 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2649486 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-591-2019 eng eng Norges forskningsråd: 255331 Notur/NorStore: NN9489K The Cryosphere. 2019, 13 (2), 591-609. urn:issn:1994-0416 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2649486 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-591-2019 cristin:1678781 CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY The Cryosphere 13 2 591-609 Peer reviewed Journal article 2019 ftnorce https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-591-2019 2022-10-13T05:50:15Z Earth system models (ESMs) are our primary tool for projecting future climate change, but their ability to represent small-scale land surface processes is currently limited. This is especially true for permafrost landscapes in which melting of excess ground ice and subsequent subsidence affect lateral processes which can substantially alter soil conditions and fluxes of heat, water, and carbon to the atmosphere. Here we demonstrate that dynamically changing microtopography and related lateral fluxes of snow, water, and heat can be represented through a tiling approach suitable for implementation in large-scale models, and we investigate which of these lateral processes are important to reproduce observed landscape evolution. Combining existing methods for representing excess ground ice, snow redistribution, and lateral water and energy fluxes in two coupled tiles, we show that the model approach can simulate observed degradation processes in two very different permafrost landscapes. We are able to simulate the transition from low-centered to high-centered polygons, when applied to polygonal tundra in the cold, continuous permafrost zone, which results in (i) a more realistic representation of soil conditions through drying of elevated features and wetting of lowered features with related changes in energy fluxes, (ii) up to 2 ∘C reduced average permafrost temperatures in the current (2000–2009) climate, (iii) delayed permafrost degradation in the future RCP4.5 scenario by several decades, and (iv) more rapid degradation through snow and soil water feedback mechanisms once subsidence starts. Applied to peat plateaus in the sporadic permafrost zone, the same two-tile system can represent an elevated peat plateau underlain by permafrost in a surrounding permafrost-free fen and its degradation in the future following a moderate warming scenario. These results demonstrate the importance of representing lateral fluxes to realistically simulate both the current permafrost state and its degradation trajectories as the ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice Peat Peat plateau permafrost The Cryosphere Tundra NORCE vitenarkiv (Norwegian Research Centre) The Cryosphere 13 2 591 609 |
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Open Polar |
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NORCE vitenarkiv (Norwegian Research Centre) |
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ftnorce |
language |
English |
description |
Earth system models (ESMs) are our primary tool for projecting future climate change, but their ability to represent small-scale land surface processes is currently limited. This is especially true for permafrost landscapes in which melting of excess ground ice and subsequent subsidence affect lateral processes which can substantially alter soil conditions and fluxes of heat, water, and carbon to the atmosphere. Here we demonstrate that dynamically changing microtopography and related lateral fluxes of snow, water, and heat can be represented through a tiling approach suitable for implementation in large-scale models, and we investigate which of these lateral processes are important to reproduce observed landscape evolution. Combining existing methods for representing excess ground ice, snow redistribution, and lateral water and energy fluxes in two coupled tiles, we show that the model approach can simulate observed degradation processes in two very different permafrost landscapes. We are able to simulate the transition from low-centered to high-centered polygons, when applied to polygonal tundra in the cold, continuous permafrost zone, which results in (i) a more realistic representation of soil conditions through drying of elevated features and wetting of lowered features with related changes in energy fluxes, (ii) up to 2 ∘C reduced average permafrost temperatures in the current (2000–2009) climate, (iii) delayed permafrost degradation in the future RCP4.5 scenario by several decades, and (iv) more rapid degradation through snow and soil water feedback mechanisms once subsidence starts. Applied to peat plateaus in the sporadic permafrost zone, the same two-tile system can represent an elevated peat plateau underlain by permafrost in a surrounding permafrost-free fen and its degradation in the future following a moderate warming scenario. These results demonstrate the importance of representing lateral fluxes to realistically simulate both the current permafrost state and its degradation trajectories as the ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Aas, Kjetil Schanke Martin, Leo Celestin Paul Nitzbon, Jan Langer, Moritz Boike, Julia Lee, Hanna Berntsen, Terje Koren Westermann, Sebastian |
spellingShingle |
Aas, Kjetil Schanke Martin, Leo Celestin Paul Nitzbon, Jan Langer, Moritz Boike, Julia Lee, Hanna Berntsen, Terje Koren Westermann, Sebastian Thaw processes in ice-rich permafrost landscapes represented with laterally coupled tiles in a land surface model |
author_facet |
Aas, Kjetil Schanke Martin, Leo Celestin Paul Nitzbon, Jan Langer, Moritz Boike, Julia Lee, Hanna Berntsen, Terje Koren Westermann, Sebastian |
author_sort |
Aas, Kjetil Schanke |
title |
Thaw processes in ice-rich permafrost landscapes represented with laterally coupled tiles in a land surface model |
title_short |
Thaw processes in ice-rich permafrost landscapes represented with laterally coupled tiles in a land surface model |
title_full |
Thaw processes in ice-rich permafrost landscapes represented with laterally coupled tiles in a land surface model |
title_fullStr |
Thaw processes in ice-rich permafrost landscapes represented with laterally coupled tiles in a land surface model |
title_full_unstemmed |
Thaw processes in ice-rich permafrost landscapes represented with laterally coupled tiles in a land surface model |
title_sort |
thaw processes in ice-rich permafrost landscapes represented with laterally coupled tiles in a land surface model |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2649486 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-591-2019 |
genre |
Ice Peat Peat plateau permafrost The Cryosphere Tundra |
genre_facet |
Ice Peat Peat plateau permafrost The Cryosphere Tundra |
op_source |
The Cryosphere 13 2 591-609 |
op_relation |
Norges forskningsråd: 255331 Notur/NorStore: NN9489K The Cryosphere. 2019, 13 (2), 591-609. urn:issn:1994-0416 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2649486 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-591-2019 cristin:1678781 |
op_rights |
CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-591-2019 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
591 |
op_container_end_page |
609 |
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1766027112623374336 |