Transferring Cryosphere Knowledge between Mountains Globally: A Case Study of Western Canadian Mountains, the European Alps and the Scandes

• Published in: Revue de géographie alpine
• Main Authors: Stewart-Jones, Emilie, Gruber, Stephan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Association pour la diffusion de la recherche alpine 2023
• Subjects: permafrost; mountains; climate reanalysis; western Canada; Canada
• Online Access: https://journals.openedition.org/rga/12203

Permafrost is present in mountains globally, yet most research has been focussed in the small area covered by the European Alps. This paper presents a method for comparing regional climates at a coarse scale to highlight similarities and differences between the European Alps and the Scandes to western Canadian mountain regions with permafrost. Climate variables from the ERA5 reanalysis relevant to mountain permafrost are averaged over the 1986–2005 period and compared. This helps to understand where permafrost conditions can be compared and where new research is needed. In this application, we conclude that a direct transfer of knowledge about ground temperature regimes and spatial patterns from the Scandes and Alps to western Canada is inappropriate because (1) the areas in western Canada receive more radiation than those in the Scandes, and less than in the Alps, (2) the areas in western Canada are more continental than the Scandes and the Alps, (3) the areas in western Canada extend into much colder conditions that the Scandes and the Alps, and (4) overlap in climatic variables is concentrated in small areas. Further research is needed to understand permafrost in mountains of western Canada.Despite the imperfections of reanalysis products, they present a unique and homogeneous data source for the remote and sparsely measured cryosphere regions. As such, this method can better inform the transfer of cryosphere knowledge between mountains globally.