Changes in Precipitation and Air Temperature Contribute Comparably to Permafrost Degradation in a Warmer Climate: Modeling Archive

• Main Author: Mekonnen, Zelalem
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: 54 Environmental Sciences; Arctic; Barrow; Nome; north slope; permafrost; Seward Peninsula; Tundra; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1692382; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1692382; https://doi.org/10.5440/1692382

The dataset contains ?ecosys? model outputs reported in Mekonnen et al. (2021) to examine the importance of heat transfer from precipitation on permafrost degradation. The study highlighted the importance of mechanistically representing this process in earth system models (ESMs) and demonstrated that precipitation is as important an environmental control on permafrost degradation as surface air temperature. Included are (1) the modeled spatially averaged annualactive layer depth (ALD) and daily maximum soil temperature across the North Slope of Alaska from 1980 to 2100, and (2) 25 km resolution modeled ALD for averaged for two time intervals, 2006 - 2010 and 2096 - 2100. The results are provided for two ?ecosys? simulations: S1 with precipitation heat transfer and S2 without precipitation heat transfer across the North Slope of Alaska. These data are available in a NetCDF and csv data formats. The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was a 10-year research effort (2012-2022) to reduce uncertainty in Earth System Models by developing a predictive understanding of carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks to climate. NGEE Arctic was supported by the Department of Energy?s Office of Biological and Environmental Research. The NGEE Arctic project had two field research sites: 1) located within the Arctic polygonal tundra coastal region on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) and the North Slope near Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska and 2) multiple areas on the discontinuous permafrost region of the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, Alaska. Through observations, experiments, and synthesis with existing datasets, NGEE Arctic provided an enhanced knowledge base for multi-scale modeling and contributed to improved process representation at global pan-Arctic scales within the Department of Energy?s Earth system Model (the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM), and specifically within the E3SM Land Model component (ELM).