Conceptualization and Application of the Alaska Thermokarst Model

• Main Authors: Bolton, W. Robert, Lara, Mark, Genet, Helene, Romanovsky, Vladimir, McGuire, A. David
• Format: Still Image
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Arctic; Ice; permafrost; Thermokarst; Tundra; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11122/11021

Thermokarst topography forms whenever ice-rich permafrost thaws and the ground subsides due to the volume loss when ground ice transitions to water. The Alaska Thermokarst Model (ATM) is a large- scale, state-and-transition model designed to simulate transitions between landscape units affected by thermokarst disturbance. The ATM uses a frame-based methodology to track transitions and proportion of cohorts within a 1-km2 grid cell. In the arctic tundra environment, the ATM tracks thermokarst-related transitions among wetland tundra, graminoid tundra, shrub tundra, and thermokarst lakes. In the boreal forest environment, the ATM tracks transitions among forested permafrost plateau, thermokarst lakes, collapse scar fens and bogs. The spatial distribution of cohorts [landcover] is required to initialize and run the ATM. The initial landcover distribution is based upon analysis of compiled remote sensing data sets (SPOT-5, Inferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar, and LandSat8 OLI) at 30-m resolution. Remote sensing analysis and field measurements from previous and ongoing studies are used to determine the ice-content of the soil, the drainage efficiency (or the ability of the landscape to store or transport water), the cumulative probability of thermokarst initiation, distance from rivers, lake dynamics (increasing, decreasing, or stable), and other factors which help determine landscape transition rates. Tundra types are allowed to transition from one type to another (for example, wetland tundra to graminoid tundra) under favorable climatic conditions. The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments (NGEE Arctic) project is supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the DOE Office of Science. Additional support is provided by the Alaska Climate Science Center, and the Arctic, Northwest Boreal, and Western Alaska Landscape Conservation Conservatives.