Temporal and spatial variability of microclimate and permafrost conditions in Fairbanks Regions, Alaska

• Main Author: Yershova, Galina E.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2003
• Subjects: Fairbanks; Smith Lake; permafrost; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6293

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2003 Spatial variability of the climate and permafrost conditions in the Fairbanks region was studied using the temperature measurements at a number of sites in the area of approximately 100x100 km around Fairbanks. The effect of climatic and surface parameters (air temperature, vegetation and snow cover, soil properties including water content) on thermal regime of the ground was studied using the temperature and water content measurements at five sites that represent various landscapes and form the Smith Lake profile. The effect of the topographic gradient and slope aspect on the thermal regime of the ground was studied using the temperature measurements and site moisture characterization along three local topo-sequences in the Fairbanks region. In both considered cases, across various landscapes and along local topo-sequences, the main factor that influences the thermal regime of the ground during the cold period was the snow cover (its depth and duration on the ground) and its combination with the water content on the surface and in the near-surface soils; during the warm period, the main factor was the water content at the surface and in the near surface soils due to the effect of evaporation from the surface that causes cooling of the ground, and the type of local ground surface vegetation.