Modeling the Spatio-Temporal Variability in Subsurface Thermal Regimes Across a Low-Relief Polygonal Tundra Landscape: Modeling Archive

Kumar, Jitendra; Collier, Nathan; Bisht, Gautam; Mills, Richard; Thornton, Peter; Iversen, Colleen; Romanovsky, Vladimir

doi:10.5440/1184018

Title: Modeling the Spatio-Temporal Variability in Subsurface Thermal Regimes Across a Low-Relief Polygonal Tundra Landscape: Modeling Archive

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Abstract

Vast carbon stocks stored in permafrost soils of Arctic tundra are under risk of release to atmosphere under warming climate. Ice--wedge polygons in the low-gradient polygonal tundra create a complex mosaic of microtopographic features. The microtopography plays a critical role in regulating the fine scale variability in thermal and hydrological regimes in the polygonal tundra landscape underlain by continuous permafrost. Modeling of thermal regimes of this sensitive ecosystem is essential for understanding the landscape behaviour under current as well as changing climate. We present here an end-to-end effort for high resolution numerical modeling of thermal hydrology at real-world field sites, utilizing the best available data to characterize and parameterize the models. We develop approaches to model the thermal hydrology of polygonal tundra and apply them at four study sites at Barrow, Alaska spanning across low to transitional to high-centered polygon and representative of broad polygonal tundra landscape. A multi--phase subsurface thermal hydrology model (PFLOTRAN) was developed and applied to study the thermal regimes at four sites. Using high resolution LiDAR DEM, microtopographic features of the landscape were characterized and represented in the high resolution model mesh. Best available soil data from field observations and literature was utilized to represent themore »« less

Authors:

;

; Bisht, Gautam;

;

Publication Date:: 2016-09-30

Other Number(s):: https://doi.org/10.5440/1184018; NGA075
ngee_2CDE3F7CC467F1D4766D82C6BC0B95F02018_07_17_170545967

DOE Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

Research Org.:: Next Generation Ecosystems Experiment - Arctic, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (US)

Sponsoring Org.:: U.S. DOE > Office of Science > Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Collaborations:: ORNL

Subject:: 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Keywords:: EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS; Site A; Site B; Barrow, Alaska; Site C; Utqiagvik, Alaska; Site D; permafrost hydrology; EARTH SCIENCE SERVICES > MODELS > HYDROLOGIC AND TERRESTRIAL WATER CYCLE MODELS; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > TOPOGRAPHY; Barrow Environmental Observatory; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY

Geolocation:: 71.35,-156.4|71.2,-156.4|71.2,-156.7|71.35,-156.7|71.35,-156.4

OSTI Identifier:: 1184018

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.5440/1184018

Project Location:

Citation Formats


                    Kumar, Jitendra, Collier, Nathan, Bisht, Gautam, Mills, Richard, Thornton, Peter, Iversen, Colleen, and Romanovsky, Vladimir. Modeling the Spatio-Temporal Variability in Subsurface Thermal Regimes Across a Low-Relief Polygonal Tundra Landscape: Modeling Archive.  United States: N. p., 2016. 
        Web.  doi:10.5440/1184018.

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                    Kumar, Jitendra, Collier, Nathan, Bisht, Gautam, Mills, Richard, Thornton, Peter, Iversen, Colleen, & Romanovsky, Vladimir. Modeling the Spatio-Temporal Variability in Subsurface Thermal Regimes Across a Low-Relief Polygonal Tundra Landscape: Modeling Archive.  United States.  doi:https://doi.org/10.5440/1184018

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                    Kumar, Jitendra, Collier, Nathan, Bisht, Gautam, Mills, Richard, Thornton, Peter, Iversen, Colleen, and Romanovsky, Vladimir. 2016.  
"Modeling the Spatio-Temporal Variability in Subsurface Thermal Regimes Across a Low-Relief Polygonal Tundra Landscape: Modeling Archive".  United States.  doi:https://doi.org/10.5440/1184018.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1184018. Pub date:Fri Sep 30 00:00:00 EDT 2016

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@article{osti_1184018,

  title        = {Modeling the Spatio-Temporal Variability in Subsurface Thermal Regimes Across a Low-Relief Polygonal Tundra Landscape: Modeling Archive},

  author       = {Kumar, Jitendra and Collier, Nathan and Bisht, Gautam and Mills, Richard and Thornton, Peter and Iversen, Colleen and Romanovsky, Vladimir},

  abstractNote = {Vast carbon stocks stored in permafrost soils of Arctic tundra are under risk of release to atmosphere under warming climate. Ice--wedge polygons in the low-gradient polygonal tundra create a complex mosaic of microtopographic features. The microtopography plays a critical role in regulating the fine scale variability in thermal and hydrological regimes in the polygonal tundra landscape underlain by continuous permafrost. Modeling of thermal regimes of this sensitive ecosystem is essential for understanding the landscape behaviour under current as well as changing climate. We present here an end-to-end effort for high resolution numerical modeling of thermal hydrology at real-world field sites, utilizing the best available data to characterize and parameterize the models. We develop approaches to model the thermal hydrology of polygonal tundra and apply them at four study sites at Barrow, Alaska spanning across low to transitional to high-centered polygon and representative of broad polygonal tundra landscape. A multi--phase subsurface thermal hydrology model (PFLOTRAN) was developed and applied to study the thermal regimes at four sites. Using high resolution LiDAR DEM, microtopographic features of the landscape were characterized and represented in the high resolution model mesh. Best available soil data from field observations and literature was utilized to represent the complex heterogeneous subsurface in the numerical model. This data collection provides the complete set of input files, forcing data sets and computational meshes for simulations using PFLOTRAN for four sites at Barrow Environmental Observatory. It also documents the complete computational workflow for this modeling study to allow verification, reproducibility and follow up studies. This dataset includes two zipped files and one .pdf file.The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was a research effort 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).},

  doi          = {10.5440/1184018},

  journal      = {},

  number       = ,

  volume       = ,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2016},

  month        = {9}

}

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5440/1184018

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