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

Abstract

This Modeling Archive is in support of an NGEE Arctic publication available at https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2241-2016 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.more »« less

Authors:

;

; Bisht, Gautam;

;

Publication Date:: 2016-09-30

Other Number(s):: NGA075
ngee_2CDE3F7CC467F1D4766D82C6BC0B95F02018_07_17_170545967

DOE Contract Number:: DE-AC05-00OR22725

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

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Collaborations:: ORNL

Subject:: 54 Environmental Sciences

Keywords:: permafrost hydrology; Barrow, Alaska; Barrow Environmental Observatory; Utqiagvik, Alaska; Site A; Site B; Site C; Site D

OSTI Identifier:: 1184018

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

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 = {This Modeling Archive is in support of an NGEE Arctic publication available at https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2241-2016 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. 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).},

  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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Works referenced in this record:

Modeling the spatiotemporal variability in subsurface thermal regimes across a low-relief polygonal tundra landscape
journal, January 2016

Kumar, Jitendra; Collier, Nathan; Bisht, Gautam
The Cryosphere, Vol. 10, Issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2241-2016

Works referencing / citing this record:

Modeling the spatiotemporal variability in subsurface thermal regimes across a low-relief polygonal tundra landscape
journal, January 2016

Kumar, Jitendra; Collier, Nathan; Bisht, Gautam
The Cryosphere, Vol. 10, Issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2241-2016

Modeling the spatiotemporal variability in subsurface thermal regimes across a low-relief polygonal tundra landscape
journal, January 2016

Kumar, Jitendra; Collier, Nathan; Bisht, Gautam
The Cryosphere, Vol. 10, Issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2241-2016

Similar records in DOE Data Explorer and OSTI.GOV collections:

Modeling the spatiotemporal variability in subsurface thermal regimes across a low-relief polygonal tundra landscape

Journal Article Kumar, Jitendra ; Collier, Nathan ; Bisht, Gautam ; ... - The Cryosphere (Online)

Vast carbon stocks stored in permafrost soils of Arctic tundra are under risk of release to the atmosphere under warming climate scenarios. Ice-wedge polygons in the low-gradient polygonal tundra create a complex mosaic of microtopographic features. This 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 behavior under the current as well as changing climate. Here, we present an end-to-end effort for high-resolution numerical modeling of thermal hydrology at real-world fieldmore »« less
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Evaluating Integrated Surface/Subsurface Permafrost Thermal Hydrology Models in ATS (v0.88) Against Observations from a Polygonal Tundra Site: Modeling Archive

Dataset Jan, Ahmad ; Coon, Ethan ; Painter, Scott

This Modeling Archive supports the NGEE Arctic publication available at (submitted to Geoscientific model development). We evaluated the integrated surface/subsurface permafrost thermal hydrology models in the Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS) against field observations in polygonal tundra at the Barrow Environmental Observatory. We simulated thermal hydrology of three-dimensional ice-wedge polygons with generic but broadly representative surface microtopography. We drove the simulations with meteorological data and observed water table elevations in ice-wedge polygon troughs. With limited calibration of the soil properties and evaporation model parameters, the simulations were found to be consistent with observed water tables, active layer thickness, snowpack depth, evaporation,more »« less
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Drying of tundra landscapes will limit subsidence-induced acceleration of permafrost thaw: Modeling Archive

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Similar Records

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

Abstract

Citation Formats

Modeling the spatiotemporal variability in subsurface thermal regimes across a low-relief polygonal tundra landscape journal, January 2016

Modeling the spatiotemporal variability in subsurface thermal regimes across a low-relief polygonal tundra landscape journal, January 2016

Modeling the spatiotemporal variability in subsurface thermal regimes across a low-relief polygonal tundra landscape journal, January 2016

Modeling the spatiotemporal variability in subsurface thermal regimes across a low-relief polygonal tundra landscape
journal, January 2016

Modeling the spatiotemporal variability in subsurface thermal regimes across a low-relief polygonal tundra landscape
journal, January 2016

Modeling the spatiotemporal variability in subsurface thermal regimes across a low-relief polygonal tundra landscape
journal, January 2016