Permafrost temperatures in Svalbard

Permafrost temperatures in Svalbard - what controls them?

Thursday, 09 July 2009 17:22

Authors:
S.T. Buchanan¹, E.A. Ershova², M.B. Siewert³, P. T., Susanne Sirén⁴, L.M. Weston⁵
¹Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, NEW ZEALAND; ²Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, RUSSIA; ³Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn, GERMANY; ⁴Umeå University, Umeå, SWEDEN; ⁵University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Originally Presented at:
IPY Polar Field School, Longyearben, Svalbard, Norway. 2 July 2009.

The thermal state of permafrost and the active-layer were identified by the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Global Terrestrial Observation System (GTOS) as key cryospheric variables for monitoring climate change, whilst the IPCC recommends further investigation into the climate-permafrost relationship.

In this study we investigate the control of several factors (meteorology, vegetation, snow cover) on the temperature profile of permafrost and the thickness of the active layer at sites in continental as well as maritime Svalbard using new data from the Thermal State of Permafrost in Norway and Svalbard project.

Download the Poster