This presentation was held at the DUE Permafrost 2014 workshop, 12th of Febuary 2014, Frascati, Italy
Workshop: climate-cryosphere.org/meetings/due-permafrost-2014
Nyland, Kelsey
The George Washington University, Washington United States
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Ground observations provide essential information on the diverse effects of climate change in the Arctic. Under the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring program, air and soil surface temperatures were monitored continuously in representative landcover units of the Alaska North Slope over the period from 1995 to 2013. These 18 years of data were used to evaluate the thermal effect of tundra vegetation in characteristic landcover types by analyzing the temperature differences and thawing n-factors between the air and ground surface, and to estimate changes in duration of freezing and thawing periods. The results of this study are critical in understanding permafrost and active-layer variability and for the validation of modeling and remote sensing products in the Arctic tundra environments.
Keywords: Tundra Vegetation, Temperature, Thawing Period, Freezing Period, N-factors, Climate Change