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This research presents a method for permafrost mapping in discontinuous permafrost regions based on equivalent latitude/elevation concept in interior Alaska. In winter months, study site has a strong temperature inversion in air up to 700 m elevation. Air temperature data and the effects of slope, aspect and elevation were used to create an equivalent latitude/elevation model. This model was well correlated with mean annual surface temperature (0.79). In this watershed, the thawing index (I sub(t) approximately 1 400 degree C times days) at the ground surface and snow depth do not vary greatly from south facing to north facing slopes. The primary controlled factor that determines the mean annual surface temperature...
Northern peatlands provide important global and regional ecosystem services (carbon storage, water storage, and biodiversity). However, these ecosystems face increases in the severity, areal extent, and frequency of climate-mediated (e.g., wildfire, drought) and land-use change (e.g., drainage, flooding, and mining) disturbances that are placing the future security of these critical ecosystem services in doubt. Here we provide the first detailed synthesis of autogenic hydrological feedbacks that operate within northern peatlands to regulate their response to changes in seasonal water deficit and varying disturbances. We review, synthesize, and critique the current process-based understanding and qualitatively assess...
Accurate representations of subsurface flow in hydrologic models of permafrost terrain during spring thaw require an understanding of soil thaw and soil thaw rates. Field data, including daily photographs for snowcover estimation and meteorological measurements, and measurements of soil thaw depth, soil temperature and soil moisture content, were acquired on an organic-covered hillslope in Granger Basin, Yukon Territory, to quantify relationships between net radiation and soil thaw energy. The infiltration and freezing of meltwater into the soil likely contributes to pre-thaw warming. When this energy (1.82 MJ m super(-2)d super(-1)) is taken into consideration, the daily mean contribution to soil thaw from net...
To determine the influence of fire and thermokarst in a boreal landscape, we investigated peat cores within and adjacent to a permafrost collapse feature on the Tanana River Floodplain of Interior Alaska. Radioisotope dating, diatom assemblages, plant macrofossils, charcoal fragments, and carbon and nitrogen content of the peat profile indicate approximately 600 years of vegetation succession with a transition from a terrestrial forest to a sedge-dominated wetland over 100 years ago, and to a Sphagnum-dominated peatland in approximately 1970. The shift from sedge to Sphagnum, and a decrease in the detrended tree-ring width index of black spruce trees adjacent to the collapse coincided with an increase in the growing...
Dust in snow accelerates snowmelt through its direct reduction of albedo and its further reduction of albedo by accelerating the growth of snow effective grain size. Since the Anglo expansion and disturbance of the western US that began in the mid 19th century, the mountain snow cover of the Colorado River Basin has been subject to five-fold greater dust loading. This research expands on the work done in Painter et al. (2007) by assessing the interannual variability in radiative forcing, melt rates, and shortening of snow cover duration from 2005 to 2010, and the relative response of melt rates to simulated increases in air temperature. We ran the SNOBAL snowmelt model over the 6 year energy balance record at the...
This article presents an application of a risk assessment approach in characterising the risks associated with safety violations in underground bituminous mines in Pennsylvania using the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) citation database. The MSHA database on citations provides an opportunity to assess risks in mines through scrutiny of violations of mandatory safety standards. In this study, quantitative risk assessment is performed, which allows determination of the frequency of occurrence of safety violations (through associated citations) as well as the consequences of them in terms of penalty assessments. Focus is on establishing risk matrices on citation experiences of mines, which can give early...
We simulate three types of forced-gradient tracer tests (converging radial flow, unequal strength two well, and equal strength two well) and natural-gradient tracer tests in multiple realizations of heterogeneous two-dimensional aquifers with a hydraulic conductivity distribution characterized by a spherical variogram. We determine longitudinal dispersivities (αL) by analysis of forced-gradient test breakthrough curves at the pumped well and by spatial moment analysis of tracer concentrations during the natural-gradient tests. Results show that among the forced-gradient tests, a converging radial-flow test tends to yield the smallest αL, an equal strength two-well test tends to yield the largest αL, and an unequal...
In this study, we have integrated a suite of Holocene paleoclimatic proxies with mathematical modeling in an attempt to obtain a comprehensive picture of how watersheds respond to past climate change. A three-dimensional surface-water–groundwater model was developed to assess the effects of mid-Holocene climate change on water resources within the Crow Wing Watershed, Upper Mississippi Basin in north central Minnesota. The model was first calibrated to a 50 yr historical record of average annual surface-water discharge, monthly ground-water levels, and lake-level fluctuations. The model was able to reproduce reasonably well long-term historical records (1949–1999) of water-table and lake-level fluctuations across...
Ecological processes of low-productivity ecosystems have long been considered to be driven by abiotic controls with biotic interactions playing an insignificant role. However, existing studies present conflicting evidence concerning the roles of these factors, in part due to the short temporal extent of most data sets and inability to test indirect effects of environmental variables modulated by biotic interactions. Using structural equation modeling to analyze 65 years of perennial vegetation change in the Sonoran Desert, we found that precipitation had a stronger positive effect on recruitment beneath existing canopies than in open microsites due to reduced evaporation rates. Variation in perennial canopy cover...
An accurate and management sensitive simulation model for tile-drained Midwestern soils is needed to optimize the use of agricultural management practices (e.g., winter cover crops) to reduce nitrate leaching without adversely affecting corn yield. Our objectives were to enhance the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) for tile drainage, test the modified model for several management scenarios, and then predict nitrate leaching with and without winter wheat cover crop. Twelve years of data (1990–2001) from northeast Iowa were used for model testing. Management scenarios included continuous corn and corn–soybean rotations with single or split N applications. For 38 of 44 observations, yearly drain flow...
Abstract (from http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JHM-D-14-0236.1): Global climate model (GCM) output typically needs to be bias corrected before it can be used for climate change impact studies. Three existing bias correction methods, and a new one developed here, are applied to daily maximum temperature and precipitation from 21 GCMs to investigate how different methods alter the climate change signal of the GCM. The quantile mapping (QM) and cumulative distribution function transform (CDF-t) bias correction methods can significantly alter the GCM’s mean climate change signal, with differences of up to 2°C and 30% points for monthly mean temperature and precipitation, respectively. Equidistant quantile...
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Near-surface air temperature inversions are a common element of northern environments. Seasonal and inter-annual variations of low-level inversion characteristics were examined using 47 years of twice-daily radiosonde data from Whitehorse airport (1956-2003). Nocturnal low-level inversion events occurred throughout the year in 68% of the 0400h PST radiosonde ascents. Afternoon (1600h PST) inversion events, in contrast, were primarily a winter phenomena, limited to 24% of the readings between October and March, and were deepest and strongest during the winter months. Shorter, weaker, lower magnitude inversions appeared progressively more frequently during the 1974-2003 warming at Whitehorse. The impact (1956-2003)...
Boreal soils in permafrost regions contain vast quantities of frozen organic material that is released to terrestrial and aquatic environments via subsurface flow paths as permafrost thaws. Longer flow paths may allow chemical reduction of solutes, nutrients, and contaminants, with implications for greenhouse gas emissions and aqueous export. Predicting boreal catchment runoff is complicated by soil heterogeneities related to variability in active layer thickness, soil type, fire history, and preferential flow potential. By coupling measurements of permeability, infiltration potential, and water chemistry with a stream chemistry end-member mixing model, we tested the hypothesis that organic soils and burned slopes...
To accurately represent subsurface flow in a hydrologic model of permafrost terrain during spring thaw, an understanding of soil thaw and soil thaw rates is required. Research was conducted on an organic-covered hillslope in Granger Basin, Yukon Territory, to quantify relationships between net radiation, snowmelt and soil thaw energy. The infiltration and freezing of meltwater into the soil may contribute to pre-thaw warming. When this energy (1.82 MJ·m -2 ·d-1 ) is taken into account, the daily mean contribution to soil thaw from net radiation is approximately 9%. Measured and estimated soil thaw depths compared well (R2 = 0.75) when energy was distributed across the hillslope. This research contributes to the...
We examined patterns of genetic variation and diversity of extant pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) populations across the species’ current range in Nevada and California. Our aims were to determine population genetic structure and levels of diversity across the southern portion of the species’ range. We genotyped 13 microsatellite loci from 194 fecal samples collected across 14 localities. Our Bayesian cluster analyses found 2 genetically distinct groups: 1 in the Mono Basin of California and the other encompassing all remaining Nevada Great Basin populations. Considering only the Nevada Great Basin group, we found 4 minimally divergent groups that overlap spatially with many individuals maintaining composite...
map background search result map search result map Seasonal ice and hydrologic controls on dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations in a boreal-rich fen Characteristics of low-level temperature inversions, Whitehorse Yukon Territory: 1956--2003 Emissions of methane from northern peatlands: a review of management impacts and implications for future management options Seasonal ice and hydrologic controls on dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations in a boreal-rich fen Characteristics of low-level temperature inversions, Whitehorse Yukon Territory: 1956--2003 Emissions of methane from northern peatlands: a review of management impacts and implications for future management options