Abstracts

SEARCH Open Science Meeting

October 27, 2003
Seattle, Washington, USA

The Development of Long-term and Spatially Representative Permafrost Databases

Jerry Brown1, Vladimir Romanovsky2, Frederick Nelson3, Kenneth Hinkel4, Gary Clow5, Roger Barry6, Sharon Smith7
1International Permafrost Association, P. O. Box 7, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA, Phone 508-457-4982, Fax 508-457-4982, jerrybrown@igc.org
2Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, PO Box 757320, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA, Phone 907-474-7459, Fax 907-474-7290, ffver@uaf.edu
3Department of Geography, University of Delaware, 216 Pearson Hall, Newark, DE, 19716, USA, Phone 302-831-0852, Fax 302-831-6654, fnelson@udel.edu
4Department of Geography, University of Cincinnati, ML 131, Cincinnati, OH, 45221-0131, USA, Phone 513-556-3421, Fax 513-556-3370, kenneth.hinkel@uc.edu
5Earth Surface Dynamics, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), PO Box 25046, Lakewood, CO, 80225-0046, USA, Phone 303-236-5509, Fax 303-236-5349, clow@usgs.gov
6CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado, Campus Box 449, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA, Phone 303-492-5488, Fax 303-492-2468, rbarry@kryos.colorado.edu
7Terrain Sciences Division - Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, ON, K1AOE8, Canada, Phone 613-947-7066, Fax 613-992-0190, ssmith@nrcan.gc.ca

Outputs from hemispheric and regional models of permafrost distribution provide both temporal and spatial values of ground temperature and active-layer thickness. Field validation of these models depends on availability of past and current empirical data. Maps and models depicting current and future change in permafrost boundaries depend on these field observations over long time intervals. Over the past several decades there has been a concerted effort to organize permafrost data for existing sites under the Global Geocryological Database (GGD). More recently, several networks have been identified for active-layer thickness and borehole temperatures under the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P). The Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) program, a network under the GTN-P, currently reports data from approximately 125 sites obtained by personnel from 14 participating countries. The borehole network identified approximately 350 sites in 13 countries from which data are or have been obtained. The GTN-P is one of the WMO Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) networks and is coordinated by the 24-member International Permafrost Association and its several committees.

In the U.S. an interagency committee chaired by NOAA/NESDIS prepares GCOS status reports. In the most recent WMO/GCOS adequacy report required by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) the following findings were stated:

"New temperature boreholes and in situ observations of active layer need to be established in both hemispheres by the Parties at sites identified by the Permafrost Network with the observations provided to Network’s international data centre."
<http://www.wmo.ch/web/gcos/gcoshome.html>

Future GTN-P activities will address issues related to spatial representation of sites and the design and establishment of additional long-term permafrost observatories such as now exist in northern Alaska, Canada, and in Europe under the European Union’s project Permafrost and Climate in Europe (PACE). An observational campaign within the IPA/GTN-P is proposed as a contribution to the International Polar Year.

A third IPA-coordinated network under the Arctic Coastal Dynamics (ACD) project is concerned with long-term observations of coastal erosion. Under this program, recently identified as an IGBP Land Ocean Interaction in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) project, a series of 20 or more key sites located around the circumarctic coastline provide in situ data for rates of coastal erosion. An annual workshop funded by IASC provides the venue for a number of synthesis activities <http://www.awi-potsdam.de/www-pot/geo/acd.html>.

Observations and international coordination of the CALM network are supported through NSF grants < www.geography.uc.edu/CALM >. The Geological Survey of Canada maintains the inventory of borehole sites , and the U.S. Geological Survey provides input to the U.S. GCOS process. GTN-P data are available online and on CDs produced at the National Snow and Ice Data Center with support from the International Arctic Research Center.

Related Network References
Brown, J, K. M. Hinkel, and F. E. Nelson, 2000. The Circumpolar Active layer Monitoring (CALM) Program: Research Designs and Initial Results. Polar Geography 24 (3) 165-258 (published in 2002).

Burgess, M. M., S. L. Smith, J. Brown, V. Romanovsky, and K. Hinkel. Global Terrestrial Network For Permafrost (GTNet-P): permafrost monitoring contributing to global climate observations, Geological Survey of Canada, Current Research 2000 E-14 , 8 p., 2000 (online; http//www.nrcan.gc.ca/gsc/bookstore).

International Permafrost Association Standing Committee on Data Information and Communication (comp.), 2003.

Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System, Version 2.0. Edited by M. Parsons and T. Zhang. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center/World Data Center for Glaciology. CD-ROM. http://nsidc.org/data/g01175.html
GCOS. 2003.The Second Report on the Adequacy of the Global Observing Systems for Climate in Support of the UNFCCC. GCOS-82 (WMO/TD No. 1143).

Rachold, V., J. Brown, S. Solomon, J. L. and Sollid (Eds.) 2003. Arctic Coastal Dynamics -Report of the 3rd International Workshop. University of Olso (Norway), 2-5 December 2002. Reports on Polar and Marine Research 443, 127 pp.

Romanovsky, V. E., M. Burgess, S. Smith, K. Yoshikawa, K., and J. Brown, 2002. Permafrost temperature records: Indicator of climate change. Eos 83 (no.50), pp.589, 593-594.

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