Effect of surface cover on the heat flow to the soil on Spitsbergen

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Abstract

Climate warming changes heat fluxes within the atmosphere-surface cover-soil system and affects the thermal state of permafrost. A comparison of heat fluxes from the atmosphere to the soil during the period with positive air temperatures and from the soil to the atmosphere during the cold period makes it possible to assess the stability of permafrost. Snow and moss cover are important factors influencing heat flows. The influence of surface fluxes on heat fluxes is estimated based on mathematical modeling and numerical experiments on the model. The processing of data from field measurements of soil temperature made it possible to determine the heat fluxes for the cold and partially warm periods of the year. A comparison of the data from model calculations and measurements of heat fluxes showed a satisfactory agreement. The difference between them from December to February did not exceed 4%, and in November and March – 9% and 8%, respectively. In 2023/24, during the period with negative air temperatures lasting 255 days with an average air temperature of −7 °C, soil heat losses amounted to 76.5 and 92.3 MJ/m2 with snow thickness of 1.14 m and 0.63 m, respectively, and the average values of heat fluxes from October to March were 4.9 and 5.9 W/m2. According to model calculations, with an average daily positive air temperature of 6.8 °C, the loss by the soil in winter is 10 MJ/m2 less than the heat flow into the soil in summer, leading to permafrost degradation. At snow cover depth of 0.5 m, heat input into the soil in summer coincides with heat loss in winter. With a higher snow cover depth, the heat flow from the soil to the atmosphere decreases, soil cooling decreases and permafrost degradation will occur. The same processes will occur when the snow cover is 1 m depth and the moss cover is less than 3 cm thick. For a moss cover of greater thickness, the thermal stability of permafrost rocks remains. Numerical experiments on the model estimated the heat fluxes and the thickness of the active layer for different snow and moss cover thicknesses and atmospheric air temperatures.

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About the authors

A. V. Sosnovsky

Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: alexandr_sosnovskiy@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

N. I. Osokin

Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: alexandr_sosnovskiy@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

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Supplementary files

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2. Fig. 1. Air temperature (1) and soil surface temperature at point 1 (2); point 2 (3); snow depth at the Barentsburg weather station (4)

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3. Fig. 2. The amount of heat released from the soil into the atmosphere from October to March 2023/24 according to measurements – 1, 3 and calculations – 2, 4 with the maximum thickness of the snow cover: 1, 2 – 0.63 m; 3, 4 – 1.14 m

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4. Fig. 3. Heat flow into the soil in summer (1) and heat loss from soil in winter (2) depending on the thickness of the snow (а) and moss (б) covers (for snow 1 m depth)

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5. Fig 4. The depth of thawing of the soil with different thicknesses of snow (а) and moss (б) covers

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6. Fig. 5. Heat input into the soil in summer (1) and heat loss from the soil in winter (2) with snow cover depth of 1 m

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