Award Abstract #0632400
IPY: Development of a Network of Permafrost Observatories in North America and Russia: The US Contribution to the International Polar Year

NSF Org:	ARC Arctic Sciences Division
Initial Amendment Date:	February 6, 2007
Latest Amendment Date:	February 18, 2009
Award Number:	0632400
Award Instrument:	Continuing grant
Program Manager:	Neil R. Swanberg ARC Arctic Sciences Division OPP Office of Polar Programs
Start Date:	February 15, 2007
Expires:	January 31, 2011 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:	$945276
Investigator(s):	Vladimir Romanovsky ffver@uaf.edu (Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:	University of Alaska Fairbanks Campus Adm Svcs Ctr Rm 109 Fairbanks, AK 99709 907/474-7314
NSF Program(s):	AON IMPLEMENTATION
Field Application(s):	0311000 Polar Programs-Related
Program Reference Code(s):	OTHR, 5295, 1079, 0000
Program Element Code(s):	5293

ABSTRACT

This proposal will formally link approximately 66 Alaskan boreholes with similar sets of observations in other countries and in so doing will formally initiate the International Network of Permafrost Observatories (INPO). The work entailed will coordinate data collection using standard equipment and protocols at the Alaskan borehole sites and at a select and comparable number of Russian borehole sites. The Alaskan and Russian borehole temperature data sets will provide the baseline needed to (1) reconstruct past surface temperatures, (2) assess the future rates of change in near-surface permafrost temperatures and permafrost boundaries, and (3) provide spatial data for validation of climate scenario models and temperature reanalysis approaches. This proposal requests support for permafrost long-term measurements and related activities for a three-year period encompassing the IPY period, including provisions for (a) the upgrade and maintenance of the existing Alaskan and Russian borehole sites, and (b) technological, logistical and operational support of observations at sites selected in Russia. This proposal shall constitute the US contribution to the proposed International Polar Year Thermal State of Permafrost (IPY/TSP) project. It proposes to measure temperatures in a large number of globally distributed boreholes in order to provide a "snapshot" of permafrost temperatures in both time and space. Education and training are stated goals of this project given there are fewer than ten government and academic researchers dealing with the acquisition and analysis of permafrost temperatures within the US. In addition, this proposal provides for the training of several young specialists, and intends to pursue the establishment of permafrost curricula with field sites in both Alaska and Russia and exchange of students; for example, with Tyumen State Oil and Gas University and the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS). The researchers' experience will also be applied to local community concerns about degrading permafrost both in Alaska and Russia.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

Brown, J. and V. E. Romanovsky. "Report from the International Permafrost Association: State of Permafrost in the First Decade of the 21st Century," Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, v.19, 2008, p. 255.

Goodison, B, J. Brown, K. Jezek, J. Key, T. Prowse, A. Snorrason, and T. Worby. "State and fate of the polar cryosphere, including variability of the Arctic hydrological cycle," Bulletin World Meteorological Organization, v.56 (4), 2007, p. 284.

Lawrence, D. M., Slater A. G., Romanovsky V. E., and D. J. Nicolsky. "The sensitivity of a model projection of near-surface permafrost degradation to soil column depth and representation of soil organic matter," Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, v.113, 2008, p. F02011.

Nicolsky, D. J., Romanovsky, V. E. and G. G. Panteleev. "Estimation of soil thermal properties using in-situ temperature measurements in the active layer and permafrost," Cold Regions Science and Technology, v.55, 2009, p. 120.

Nicolsky, D. J., Romanovsky, V.E., and G. S. Tipenko. "Using in-situ temperature measurements to estimate saturated soil thermal properties by solving a sequence of optimization problems," The Cryosphere, v.1, 2007, p. 41.

Nicolsky, D. J., Romanovsky, V.E., Tipenko, G. S., and D. A. Walker. "Modeling biogeophysical interactions in nonsorted circles in the Low Arctic," J. Geophys. Res., v.113, 2008, p. G03S05.

Osterkamp, T. E.. "Causes of warming and thawing permafrost in Alaska," EOS, v.88 (48), 2007.

Richter-Menge, J., J. Overland, A. Proshutinsky, V. Romanovsky, R. Armstrong, J. Morison, S. Nghiem, N. Oberman, D. Perovich, I. Rigor, L. Bengtsson, R. Przybylak, A. Shiklomanov, D. Walker, and J. Walsh. "The Poles: Arctic. In: A. Argues, Ed., State of the Climate in 2006.," Special Supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, v.88 (6), 2007, p. S62.

Schuur, E.A.G, J. Bockheim, J. Canadell, E. Euskirchen, C.B. Field, S.V Goryachkin, S. Hagemann, P. Kuhry, P. Lafleur, H. Lee, G. Mazhitova, F. E. Nelson, A. Rinke, V. E. Romanovsky, N. Shiklomanov, C. Tarnocai, S. Venevsky, J. G. Vogel, S.A. Zimov. "Vulnerability of permafrost carbon to climate change: implications for the global carbon cycle," BioScience, v.58, 2008, p. 701.

Walker, D.A., H.E. Epstein, V.E. Romanovsky, C.L. Ping, G.J. Michaelson, R.P. Daanen, Y. Shur, R.A. Peterson, W.B. Krantz, M.K. Raynolds, W.A. Gould, G. Gonzalez, D.J. Nicolsky, C.M. Vonlanthen1, A.N. Kade, P. Kuss, A.M. Kelley, C.A. Munger, C.T. Tarnocai. "Patterned-ground ecosystems: A synthesis of field studies and models along a North American Arctic Transect," J. Geophys. Res., v.113, 2008, p. G03S01.

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