Influence of snow cover on temperature field of frozen ground

2021 ◽  
Vol 192 ◽  
pp. 103402
Author(s):  
Gaosheng Li ◽  
Yuqin Zhao ◽  
Weidong Zhang ◽  
Xiangtian Xu
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Field ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
Frozen Ground

Geothermal modeling of soil or mine tailings with concurrent freezing and deposition

1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 234-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
JF (Derick) Nixon ◽  
Nick Holl
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Mine Tailings ◽  
Frozen Soil ◽  
Freezing And Thawing ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Geothermal Model ◽  
Winter Time ◽  
Upper Boundary ◽  
Good Agreement

A geothermal model is described that simulates simultaneous deposition, freezing, and thawing of mine tailings or sequentially placed layers of embankment soil. When layers of soil or mine tailings are placed during winter subfreezing conditions, frozen layers are formed in the soil profile that may persist with time. The following summer, warmer soil placement may not be sufficient to thaw out layers from the preceding winter. Remnant frozen soil layers may persist for many years or decades. The analysis is unique, as it involves a moving upper boundary and different surface snow cover functions applied in winter time. The model is calibrated based on two uranium mines in northern Saskatchewan. The Rabbit Lake scenario involves tailings growth to a height of 120 m over a period of 24 years. At Key Lake, tailings increase in height at a rate of 1.3 m/year. Good agreement between the observed position of frozen layers and those predicted by the model is obtained. Long-term predictions indicate that from 80 to 200 years would be required to thaw out the frozen layers formed during placement, assuming 1992 placement conditions continue. Deposition rates of 1.5-3 m/year give the largest amounts of frozen ground. The amount of frozen ground is sensitive to the assumed snow cover function during winter.Key words: geothermal, model, tailings, freezing, deposition.

scholarly journals Mapping the Distribution of Buried Glacier Ice – An Example From Lago Delle Locce, Monte Rosa, Italian Alps

1986 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 78-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Haeberli ◽  
F. Epifani
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Seismic Refraction ◽  
Italian Alps ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Winter Snow ◽  
Glacier Ice ◽  
Geoelectrical Resistivity ◽  
Monte Rosa

Techniques for mapping the distribution of buried glacier ice are discussed and the results, from a study carried out within the framework of flood protection work in the Italian Alps, are presented. Bottom temperatures of the winter snow cover (BTS) primarily indicate the heat flow conditions in the underlying ground and mainly depend on the presence or absence of an ice layer beneath the surface. Determination of BTS values is therefore an inexpensive method for quickly mapping the near-surface underground ice in areas where there is 1 m or more of winter snow cover. At greater depths, and/or when more detail is required, geoelectrical resistivity soundings and seismic refraction soundings are most commonly used to investigate underground ice. A combination of the two sounding techniques allows the vertical extent and the main characteristics (frozen ground, dead glacier ice) to be determined in at least a semi-quantitative way. Complications mainly arise from irregularity in the horizontal extension of the studied underground ice bodies, and they may have to be overcome by expensive core drillings and borehole measurements. Widespread occurrence of buried glacier ice was observed in morainic deposits, surrounding an ice-dammed lake near Macugnaga, Italy.

Relationship of White Spruce to Lenses of Perennially Frozen Ground, Mount McKinley National Park, Alaska

ARCTIC ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie A. Viereck
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
National Park ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Parent Material ◽  
Silty Clay ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Moss Layer ◽  
Individual Trees ◽  
Relationship Of

Reports investigations of perennially frozen mounds beneath individual trees growing in silty clay on a terrace of the McKinley River. Climate, vegetation and parent material of the spruce stand are described. The mounds, 2-4 m in diam, contain a frozen lens-shaped core. The permafrost results from lower temperatures under the trees due to less snow cover and a thicker moss layer. A proposed cycle of development and collapse of the tree mounds is outlined.

scholarly journals Mapping the Distribution of Buried Glacier Ice – An Example From Lago Delle Locce, Monte Rosa, Italian Alps

1986 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 78-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Haeberli ◽  
F. Epifani
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Seismic Refraction ◽  
Italian Alps ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Winter Snow ◽  
Glacier Ice ◽  
Geoelectrical Resistivity ◽  
Monte Rosa

Techniques for mapping the distribution of buried glacier ice are discussed and the results, from a study carried out within the framework of flood protection work in the Italian Alps, are presented. Bottom temperatures of the winter snow cover (BTS) primarily indicate the heat flow conditions in the underlying ground and mainly depend on the presence or absence of an ice layer beneath the surface. Determination of BTS values is therefore an inexpensive method for quickly mapping the near-surface underground ice in areas where there is 1 m or more of winter snow cover. At greater depths, and/or when more detail is required, geoelectrical resistivity soundings and seismic refraction soundings are most commonly used to investigate underground ice. A combination of the two sounding techniques allows the vertical extent and the main characteristics (frozen ground, dead glacier ice) to be determined in at least a semi-quantitative way. Complications mainly arise from irregularity in the horizontal extension of the studied underground ice bodies, and they may have to be overcome by expensive core drillings and borehole measurements. Widespread occurrence of buried glacier ice was observed in morainic deposits, surrounding an ice-dammed lake near Macugnaga, Italy.

Air temperature, snow cover, creep of frozen ground, and the time of ice-wedge cracking, western Arctic coast

1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 1720-1729 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ross Mackay
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Active Layer ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Thermal Stresses ◽  
Temperature Drop ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Ice Wedge ◽  
Western Arctic ◽  
Arctic Coast

The time of ice-wedge cracking is examined for several sites with young and old ice wedges along the western Arctic coast. The correlation between sharp air temperature drops and ice-wedge cracking is highest where the snow cover is thin and least where the snow cover is thick. The favoured duration and rate of a temperature drop that results in cracking is about 4 days, at a rate of about 1.8°C/d. Such temperature drops have a minimal effect in cooling the top of permafrost wherever there is an appreciable snow cover. Since short duration temperature drops often result in ice-wedge cracking, the thermal stresses that trigger cracking probably originate more within the frozen active layer than at greater depth in permafrost. Although most ice wedges tend to crack during periods of decreasing air temperatures, about one third of those monitored have cracked during periods of increasing air temperatures. Long-term measurements show that the active layer and top of permafrost move differentially all year in a periodic movement. That is, creep of frozen ground occurs all year, irrespective of whether ice wedges crack or do not crack. The presence of a snow cover and the creep of frozen ground are two major factors that confound a simple application of conventional ice-wedge cracking theory to air temperature drops and the time of ice-wedge cracking.

scholarly journals Calculation scheme of ground freezing depth in Terskol

2021 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-13
Author(s):  
D.M. Frolov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Phase Transition ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
Calculation Scheme ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Ground Freezing ◽  
Geotechnical Structures ◽  
Freezing Depth ◽  
Layer Medium ◽  
The Heat Balance

During the construction of avalanche-retaining geotechnical structures in mountainous areas comes up the problem of fixing and stability of these structures in conditions of seasonal and/or long-term freezing of the ground. This paper evaluates the influence of snow cover and air temperature on the depth of freezing and soil stability based on the developed calculation scheme for the winter seasons 2015/16-2019/20 in the Elbrus region. The calculation scheme was based on the problem of thermal conductivity of a three-layer medium (snow, frozen, and thawed soil) with a phase transition at the boundary. The heat balance equation included the energy of the phase transition, the inflow of heat from the thawed ground and the outflow to the frozen ground, and, in the presence of snow cover, through it to the atmosphere.

scholarly journals Integrated hydrometeorological – snow – frozen ground observations in the alpine region of the Heihe River Basin, China

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Che ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
Shaomin Liu ◽  
Hongyi Li ◽  
Ziwei Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Alpine Region ◽  
Heihe River Basin ◽  
Heihe River ◽  
Hydrological Models ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Observation Network ◽  
The Heihe River Basin

Abstract. The alpine region is important in riverine and watershed ecosystems as a contributor of freshwater, providing and stimulating specific habitats for biodiversity. In parallel, recent climate change, human activities and other perturbations may disturb hydrological processes and eco-functions, creating the need for next-generation observational and modeling approaches to advance a predictive understanding of such processes in the alpine region. However, several formidable challenges, including the cold and harsh climate, high altitude and complex topography, inhibit complete and consistent data collection where/when needed, which hinders the development of remote sensing technologies and alpine hydrological models. The current study presents a suite of datasets consisting of long-term hydrometeorological, snow cover and frozen ground data for investigating watershed science and functions from an integrated, distributed and multiscale observation network in the upper reaches of the Heihe River Basin (HRB) in China. Gap-free meteorological and hydrological data were monitored from an observation network connecting a group of automatic meteorological stations (AMSs). In addition, to capture snow accumulation and ablation processes, snow cover properties were collected from a snow observation superstation using state-of-the-art techniques and instruments. High-resolution soil physics datasets were also obtained to capture the freeze-thaw processes from a frozen ground observation superstation. The updated datasets were released to scientists with multidisciplinary backgrounds (i.e., cryosphere science, hydrology, and meteorology), and they are expected to serve as a testing platform to provide accurate forcing data and validate and evaluate remote sensing products and hydrological models for a broader community. The datasets are available from the Cold and Arid Regions Science Data Center at Lanzhou https://doi.org/10.3972/hiwater.001.2019.db.

scholarly journals The hierarchy of controls on snowmelt-runoff generation over seasonally-frozen hillslopes

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna E. Coles ◽  
Willemijn M. Appels ◽  
Brian G. McConkey ◽  
Jeffrey J. McDonnell
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Snowmelt Runoff ◽  
Runoff Generation ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Spring Runoff ◽  
Moisture Conditions ◽  
Seasonally Frozen Regions

Abstract. Understanding and modeling snowmelt-runoff generation in seasonally-frozen regions is a major challenge in hydrology. Partly, this is because the controls on hillslope-scale snowmelt-runoff generation are potentially extensive and their hierarchy is poorly understood. Understanding the relative importance of controls (e.g. topography, vegetation, land use, soil characteristics, and precipitation dynamics) on runoff response is necessary for model development, spatial extrapolation, and runoff classification schemes. Multiple interacting process controls, the nonlinearities between them, and the resultant threshold-like activation of runoff, typically are not observable in short-term experiments or single-season field studies. Therefore, long-term datasets and analyses are needed. Here, we use a 52-year dataset of runoff, precipitation, soil water content, snow cover, and meteorological data from three monitored c.5 ha hillslopes on the Canadian Prairies to determine the controls on snowmelt-runoff, their time-varying hierarchy, and the interactions between the controls. We use decision tree learning to extract information from the dataset on the controls on runoff ratio. Our analysis shows that there was a variable relationship between total spring runoff amount and either winter snowfall amount or snow cover water equivalent. Other factors came into play to control the fraction of precipitated water that infiltrated into the frozen ground. In descending order of importance, these were: total snowfall, snow cover, fall soil surface water content, melt rate, melt season length, and fall soil profile water content. While mid-winter warm periods in some years likely increased soil water content and/or led to development of impermeable ice lenses that affected the runoff response, hillslope memory of fall soil moisture conditions played a strong role in the spring runoff response. The hierarchy of these controls was condition-dependent, with the biggest differences between high and low snow cover seasons, and wet and dry fall soil moisture conditions. For example, when snow cover was high, the top three controls on runoff ratio matched the overall hierarchy of controls, with fall soil surface water content being the most important of these. By comparison, when snow cover was low, fall soil surface content was relatively unimportant and superseded by four other controls. Existing empirical methods for predicting infiltration into frozen ground failed to adequately predict runoff response at our site. Our analysis of the hierarchy of controls on meltwater runoff will aid in focusing new model approaches and understanding what to focus future measurement campaigns on in snowmelt-dominated, seasonally-frozen regions.

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