GEOtop 2.0: simulating the combined energy and water balance at and below the land surface accounting for soil freezing, snow cover and terrain effects

Abstract. GEOtop is a small-scale grid-based simulator that represents the heat and water budgets at and below the soil surface. It represents the energy exchange with the atmosphere, considering the radiative and turbulent fluxes, and describes the three-dimensional subsurface water flow. Furthermore, it reproduces the highly non-linear interaction of the water and energy balance during soil freezing and thawing, and describes the temporal evolution of water and energy budgets in the snow cover and their effect on soil temperature. Here, we describe the core components of GEOtop 2.0 and demonstrate its functioning. Based on a synthetic simulation, we show that the interaction of processes represented in GEOtop 2.0 can result in phenomena that are significant and relevant for applications involving permafrost and seasonally-frozen soils, both in high altitude and latitude regions.

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Influence of snow cover on soil freezing and thawing in the West Spitsbergen

Journal Ice and Snow ◽

10.15356/2076-6734-2013-4-52-59 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 124 (4) ◽

pp. 52 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

A. B. Shmakin ◽

N. I. Osokin ◽

A. V. Sosnovsky ◽

E. P. Zazovskaya ◽

A. V. Borzenkova

Keyword(s):

Snow Cover ◽

Soil Freezing ◽

Freezing And Thawing ◽

The West ◽

West Spitsbergen ◽

Soil Freezing And Thawing

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Autumn, Winter and Spring Soil Temperatures in Okstindan, Norway

Journal of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/s002214300002325x ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 13 (69) ◽

pp. 521-533

Author(s):

Charles Harris

Keyword(s):

Snow Cover ◽

Snow Depth ◽

Soil Surface ◽

Soil Freezing ◽

Dominant Factor ◽

Freezing And Thawing ◽

Short Term ◽

Air Temperatures ◽

Soil Temperatures ◽

Freezing And Thawing Cycles

Soil temperatures were recorded over periods of several weeks in the years 1909 and 1970 in two sites to a depth of 100 cm. It was found that snow depth was of major importance in the rate of freezing of the soil in winter; where snow cover was less than 5 cm in depth freezing rates were almost double those where snow depth was over 1 m. Snow cover also insulated the soil surface from above-zero air temperatures during spring, and soil thawing commenced from the surface only following the clearance of snow. Similarly, insulation of the soil surface by snow prevented short-term freezing and thawing cycles penetrating the soil, although even where snow cover was absent such short-term cycles were not observed to penetrate the soil to depths in excess of 5 cm. This surficial freezing and thawing of the soil took place more readily in spring than in the autumn. It was concluded that the annual cycle of soil freezing and thawing was the dominant factor in the thermal regime of these soils, short-term freezing cycles affecting only the immediate surface soil layers.

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Autumn, Winter and Spring Soil Temperatures in Okstindan, Norway

Journal of Glaciology ◽

10.1017/s002214300002325x ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 13 (69) ◽

pp. 521-533 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Charles Harris

Keyword(s):

Snow Cover ◽

Snow Depth ◽

Soil Surface ◽

Soil Freezing ◽

Dominant Factor ◽

Freezing And Thawing ◽

Short Term ◽

Air Temperatures ◽

Soil Temperatures ◽

Freezing And Thawing Cycles

Soil temperatures were recorded over periods of several weeks in the years 1909 and 1970 in two sites to a depth of 100 cm. It was found that snow depth was of major importance in the rate of freezing of the soil in winter; where snow cover was less than 5 cm in depth freezing rates were almost double those where snow depth was over 1 m. Snow cover also insulated the soil surface from above-zero air temperatures during spring, and soil thawing commenced from the surface only following the clearance of snow. Similarly, insulation of the soil surface by snow prevented short-term freezing and thawing cycles penetrating the soil, although even where snow cover was absent such short-term cycles were not observed to penetrate the soil to depths in excess of 5 cm. This surficial freezing and thawing of the soil took place more readily in spring than in the autumn. It was concluded that the annual cycle of soil freezing and thawing was the dominant factor in the thermal regime of these soils, short-term freezing cycles affecting only the immediate surface soil layers.

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A Predictive Model of the Impact of the Skidding System on Forest Soil in Severe Climatic Conditions

Lesnoy Zhurnal (Forestry Journal) ◽

10.37482/0536-1036-2020-5-131-144 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 131-144

Author(s):

S.E. Rudov ◽

◽

V.Ya. Shapiro ◽

O.I. Grigoreva ◽

I.V. Grigorev ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Forest Soil ◽

Warm Season ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Soil Freezing ◽

Class Iii ◽

Freezing And Thawing ◽

Metal Structures ◽

Rapid Adjustment ◽

Soil Freezing And Thawing ◽

The Impact

In the Russian Federation logging operations are traditionally carried out in winter. This is due to the predominance of areas with swamped and water-logged (class III and IV) soils in the forest fund, where work of forestry equipment is difficult, and sometimes impossible in the warm season. The work of logging companies in the forests of the cryolithozone, characterized by a sharply continental climate, with severe frosts in winter, is hampered by the fact that forest machines are not recommended to operate at temperatures below –40 °C due to the high probability of breaking of metal structures and hydraulic system. At the same time, in the warm season, most of the cutting areas on cryosolic soils become difficult to pass for heavy forest machines. It turns out that the convenient period for logging in the forests of the cryolithozone is quite small. This results in the need of work in the so-called off-season period, when the air temperature becomes positive, and the thawing processes of the soil top layer begin. The same applies to the logging companies not operating in the conditions of cryosolic soils, for instance, in the Leningrad, Novgorod, Pskov, Vologda regions, etc. The observed climate warming has led to a significant reduction in the sustained period of winter logging. Frequent temperature transitions around 0 °C in winter, autumn and spring necessitate to work during the off-season too, while cutting areas thaw. In bad seasonal and climatic conditions, which primarily include off-season periods in general and permafrost in particular, it is very difficult to take into account in mathematical models features of soil freezing and thawing and their effect on the destruction nature. The article shows that the development of long-term predictive models of indicators of cyclic interaction between the skidding system and forest soil in adverse climatic conditions of off-season logging operations in order to improve their reliability requires rapid adjustment of the calculated parameters based on the actual experimental data at a given step of the cycles.

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