scholarly journals Evaluating Simplifications of Subsurface Process Representations for Field-scale Permafrost Hydrology Models

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Gao ◽  
Ethan T. Coon

Abstract. Permafrost degradation within a warming climate poses a significant environmental threat through both the permafrost carbon feedback and damage to human communities and infrastructure. Understanding this threat relies on better understanding and numerical representation of thermo-hydrological permafrost processes, and the subsequent accurate prediction of permafrost dynamics. All models include simplified assumptions, implying a tradeoff between model complexity and prediction accuracy. The main purpose of this work is to investigate this tradeoff when applying the following commonly made assumptions: (1) assuming equal density of ice and liquid water in frozen soil; (2) neglecting the effect of cryosuction in unsaturated freezing soil; and (3) neglecting advective heat transport during soil freezing and thaw. This study designed a set of 62 numerical experiments using the Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS v1.2) to evaluate the effects of these choices on permafrost hydrological outputs, including both integrated and pointwise quantities. Simulations were conducted under different climate conditions and soil properties from three different sites in both column- and hillslope-scale configurations. Results showed that amongst the three physical assumptions, soil cryosuction is the most crucial yet commonly ignored process. Neglecting cryosuction, on average, can cause 10 % ~ 20 % error in predicting evaporation, 50 % ~ 60 % error in discharge, 10 % ~ 30 % error in thaw depth, and 10 % ~ 30 % error in soil temperature at 1 m beneath surface. The prediction error for subsurface temperature and water saturation is more obvious at hillslope scales due to the presence of lateral flux. By comparison, using equal ice-liquid density has a minor impact on most hydrological variables, but significantly affects soil water saturation with an averaged 5 % ~ 15 % error. Neglecting advective heat transport presents the least error, 5 % or even much lower, in most variables for a general Arctic tundra system, and can decrease the simulation time at hillslope scales by 40 % ~ 80 %. By challenging these commonly made assumptions, this work provides permafrost hydrology modelers important context for better choosing the appropriate process representation for a given modeling experiment.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Zhang ◽  
Xiong Xiao ◽  
Guanxing Wang

<p>Permafrost degradation under global warming may change the hydrological regime of the headwater catchments in alpine area such as the Tibetan Plateau (TP). In this study, he runoff generation processes in permafrost-influenced area of the Heihe River Headwater were investigated with the following results: 1) The observed stable isotope values of various water types on average was roughly in the order of snowfall and snowmelt < bulk soil water (BSW) < rainfall , stream water, mobile soil water (MSW) , and lateral subsurface flow. The depleted spring snowmelt and enriched summer rainfall formed tightly bound soil water and MSW, respectively. The dynamic mixing between tightly bound soil water and MSW resuted in BSW with more depleted and variable stable isotopic feature than MSW. 2) Along with the thawing of the frozen soil, surface runoff and shallowsubsurface flow (SSF) at 30−60 cm was the major flow pathway in the permafrost influenced alpine meadow hillslope during spring snowmelt and summer rainfall period, reapectively, with the frozen soil maintaining supra-permafrost water level. 3) Comparison between two neighouring catchments under similar precipitation conditions indicated that streamflow of the lower catchment with less permafrost proportion and earlier thawing time has larger SSF and higher based flow component, indicating the potential changes of hydrological regims subject to future warming.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 12722-12728

Artificial Ground Freezing techniques eliminate the need for structural supports during the course of an excavation, as frozen ground is solid and waterproof. At present, it is adopted as an effective way to deal with various construction ground control challenges such as the mitigation of seepage infiltration into tunnels and shaft excavations; or ground strengthening for excavation. In-depth knowledge of the frozen soil characteristics through experiments and the development of suitable constitutive models that suit the geological conditions of our country are necessary to predict the strength and behavior of the frozen soils. Numerical analysis of frozen soil can be used for mass works like tunneling which cannot be experimentally verified. This paper presents a validation of experimental results obtained from laboratory setup and soil freezing system for C-Phi soil. The main aim is to compare numerical and experimental results and hence obtaining the shear strength parameter of the soil, similar to the conventional triaxial test setup. To perform numerical analysis Finite element tool ANSYS 19 is used. Soil model is made in ANSYS 19 and required loads are inputted to performed the analysis similar to the experimental method. The result obtained from experimental test setup and numerical analysis was verified and compared and it was found that values of numerical results lies closer to experimental results


1966 ◽  
Vol 6 (44) ◽  
pp. 255-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiyoshi Arakawa

Abstract The mathematical theory of heat conduction is applied to the analysis of ice segregation processes in soil. A diffusion equation is first employed for the flow of soil moisture. Two new quantities, the rate of ice segregation,σ and the segregation efficiency, E, are introduced. The first is the rate of ice growth measured as mass per area per time. The latter is defined as E = σL/(K 1 ∂T 1/∂x−K 2 ∂T 2/∂x), where L is the latent heat of fusion of ice, T 1and K 1are the temperature and thermal conductivity of frozen soil, and T 2 and K 2 are the temperature and thermal conductivity of unfrozen soil. Three types of soil freezing can be classified in terms of E: freezing of non-frost-susceptible soil (E = 0), perfect segregation (E = 1) and imperfect segregation (0 < E < 1). Finally, the mathematical boundary conditions at an advancing frost line are obtained in freezing, frost-susceptible soil (E ≠ 0). Two parameters related to the structure of soil are pointed out, which seem to be valid criteria of frost susceptibility. The amount of frost-heaving is derived under special conditions.


1971 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 272-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. N. Yong ◽  
J. C. Osler

Most previous studies of frost heave and associated frost heaving pressures have been concerned with the process of ice lensing and ice segregation, and the primary mechanism used to explain the related phenomena of heave and pressure is seen to be consistent with the process of formation of ice lenses. Thus, while certain investigators may disagree on various details, there appears to be general agreement on the mechanisms which form the basis for the so-called capillary model for the prediction of frost heaving and associated pressures. In addition, various criteria used for the assessment of frost susceptibility rely implicitly on the admissibility of this model as their rationale.This study questions the advisability of using a singular capillary model, in view of the wide range of conditions and constraints prevailing at any one time. Since soil freezing involves moisture movement and associated resultant volumetric expansion at both the macroscopic and microscopic scale arising from temperature and osmotic gradients, it is clear that a comprehensive theory to rationally explain heave and (or) heaving pressures is needed to account for all major factors which influence the total response of the frozen soil system. In this respect, the results of a critical examination of recent field and laboratory tests performed at McGill University and elsewhere are used to show that the available theories may be too restricted in scope to explain all facets of the observed behavior of frozen natural soils. To overcome the shortcomings noted above, an extended generative mechanism is developed and procedures for the examination of actual results are presented.


2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lívia Maria Barbosa Sancho ◽  
Luiz Paulo De Freitas Assad ◽  
Luiz Landau

ABSTRACT. This study evaluates how climate change might affect advective heat and volume transports in the South Atlantic Basin based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) A1FI and B1 climate change scenarios projections. Using the Climatic Model 2.1 (CM2.1) results that were developed by the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), integrated on the water column, analyses were conducted through two meridional sections and one zonal section of the study area (between 25◦S-70◦S and 70◦W-20◦E). The annual mean time series were analyzed using historical 100-year climate change scenarios. The analyses of the climate change experiment parameters were compared with those of the H2 climate scenario. The volume transport (VT) through the water column weakened of about 5% in average and the advective heat transport (HT) increased of about 22% at the Drake and Africa-Antarctic (AF-AA) passages at the end of the experiments. For the zonal section at 25◦S, direction oscillations were observed in the integrated VT through the water column due to velocity intensity variations of the water masses and a decrease of about 22% in the HT was observed. Thus, it was observed a decrease in the water and heat supplies at 25◦S due to the Drake and AF-AA VT behavior, which may alter deep circulation patterns.Keywords: water column analysis, advective heat transport, flow direction, Drake Passage, Africa-Antarctic passage.RESUMO. Baseado nas projeções dos cenários de mudanças climáticas A1FI e B1 do Painel Intergovernamental de Mudanc¸as Climáticas (IPCC), esse estudo avalia como as mudanças climáticas podem impactar os transportes advectivos de calor e volume na bacia do Atlântico Sul. Através de resultados gerados pelo Modelo Climático 2.1 (CM2.1) desenvolvido pelo Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), foram feitas análises através de duas seções meridionais e uma seção zonal na área de estudo (entre 25◦S-70◦S e 70◦W-20◦E) integradas na coluna d’água. Foram analisados campos prognósticos médios anuais referentes a experimentos com 100 anos de duração. As análises dos parâmetros dos experimentos de mudanças climáticas foram realizadas em comparação com o experimento clima (H2). O transporte de volume (TV) integrado na coluna d’água enfraqueceu aproximadamente 5%, enquanto o transporte advectivo de calor (TC) aumentou em torno de 22% no Drake e na Passagem África-Antártida (AF-AA) ao final dos experimentos. Para a seção em 25◦S, foram observadas oscilações de direção do fluxo devido a variações na intensidade das velocidades das massas d’água com um enfraquecimento médio de 22% para o TC. Adicionalmente, foi observada uma diminuição no suprimento de água em 25◦S devido ao comportamento do TV das demais seções, o que pode alterar os padrões de circulação profunda.Palavras-chave: análise na coluna d’água, transporte advectivo de calor, direção do fluxo, Passagem de Drake, passagem África-Antártida.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Livio Ruggiero ◽  
Alessandra Sciarra ◽  
Adriano Mazzini ◽  
Fabio Florindo ◽  
Gary Wilson ◽  
...  

Abstract McMurdo Dry Valleys comprise 10% of the ice-free soil surface areas in Antarctica. Permafrost stability plays an important role in C-cycle as it potentially stores considerable quantities of greenhouse gases. While the geomorphology of the Dry Valleys reflects a long history of changing climate conditions, comparison with the rapidly warming Northern polar region suggests that future climate and ecosystems may change more rapidly from permafrost degradation. In Austral summer 2019/2020 a comprehensive sampling of soil gases and CO2 flux measurements was undertaken in the Taylor Valley, with the aims to identify potential presence of soil gases in the active layer. The results obtained show high concentrations of CH4, CO2, He and an increasing CO2 flux rate. We identify the likely source of the gas to be from dissolved gases in deep brine moving from inland (potentially underneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet) to the coast at depth beneath the permafrost layer.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Canova ◽  
◽  
Mark P. Fischer ◽  
Ryan Pollyea ◽  
Rick Jayne

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