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Carbon Balance in Warming and Drying Tundra 2013

Hey Tom,

It's Ken, fellow 2013 PolarTREC teacher here along with his students in Maine. I remember from orientation in Fairbanks last week that there were lots of jokes flying around about the amount of snow you would be shoveling to expose ground near the fence.

We have three questions: 1) Can we please get a picture of you shoveling? 2) How much snow, depth, did you need to move away from the fence to get to the tundra? 3) Is there any data yet on how much the temperature of the tundra was influenced by the additional snow pack created by the fence?

We hope you are having a great adventure and please let your team know that your work was part of a presentation done at Lincoln Academy here in Maine. My researcher, Seth Campbell, former student taking me to Denali, came to town and we did a short program to the high school Climate Action Club. Seth went to high school at the Academy and it was great having him here in town for some outreach.

Take care and be well, Ken and students at Nobleboro Central School

Sat, 04/06/2013 - 12:58

Anonymous

Another question; d. What is the relationship between permafrost and glacier ice? Thanks, and stay warm and well!

Tue, 04/09/2013 - 08:55

Gary Wesche

Keep up the practice. For listening by a classroom of students you might slow the pace down just a bit. Great information on the logistics!

Tue, 04/09/2013 - 19:11

Tom Lane

On 4/6/13 12:58 PM, webmaster@polartrec.com wrote:Good question. Regarding the relationship between permafrost and
glacier ice, based upon my conversation with Ted Schuur head of the
Schuur Lab at the University of Florida. There isn't a relationship
other than temperature. Permafrost is perennially frozen ground it
totally dependent upon temperature. So when people talk about permafrost
their really talking about temperature whereas a glacial in a "thing".
Permafrost can be -20F degrees, it can be 31F as long as it is
perennially frozen. One of the cool:) things about why Dr. Schuur
selected Healy as a research site is that the permafrost here is just a
couple of degrees below freezing. So his research is really looking at
the effects of climate change on permafrost and permafrost's (carbon
release) potential effect on global climate. Climate change has warmed
the atmosphere in polar areas already 2-3 degrees it is only a matter of
time before the soils also show an increase in temperature.
>

Sun, 04/14/2013 - 22:28

Tom Lane

Hi Ken, thanks for the questions.1) I took lots of pictures of the Schuur Lab. Team shoveling but I don't believe I have any of me. I'll be shoveling tomorrow, I'll ask the Field Tech. John to get a picture of me.
2) We only cleared away the snow to a depth of 65cm. to match the control side. I figured it was about 350+cubic meters per fence so overall probably about 1000 cubic meters. We moved that snow off the research plots (a distance of about 30 meters through mid-thigh snow (something you will get very familiar with shortly:))
3) Researcher Elizabeth Webb collected data from the "warming" plots on Friday. The snow supposedly warmed the ground 2-3 degrees. I'm curious after we collect some more data this week whether the CO2 emissions will match the control side once the ground cools.
I was in Fairbanks today purchasing food for next week and I stopped for lunch with the Field Tech. John Krapek at a Thai restaurant down the street from the PolarTREC offices. While waiting for our food we looked through a book of Alaska scenes. A couple of the pictures were of Mt. Hunter...beautiful peak. You're going to have a great time!