Specific leaf area (SLA, leaf area per unit dry mass) is a key canopy structural characteristic, a measure of photosynthetic capacity, and an important input into many terrestrial process models. Although many studies have examined SLA variation, relatively few data exist from high latitude, climate-sensitive permafrost regions. We measured SLA and soil and topographic properties across a boreal forest permafrost transition, in which dominant tree species changed as permafrost deepened from 54 to >150 cm over 75 m hillslope transects in Caribou-Poker Creeks Research Watershed, Alaska. We characterized both linear and threshold relationships between topographic and edaphic variables and SLA and developed a conceptual model of these relationships. We found that the depth of the soil active layer above permafrost was significantly and positively correlated with SLA for both coniferous and deciduous boreal tree species. Intraspecific SLA variation was associated with a fivefold increase in net primary production, suggesting that changes in active layer depth due to permafrost thaw could strongly influence ecosystem productivity. While this is an exploratory study to begin understanding SLA variation in a non-contiguous permafrost system, our results indicate the need for more extensive evaluation across larger spatial domains. These empirical relationships and associated uncertainty can be incorporated into ecosystem models that use dynamic traits, improving our ability to predict ecosystem-level carbon cycling responses to ongoing climate change.

中国西部地区的土质复杂,冻土地貌广泛分布,日益频繁的人类活动严重影响了高原冻土区的稳定性,给基础设施带来了许多安全隐患。文章以北麓河多年冻土地区为研究区,基于21景PALSAR数据,对该区域多年冻土展开时序InSAR形变监测,并对SAR时序形变结果进行非线性形变反演,总结出了该地区多年冻土的形变规律。

文章介绍了冻土自动观测仪的设计原理,并设计了针对冻土的外场和实验室试验方案。试验以TB1-1型冻土器为参考标准,对5种型号冻土自动观测仪的性能进行比对分析,同时分析了误差产生的原因。通过试验,冻土自动观测与人工观测在外场比对时系统误差为±2cm,标准偏差和误判深度在4cm以内,冻土自动观测仪能够反映出试验站点土壤的冻结状况,实验室测试时自动观测与人工观测之间的偏差较小,验证了冻土自动观测仪取代人工冻土观测是可行的。

Recent studies examine the potential for large urban fires ignited in a hypothetical nuclear exchange of one hundred 15 kt weapons between India and Pakistan to alter the climate (e.g., Mills et al., 2014, , and Reisner et al., 2018, ). In this study, the global climate forcing and response is predicted by combining two atmospheric models, which together span the micro-scale to global scale processes involved. Individual fire plumes are modeled using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, and the climate response is predicted by injecting the WRF-simulated black carbon (BC) emissions into the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) atmosphere model Version 1 (EAMv1). Consistent with previous studies, the radiative forcing depends on smoke quantity and injection height, examined here as functions of fuel loading and atmospheric conditions. If the fuel burned is 1 g cm(-2), BC is quickly removed from the troposphere, causing no global mean climate forcing. If the fuel burned is 16 g cm(-2) and 100 such fires occurred simultaneously with characteristics similar to historical large urban firestorms, BC reaches the stratosphere, reducing solar radiation and causing cooling at the Earth's surface. Uncertainties in smoke composition and aerosol representation cause large uncertainties in the magnitude of the radiative forcing and cooling. The approximately 4 yr duration of the radiative forcing is shorter than the 8 to 15 yr that has previously been simulated. Uncertainties point to the need for further development of potential nuclear exchange scenarios, quantification of fuel loading, and improved understanding of fire propagation and aerosol modeling.

大、小兴安岭等高纬高寒地区,由于区域内多为退化性岛状多年冻土,其公路建设难度主要取决于冻土路基的热稳定状态,准确分析岛状冻土路基竖向热位移的发生及发展特点,是提高公路使用寿命,保证公路使用安全的前提.以小兴安岭地区前嫩公路为对象,选取代表性冻土路基试验断面,通过对工后一年内路基土体竖向位移进行试验观测,发现岛状冻土路基年周期性竖向热位移具有明显的阶段性特点,冻土上限处的冻、融状态对路基各土层的竖向变形有着较大影响,根据试验结果的对比分析,揭示了冻土上限覆土厚度、含水率及地基处理方式等主要影响因素对路基竖向热位移的作用效果.

The vadose zone is a zone sensitive to environmental changes and exerts a crucial control in ecosystem functioning and even more so in cold regions considering the rapid change in seasonally frozen ground under climate warming. While the way in representing the underlying physical process of the vadose zone differs among models, the effect of such differences on ecosystem functioning and its ecohydrological response to freeze-thaw cycles are seldom reported. Here, the detailed vadose zone process model STEM-MUS (Simultaneous Transfer of Energy, Mass and Momentum in Unsaturated Soil) was coupled with the ecohydrological model Tethys-Chloris (T&C) to investigate the role of influential physical processes during freeze-thaw cycles. The physical representation is increased from using T&C coupling without S 1EMMUS enabling the simultaneous mass and energy transfer in the soil system (liquid, vapor, ice) - and with explicit consideration of the impact of soil ice content on energy and water transfer properties - to using T&C coupling with it. We tested model performance with the aid of a comprehensive observation dataset collected at a typical meadow ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau. Results indicated that (i) explicitly considering the frozen soil process significantly improved the soil moisture/temperature profile simulations and facilitated our understanding of the water transfer processes within the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum; (ii) the difference among various representations of vadose zone physics have an impact on the vegetation dynamics mainly at the beginning of the growing season; and (iii) models with different vadose zone physics can predict similar interannual vegetation dynamics, as well as energy, water, and carbon exchanges, at the land surface. This research highlights the important role of vadose zone physics for ecosystem functioning in cold regions and can support the development and application of future Earth system models.