Thermal State of Permafrost (TSP) - a Canadian contribution to the International Permafrost Association's International Polar Year project

Permafrost is a key component of the cryosphere and polar climate system and hence will respond to the accentuated future climate warming that is predicted for high latitudes. Permafrost is important as an indicator of warming since deep ground temperature profiles remove the year-to-year noise of climatic variation and preserve the long-term signal. The impact of warming on permafrost is also highly significant since changes in frozen ground distribution can affect the activities of Northerners and of industry operating in the North. The purpose of this project is to examine the ongoing impacts of climate change on permafrost conditions in Canada. Permafrost temperatures are being measured in new and existing boreholes across the Canadian North to provide a snapshot of ground thermal conditions in both time and space. Results will be used in the development of a global database that defines the thermal state of permafrost and provides a baseline against which to measure future change. Analysis of permafrost temperature data collected over the past three decades will allow recent trends in permafrost conditions to be characterized. Results will be applicable to climate change studies through detection of the climate signal and assessment of its impact. The project is relevant to societal well-being since permafrost warming may cause ground surface settlement and landslids and negatively affect infrastructure integrity, resource development and northern lifestyles. The projects objectives are: (1) to obtain a set of standardized temperature measurements for existing Canadian monitoring sites (snapshot); (2) to increase the number of monitoring sites during the International Polar Year (IPY); (3) to produce a data-set and map of contemporary permafrost ground temperatures contributing to the global effort; (4) to generate data to verify models to improve prediction of future permafrost conditions; (5) to examine permafrost-climate linkages and feedbacks to explain observed change and variability in permafrost conditions; (6) to report initial project scientific results at conferences; and (7) to develop outreach products on permafrost change for Northerners.