Evaluating Integrated Surface/Subsurface Permafrost Thermal Hydrology Models in ATS (v0.88) Against Observations from a Polygonal Tundra Site: Modeling Archive

This Modeling Archive supports the NGEE Arctic publication "Evaluating integrated surface/subsurface permafrost thermal hydrology models in ATS (v0.88) against observations from a polygonal tundra site" available in the Geoscientific Model Development journal. We evaluated the integrated surface/subsurface permafrost thermal hydrology models in the Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS) against field observations in polygonal tundra at the Barrow Environmental Observatory. We simulated thermal hydrology of three-dimensional ice-wedge polygons with generic but broadly representative surface microtopography. We drove the simulations with meteorological data and observed water table elevations in ice-wedge polygon troughs. With limited calibration of the soil properties and evaporation model parameters, the simulations were found to be consistent with observed water tables, active layer thickness, snowpack depth, evaporation, and observed soil temperatures at several depths in trough, rim, and center. The study builds confidence in the emerging class of integrated surface/subsurface permafrost simulators and provides an optimized set of model parameters for use in projections of permafrost dynamics in a warming climate. This dataset includes python, html, pdf, EXO, H5, xlsx, and csv files. The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was a research effort to reduce uncertainty in Earth System Models by developing a predictive understanding of carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks to climate. NGEE Arctic was supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research. The NGEE Arctic project had two field research sites: 1) located within the Arctic polygonal tundra coastal region on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) and the North Slope near Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska and 2) multiple areas on the discontinuous permafrost region of the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, Alaska. Through observations, experiments, and synthesis with existing datasets, NGEE Arctic provided an enhanced knowledge base for multi-scale modeling and contributed to improved process representation at global pan-Arctic scales within the Department of Energy's Earth system Model (the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM), and specifically within the E3SM Land Model component (ELM).