Development of a Network of Permafrost Observatories in North America and Russia: The US Contribution to the International Polar Year

Researchers under this grant will provide long-term measurements on permafrost and related activities for a three-year period. Activities include the upgrading and maintenance of the existing Alaskan and Russian borehole sites and technological, logistical and operational support of observations at selected sites in Russia. This is the US contribution to the proposed International Polar Year Thermal State of Permafrost (IPY/TSP) project that proposes to measure temperatures in a large number of globally distributed boreholes in order to provide a snapshot of permafrost temperatures in both time and space. Researchers will formally link approximately 66 Alaskan boreholes with similar sets of observations in other countries, and in so doing will formally initiate the International Network of Permafrost Observatories (INPO). Analysis of temperature measurements obtained in these boreholes provides historical records of secular surface climate changes (deep holes) and interannual to decadal changes in the surface boundary layer (intermediate depths). This work will coordinate data collection using standard equipment and protocols at the Alaskan borehole sites and at a selected and comparable number of Russian borehole sites. The Alaskan and Russian borehole temperature data sets will provide the baseline needed to reconstruct past surface temperatures, to assess the future rates of change in near-surface permafrost temperatures and permafrost boundaries, and to provide spatial data for validation of climate scenario models and temperature reanalysis approaches.