Collaborative Research: Interactions Between Air Temperature, Permafrost and Hydrology in the High Latitudes of Eurasia

This proposal builds off of work conducted under the Freshwater Integration program and seeks to address two interrelated hypotheses aimed at improved understanding of the Arctic system at various time and space scales. The first hypothesis will explore the seasonal relationship between air temperature, river ice thickness, and winter runoff, while the second will investigate the contribution of thawing permafrost to river discharge. Research will focus on several river basins and feeder streams within the Russian Arctic and sub-Arctic where hydrometeorological measurements have been collected since 1950 and climate data are available from a number of global data archives. These data sets will be augmented by new field data collected by the PI team, focusing on permafrost, isotopic, hydrochemical, and higher time and spatial resolution hydrologic sampling. This suite of measurements will be used to test the hypotheses using watershed scale models and the Geophysical Institute Permafrost Lab model coupled to the Water Balance and Discharge Transformation Model (WBMplus). Graduate students and an undergraduate will receive training in fieldwork and modeling, and the grant will support an early career principal investigator. Results and methodology will also be incorporated into courses taught at the awardee institutions as well as through minority high school outreach programs. During fieldwork, an ongoing collaboration with residents near Igarka will be maintained and materials provided for their local permafrost museum.