figshare
Browse
HuntEtAl2010_SoilTemp.pdf (1.55 MB)

A dynamic physical model for soil temperature and water in Taylor Valley, Antarctica

Download (1.55 MB)
journal contribution
posted on 2012-08-16, 00:00 authored by H.W. Hunt, A.G. Fountain, P.T. Doran, H. Basagic
We developed a simulation model for terrestrial sites including sensible heat exchange between the atmosphere and ground surface, inter- and intra-layer heat conduction by rock and soil, and shortwave and longwave radiation. Water fluxes included snowmelt, freezing/thawing of soil water, soil capillary flow, and vapour flows among atmosphere, soil, and snow. The model accounted for 96–99% of variation in soil temperature data. No long-term temporal trends in soil temperature were apparent. Soil water vapour concentration in thawed surface soil in summer often was higher than in frozen deeper soils, leading to downward vapour fluxes. Katabatic winds caused a reversal of the usual winter pattern of upward vapour fluxes. The model exhibited a steady state depth distribution of soil water due to vapour flows and in the absence of capillary flows below the top 0.5 cm soil layer. Beginning with a completely saturated soil profile, soil water was lost rapidly, and within a few hundred years approached a steady state characterized by dry soil (,0.5% gravimetric) down to one metre depth and saturated soil below that. In contrast, it took 42 000 years to approach steady state beginning from a completely dry initial condition.

Funding

Research supported by NSF project OPP-0423595, the McMurdo LTER. Chris Gardner provided quality control for the meteorology data. The reviewers (Kevin Hall and James Head) and editor made useful suggestions for improving the manuscript.

History

Publisher Statement

© 2010 by Cambridge University Press, Antarctic Science DOI:10.1017/S0954102010000234

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Language

  • en_US

issn

0954-1020

Issue date

2010-08-01

Usage metrics

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Keywords

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC