HuntEtAl2010_SoilTemp.pdf (1.55 MB)
A dynamic physical model for soil temperature and water in Taylor Valley, Antarctica
journal contribution
posted on 2012-08-16, 00:00 authored by H.W. Hunt, A.G. Fountain, P.T. Doran, H. BasagicWe 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/S0954102010000234Publisher
Cambridge University PressLanguage
- en_US
issn
0954-1020Issue date
2010-08-01Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC