DOI: 10.5443/11403
title: Thermal State of Permafrost (TSP) - a Canadian contribution to the International Permafrost Association's International Polar Year project

description: Many new ground temperature measurement boreholes have been established, and data were collected at more than 100 monitoring sites. To examine change in the recent past, we are collecting records and assembling databases concerning permafrost sites which had been examined by industrial and government partners during the past two decades. An indication of recent permafrost change was the loss of permafrost at half of the sites that we examined in August 2007 and 2008 along the Alaska Highway east of Whitehorse compared to conditions recorded by one of Canada¿s first permafrost scientists in 1964. Another finding is that permafrost in the mountains of the Yukon is warmer than we expected based on projections from standard climate stations, all of which are located in the valleys. In the cold, continuous permafrost at Herschel Island in northern Yukon, the ground has warmed by over 3°C in the 20th century, in close response to the warming of climate since 1899-1905. In the Mackenzie delta area, the mean annual ground temperature has increased by about 1.5°C since 1970 at sites in tundra regions, and less in the delta itself. In the delta, the influence of numerous water bodies reduces the impact of climate warming in winter on ground temperatures, as these lakes and channels do not all freeze through. In the uplands near Inuvik, ground temperatures are now sufficiently warm that changes to surface conditions may lead to permafrost degradation.
description: Purpose: Permafrost is a key component of the cryosphere and polar climate system and hence will respond to the accentuated future climate warming that is predicted for high latitudes. Permafrost is important as an indicator of warming since deep ground temperature profiles remove the year-to-year noise of climatic variation and preserve the long-term signal. The impact of warming on permafrost is also highly significant since changes in frozen ground distribution can affect the activities of Northerners and of industry operating in the North. The purpose of this project is to examine the ongoing impacts of climate change on permafrost conditions in Canada. Permafrost temperatures are being measured in new and existing boreholes across the Canadian North to provide a ¿snapshot¿ of ground thermal conditions in both time and space. Results will be used in the development of a global database that defines the thermal state of permafrost and provides a baseline against which to measure future change. Analysis of permafrost temperature data collected over the past three decades will allow recent trends in permafrost conditions to be characterized. Results will be applicable to climate change studies through detection of the climate signal and assessment of its impact. The project is relevant to societal well-being since permafrost warming may cause ground surface settlement and landslids and negatively affect infrastructure integrity, resource development and northern lifestyles. The project¿s objectives are: (1) to obtain a set of standardized temperature measurements for existing Canadian monitoring sites (snapshot); (2) to increase the number of monitoring sites during the International Polar Year (IPY); (3) to produce a data-set and map of contemporary permafrost ground temperatures contributing to the global effort; (4) to generate data to verify models to improve prediction of future permafrost conditions; (5) to examine permafrost-climate linkages and feedbacks to explain observed change and variability in permafrost conditions; (6) to report initial project scientific results at conferences; and (7) to develop outreach products on permafrost change for Northerners.
description: Summary: Permafrost is defined as frozen ground and can be found in various conditions across the Canadian Arctic. Climate change is expected to have significant effects on permafrost that will result in challenges to northern communities in terms of construction, infrastructure and resource development. Through the use of existing research sites and the establishment of new sites, this project is providing a ¿snapshot¿ of current thermal conditions on the ground across the Canadian North. This work is drawing a new permafrost temperature map for Canada and a baseline against which to measure future change. At the same time, data from existing monitoring sites allows researchers to detect how permafrost has changed over time.