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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Modeling Lake Temperature Response To Climate Change In The Alaskan Arctic, Thomas Balkcom Dec 2019

Modeling Lake Temperature Response To Climate Change In The Alaskan Arctic, Thomas Balkcom

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This thesis study focuses on simulating lake temperature and ice duration for four lakes at the Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research site, near the Toolik Field Station in Alaska. Model projections were driven by the representative global climate model outputs under different carbon emission scenarios. Results show that my simple lake model can reproduce historical lake temperature and ice duration observations, indicating the reliability of the model for future projections. Model projections show that JuneSeptember lake temperatures would increase by 4.3-5.8 °C from the historical period with most progressive carbon emission scenarios, but by 0.7-2.2 °C in the conservative scenarios. Results …


Past, Present, And Future Arctic Climate And National/Community Risk Assessment, Jeff Auger May 2019

Past, Present, And Future Arctic Climate And National/Community Risk Assessment, Jeff Auger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Arctic is warming at a rate nearly double that of the global average. The enhanced rate of warming impacts weather and climate across the Northern Hemisphere. As the meridional (south to north) thermal gradient weakens, the middle-latitude westerlies are expected to slow and become “wavier” increasing heat and moisture advection to higher latitudes. A quasi-stationary ridge-trough system of the jet stream increases chances for droughts, floods, heatwaves, and cold spells. These impacts have already been observed as North American forest fires and early or extended Great Lake ice out. It is more important than ever to understand how the …


Mesacs: A Multi-Method Environmental Study Over The Arctic Chukchi Sea, Julio Eduardo Ceniceros Jan 2019

Mesacs: A Multi-Method Environmental Study Over The Arctic Chukchi Sea, Julio Eduardo Ceniceros

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Arctic environment is a dynamic part of Earth’s natural system and is currently undergoing rapid increasing air temperature and decreasing sea ice extent, leading to more open ocean waters. As open water areas become more prevalent, phytoplankton communities near the surface of the ocean can proliferate earlier in the year and are apt to reach higher concentrations by the end of the summer season. Phytoplankton biomass around the world has been known to produce a microscopic biofilm at the surface of the ocean composed of biogenic and biological particles which then become airborne and work as both cloud condensation …


Winter Snow Depth In Arctic Alaska Results In Complex Changes In Caribou Forage Quality, Jessica C. Richert Jan 2019

Winter Snow Depth In Arctic Alaska Results In Complex Changes In Caribou Forage Quality, Jessica C. Richert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) rely on the short growing season for much of their annual nutrition, making them susceptible to even small changes in forage quantity and quality. Body condition in the summer and fall is linked to winter survival rates and fecundity in cows, critical factors in the robustness of caribou populations. Due to a warmer, wetter climate, snowfall is predicted to increase over Alaska’s North Slope in the next several decades. Deeper snow results in higher soil temperatures, allowing microbial mineralization of nitrogen to continue throughout the winter and increasing the availability of nitrogen for plants in spring and …


Cosmic Ray Sensors For The Continuous Measurement Of Arctic Snow Accumulation And Melt, Anton Jitnikovitch Jan 2019

Cosmic Ray Sensors For The Continuous Measurement Of Arctic Snow Accumulation And Melt, Anton Jitnikovitch

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In the Arctic, winter persists for much of the year, resulting in a hydrological system that is primarily regulated by snow and snowmelt runoff, and has important implications on vegetation, animals, and on the thermal regime of the active layer and permafrost. Snow water equivalent (SWE) measurements such as remote sensing techniques provide coarse resolution data, while snow surveys and snow-pits are labour intensive, have limited spatial coverage and do not provide a continuous reading. Over the last few decades, cosmic ray sensors (CRS) have been proposed as a way to provide much improved snow data, but few studies have …