Transitions: Spatial and Temporal Transition of Climate and Ecosystems in the Circumpolar Arctic

Summary

This project is designed to test the primary hypothesis that the surface energy and moisture exchange between atmosphere, ecosystem, snow, permafrost, and soil is the principal mechanism for coupling the land surface to the climate on seasonal to decadal timescales. Understanding the characteristics, mechanisms and feedback processes of this exchange is necessary to incorporate their effects into predictive tools for pan-Arctic climate change. This proposal will take a comprehensive view of the study of the land surface energy and moisture budgets, involving collection of field data, detailed data analysis, model development, and spatial and temporal extrapolation. The PIs plan to integrate the field work closely with the simulation work, and investigations of ecosystems and physical climate systems are undertaken together.

Logistics Summary:

This collaboration between Chapin, UAF (9732126) and Lynch, Monash (9732461) is a multi-disciplinary investigation whose overall goal is to understand the role of the arctic terrestrial system in climate processes, and to predict how future warming may affect the arctic system--and potentially, global climate. Of central interest are the cause-and-effect (or feedback) relationships between land surfaces and the atmosphere in determining climate. All logistical details for the Alaska portion of this grant may be found under 9732126 (Lynch did not participate in the Cherskii field season).