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The long-term and large-scale soil moisture (SM) record is important for understanding land atmosphere interactions and their impacts on the weather, climate, and regional ecosystem. SM products are one of the parameters used in some Earth system models, but these records require evaluation before use. The water resources on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) are important to the water security of billions of people in Asia. Therefore, it is necessary to know the SM conditions on the QTP. In this study, the evaluation metrics of multilayer (0-10, 10-40, and 40-100 cm) SM in different reanalysis datasets of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts interim reanalysis (ERA-Interim [ERA]), National Centers for Environmental Prediction Climate Forecast System and the Climate Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2), and China Meteorological Administration Land Data Assimilation System (CLDAS) are compared with in situ observations at 5 observation sites, which represent alpine meadow, alpine swamp meadow, alpine grassy meadow, alpine desert steppe, and alpine steppe environments during the thawing season from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2013, on the QTP. The ERA SM remains constant at approximately 0.2 m3⋅m−3 at all observation sites during the entire thawing season. The CLDAS and CFSv2 SM products show similar patterns with those of the in situ SM observations during the thawing season. The CLDAS SM product performs better than the CFSv2 and ERA for all vegetation types except the alpine swamp meadow. The results indicate that the soil texture and land cover types play a more important role than the precipitation to increase the biases of the CLDAS SM product on the QTP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrothermal processes are key components in permafrost dynamics; these processes are integral to global warming. In this study the coupled heat and mass transfer model for (CoupModel) the soil-plant-atmosphere-system is applied in high-altitude permafrost regions and to model hydrothermal transfer processes in freeze-thaw cycles. Measured meteorological forcing and soil and vegetation properties are used in the CoupModel for the period from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2012 at the Tanggula observation site in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. A 24-h time step is used in the model simulation. The results show that the simulated soil temperature and water content, as well as the frozen depth compare well with the measured data. The coefficient of determination ( R) is 0.97 for the mean soil temperature and 0.73 for the mean soil water content, respectively. The simulated soil heat flux at a depth of 0-20 cm is also consistent with the monitored data. An analysis is performed on the simulated hydrothermal transfer processes from the deep soil layer to the upper one during the freezing and thawing period. At the beginning of the freezing period, the water in the deep soil layer moves upward to the freezing front and releases heat during the freezing process. When the soil layer is completely frozen, there are no vertical water exchanges between the soil layers, and the heat exchange process is controlled by the vertical soil temperature gradient. During the thawing period, the downward heat process becomes more active due to increased incoming shortwave radiation at the ground surface. The melt water is quickly dissolved in the soil, and the soil water movement only changes in the shallow soil layer. Subsequently, the model was used to provide an evaluation of the potential response of the active layer to different scenarios of initial water content and climate warming at the Tanggula site. The results reveal that the soil water content and the organic layer provide protection against active layer deepening in summer, so climate warming will cause the permafrost active layer to become deeper and permafrost degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water and heat dynamics in the active layer at a monitoring site in the Tanggula Mountains, located in the permafrost region of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau (QXP), were studied using the physical-process-based COUPMODEL model, including the interaction between soil temperature and moisture under freeze-thaw cycles. Meteorological, ground temperature and moisture data from different depths within the active layer were used to calibrate and validate the model. The results indicate that the calibrated model satisfactorily simulates the soil temperatures from the top to the bottom of the soil layers as well as the moisture content of the active layer in permafrost regions. The simulated soil heat flux at depths of 0 to 20 cm was consistent with the monitoring data, and the simulations of the radiation balance components were reasonable. Energy consumed for phase change was estimated from the simulated ice content during the freeze/thaw processes from 2007 to 2008. Using this model, the active layer thickness and the energy consumed for phase change were predicted for future climate warming scenarios. The model predicts an increase of the active layer thickness from the current 330 cm to approximately 350-390 cm as a result of a 1-2°C warming. However, the effect active layer thickness of more precipitation is limited when the precipitation is increased by 20%-50%. The COUPMODEL provides a useful tool for predicting and understanding the fate of permafrost in the QXP under a warming climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using monitored active layer thickness (ALT) and environmental variables of 10 observation fields along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway in permafrost region of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), a model for ALT estimation was developed. The temporal and spatial characteristics of the ALT were also analyzed. The results showed that in the past 30 years ALT in the study region increased at a rate of 1.33 cm a. Temperatures at the upper limit of permafrost and at 50 cm depth, along with soil cumulative temperature at 5 cm depth also exhibited a rising trend. Soil heat flux increased at a rate of 0.1 W m a. All the above changes demonstrated that the degradation of permafrost happened in the study region on the QTP. The initial thawing date of active layer was advanced, while the initial freezing date was delayed. The number of thawing days increased to a rate of 1.18 d a. The variations of active layer were closely related to the permafrost type, altitude, underlying surface type and soil composition. The variations were more evident in cold permafrost region than in warm permafrost region, in high-altitude region than in low-altitude region, in alpine meadow region than in alpine steppe region; and in fine-grained soil region than in coarse-grained soil region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The second-generation Modern-ERA Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA-2) land surface temperature (LST) dataset has been widely used for permafrost mapping in specific areas; however, its accuracy and application need to be evaluated over China. In this study, the MERRA-2 LST was evaluated against meteorological observations and three other reanalysis datasets including the first-generation MERRA, Japanese 55-year Reanalysis (JRA-55), and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Interim Reanalysis (ERA-Interim), using multiple statistical methods over the period from 1980 to 2018. The results revealed that the MERRA-2 LST generally exhibited cold bias compared to meteorological observations while performing better than the JRA55, ERA-Interim, and MERRA datasets in China, particularly in high-altitude permafrost regions. The comparison indicated that the time series trends for the MERRA-2 LST was consistent with that observed until 2000, and noticeably amplified cold bias, particularly for the period after 2005, was observed. Moreover, two correction methods were proposed and compared to reduce the error range for the MERRA-2 dataset, which was caused by the difference in elevation and land cover types. Calibrated results demonstrated that the linear regression method (Method1) between the elevation difference and mean bias error (MBE) for the LST performed well with root mean square error (RMSE) ranged from 2.15 to 5.97 °C to 1.09–2.53 °C. Moreover, in comparison with the MODIS LST dataset, the results showed that the adjusted MERRA-2 LST was in good agreement with smaller RMSEs against the observations. The surface frost number model was used for mapping the permafrost distribution over China based on the daily adjusted MERRA-2 LST dataset. According to the simulation results, the permafrost extent had a slightly continued degradation trend with a rate of 3–5% per decade over the past 39 years. The simulated permafrost area over China for the years 2010–2018 was approximately 1.63 × 106 km2, which accounts for 16.9% of mainland China. Thus, the adjusted MERRA-2 LST with high spatial–temporal consistency is the optimal choice to investigate permafrost distribution on a large scale. • Performance of MERRA-2 LST over China was evaluated, particularly in permafrost regions. • Calibration methods for reducing MERRA-2 bias were proposed and compared. • The adjusted MERRA-2 LST was a optimal choice to investigate permafrost distribution on a large scale. • Permafrost over China had a slightly continued degradation trend over the past 39 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The sensible and latent heat fluxes in the Tanggula region were calculated using turbulent flux monitoring data from June 2004 to December 2005. The monitoring site was located on a gentle slope covered by meadow vegetation (91°56′E, 33°04′N; elevation 5100 m). The turbulent flux monitoring was conducted using the eddy covariance system and a meteorological gradient tower. The results indicated that the average surface energy closure ratio (CR) was 1.07 for the period from June to December of 2004, and 1.03 for the year 2005. The surface energy balance was greatly influenced by rainfalls, snowfalls and snow cover. The sensible heat flux was higher in spring and had a heat sink in summer due to the heat consumed in thawing of the active layer. The latent heat flux was much higher in summer because the soil moisture content was higher, resulting from the thawing of the active layer and more precipitation during the summer monsoon season. It also was found that the amplitudes of the energy fluxes on cloudy days were lower than that on clear days. The evapotranspiration was well related to the surface soil moisture content. The freezing and thawing cycles played a significant role in the land surface processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]