News

NSERC PermafrostNet news, updates and activities.

Comparison of mountain areas with permafrost in western Canada (coloured) and European areas (grey) for mean annual air temperature and total annual precipitation at a resolution of 30 km x 30 km.

Transferring Cryosphere Knowledge between Mountains Globally: A Case Study of Western Canadian Mountains, the European Alps and the Scandes

Transferring Cryosphere Knowledge between Mountains Globally: A Case Study of Western Canadian Mountains, the European Alps and the Scandes

Most mountain permafrost research has been focussed on the small area of the European alps. This leads to the question, can you transfer cryosphere knowledge from the Scandes and Alps to Canada?

Emilie Stewart-Jones, has now developed a method for comparing regional climates at a coarse scale to highlight similarities and differences. Her paper “Transferring Cryosphere Knowledge between Mountains Globally: A Case Study of Western Canadian Mountains, the European Alps and the Scandes” published in the Journal of Alpine Research in November can now answer the question of whether we can transfer our knowledge of permafrost in one region to another.

Comparison of mountain areas with permafrost in western Canada (coloured) and European areas (grey) for mean annual air temperature and total annual precipitation at a resolution of 30 km x 30 km.
Comparison of mountain areas with permafrost in western Canada (coloured) and European areas (grey) for mean annual air temperature and total annual precipitation at a resolution of 30 km x 30 km.

By Tristan MacLean, ago
Coverage of the ArcticDEM in the Arctic with permafrost extent.

Identifying active retrogressive thaw slumps from ArcticDEM

 Identifying active retrogressive thaw slumps from ArcticDEM

The extent of permafrost thaw in the pan-Arctic remains unknown, but remote sensing, deep learning and crowdsourcing are helping to map permafrost degradation in the landscape.

The recent study by Huang et al study provides data and serves to develop a global inventory and better understand permafrost thaw in the pan-Arctic using very high resolution remote sensing. This approach could lead to a global inventory of retrogressive thaw slumps.

Lingcao Huang, Michael J. Willis, Guiye Li, Trevor C. Lantz, Kevin Schaefer, Elizabeth Wig, Guofeng Cao, Kristy F. Tiampo, Identifying active retrogressive thaw slumps from ArcticDEM, ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Volume 205, 2023, Pages 301-316, ISSN 0924-2716.

Coverage of the ArcticDEM in the Arctic with permafrost extent.
Coverage of the ArcticDEM in the Arctic with permafrost extent.

By Tristan MacLean, ago
Global map summarizing locations of field sites where electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) has been used to study permafrost (2000–22) based on the literature search.

Best practices for using electrical resistivity tomography to investigate permafrost.

Best practices for using electrical resistivity tomography to investigate permafrost

A recent study by Teddi Herring suggests ways to improve how Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) is used for permafrost and highlights recent advances in this approach. ERT is a technique that is incredibly useful for studying permafrost, enabling us to see how deep the permafrost layer is and identify areas with ice content.

There has been a 10-fold increase in publications of studies using ERT to analysis permafrost in the last 20 years, and though challenges remain, and there’s no single “best way” to do it yet, the study makes recommendations for conducting ERT surveys to maximize the utility of existing and future data.

Herring T,  Lewkowicz AG,  Hauck C, et al.  Best practices for using electrical resistivity tomography to investigate permafrost. Permafrost and Periglac Process.  2023; 34(4): 494-512. doi:10.1002/ppp.2207

Global map summarizing locations of field sites where electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) has been used to study permafrost (2000–22) based on the literature search.
Global map summarizing locations of field sites where electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) has been used to study permafrost (2000–22) based on the literature search.

By Tristan MacLean, ago
Project organization, roles and institutional involvement by location.

The Northwest Territories Thermokarst Mapping Collective: a northern-driven mapping collaborative toward understanding the effects of permafrost thaw

The Northwest Territories Thermokarst Mapping Collective: a northern-driven mapping collaborative toward understanding the effects of permafrost thaw.

A paper by the Thermokarst Mapping Collective (TMC), a research collaborative to systematically inventory indicators of permafrost thaw sensitivity by mapping and aerial assessments across the Northwest Territories (NT), Canada, has documented the first comprehensive inventory of thermokarst and thaw-sensitive terrain indicators for a 2 million km2 region of northwestern Canada.

Kokelj, S.V. et al. The Northwest Territories Thermokarst Mapping Collective: a northern-driven mapping collaborative toward understanding the effects of permafrost thaw. Arctic Science. E First. DOI: 10.1139/as-2023-0009.

Project organization, roles and institutional involvement by location.
Project organization, roles and institutional involvement by location.

By Tristan MacLean, ago

6th European Conference on Permafrost (EUCOP 2023)

Blog post by Samuel Gagnon and Pia Blake.

Members of NSERC PermafrostNet gathered in Puigcerdà, Spain, last week for the 6th European Conference on Permafrost (EUCOP 2023). The conference brought together nearly 500 permafrost scientists from all over the world and covered a wide range of permafrost topics from research to engineering and outreach. It was a real treat to have an entire week dedicated to permafrost, something that had not happened since the last EUCOP in 2018. The relatively small number of attendants combined with the proximity that a smaller town offers were the perfect ingredients to renew and create new partnerships, exchange ideas in a casual atmosphere, and create a sense of community.

During the week, scientists attended lectures, participated in topical sessions, and discussed at ‘beer, poster, and cheese’ sessions (yes, that’s the official order from the program!). The quality and variety of presentations were outstanding, and Canadian researchers once again showed the relevance of their work and their know-how to their international colleagues. Many PermafrostNet members distinguished themselves by giving exceptional talks to the assembled participants, including Tabatha Rahman (ULaval), Hannah Macdonell (UCarleton), Adam Kirkwood (ULaval), Mahya Roustaei (UAlberta), Emma Street (UVic), and Toni Lewkowicz (UOttawa), while many others gave poster presentations.

Rounding out the week was a series of day-long field excursions on a range of topics. Participants could learn about the anthropogenic history of the region, the geological history, or explore the mountain peaks surrounding Puigcerdà in the eastern Pyrenees (Cerdanya, Núria, Andorra).

The week flew by and was inspiring and motivating. Many thanks to the organisers who worked tirelessly and pulled off an amazing conference!  We look forward to welcoming all to the International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP2024) next year in Whitehorse.

In the meantime, please submit an abstract or join us at the permafrost session – Exploring the Roles of Ground Ice on Permafrost Dynamics at AGU23 on 11-15 December in San Francisco.

By Tristan MacLean, ago

New seminar videos – Variation in the morphology of permafrost peatlands and Compacting snowbanks to lower ground temperatures.

Two new NSERC PermafrostNet seminar recordings are now available.

Alexandre Chiasson presented his seminar on Variation in the morphology of permafrost peatlands across the transition from continuous to discontinuous permafrost, central Mackenzie Valley.

Pat Jardine presented his seminar on Field experiments investigating snowpack compaction as a method of lowering ground temperatures.

By Tristan MacLean, ago

Seminar – 31 May – Field experiments investigating snowpack compaction as a method of lowering ground temperatures.

Pat Jardine will be presenting the next NSERC PermafrostNet seminar on Field experiments investigating snowpack compaction as a method of lowering ground temperatures.

Date: 31 May 2023
Time: 13:00-14:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

Pat will present his work on a field experiment to assess ground surface temperature by snowpack compaction alongside two Yukon highways. This simple method can reduce the risk of damage from thawing permafrost to highway embankments.

By Tristan MacLean, ago

Seminar – 19 April – Variation in the morphology of permafrost peatlands across the transition from continuous to discontinuous permafrost, central Mackenzie Valley.

Alexandre Chiasson will be presenting the next NSERC PermafrostNet seminar on Variation in the morphology of permafrost peatlands across the transition from continuous to discontinuous permafrost, central Mackenzie Valley.

Date: 19 April 2023
Time: 12:00-13:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

Alexandre’s work focuses on peatland morphological variations through the transition from continuous to discontinuous permafrost in the central Mackenzie Valley, Northwest Territories and will specifically highlight the unique characteristics of dendritic peat plateaus (DPPs). Using statistical, remote-sensing, and mapping analyses, Alexandre will explore the differences in peatland morphology and how these peatland landforms responses have changed over time depending on a combination of climatic factors and environment settings. This webinar promises to provide valuable insights into the fascinating world of peatlands by highlighting new peat plateau landforms and their responses to global warming.

StoryMap on dendritic peat plateaus

By Tristan MacLean, ago
Emilie Stewart-Jones inspecting rock temperature

Seminar – 5 April – Rock walls of western Canada: Evaluating the relationships between permafrost, topography and climate.

Emilie Stewart-Jones will be presenting the next NSERC PermafrostNet seminar on Rock walls of western Canada: Evaluating the relationships between permafrost, topography and climate.

Date: 5 April 2023
Time: 13:00-14:00 Eastern Time
Location: Zoom (details are posted in our Teams site).

In this seminar Emilie will talk about the research she has been conducting for her Masters project. She will be presenting the results from a new method for modelling ground/rock temperatures in remote locations and will be demonstrating its potential for evaluating rock fall events.

You can now also see February’s seminar – Exploring the interactions between permafrost, ground ice and soil organic carbon. by Samuel Gagnon on our seminar series webpage.

By Tristan MacLean, ago

International intern

Matthis Schindler has been working with us since the start of the year, so it’s about time to properly introduce our newest member of the PermafrostNet community, and tell you what he’s doing while he’s here in Ottawa with us.

Matt joined us as an intern for three months to work with both NSERC PermafrostNet and the research group of Stephan Gruber. He is an MSc student at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany where he studies Geoecology, which is an interdisciplinary degree program that combines different environmental and nature science courses like geology, climatology, biology, hydrology, zoology, remote sensing and many more. His interests lie in the connections and dependencies of ecosystems as well as the resulting processes.

At PermafrostNet, he is taking responsibility for a range of communications, including the winter 2023 newsletter, seminar series videos, website content and social media. He is also working with Tristan MacLean to ensure a smooth and successful International Day of Permafrost, tackling organizational duties like communicating with speakers, scheduling and handling different time zones from Vancouver to Nepal and all the other behind-the-scenes tasks that come with preparing an international conference.

“This internship has already given me a lot of insight into the importance of thorough background work for both handling scientific data and organizing a big event like the International Day of Permafrost!”

You can find further information on the International Day of Permafrost, participating organizations, the schedule and the registration link here.

By Tristan MacLean, ago