Snow, Ice and Permafrost
The goal of cryospheric research at the Geophysical Institute is to understand the properties and processes which occur within snow, ice, and permafrost, their role in the shaping of the landscape, and their influence on climate and impact on the biosphere Studies include field investigations throughout the arctic, antarctic, and and mountainous regions of our planet, with increasing participation in the exploration of Mars and Jovian satellites.
Permafrost
The Geophysical Institute Permafrost Laboratory (GIPL)
The Permafrost Laboratory deals with scientific questions related to the circumpolar permafrost dynamics and feedbacks between permafrost and global change. At the Permafrost Laboratory, data related to the thermal and structural state of circumpolar permafrost is collected and analyzed. The focus of our research is the development of methods to physically and mathematically model permafrost interactions with the climate system (permafrost modeling), the study of naturally and human induced disturbances of permafrost (permafrost process studies), the detection of changes in permafrost temperature, thickness, an d distribution over time (permafrost monitoring), and the prediction of impacts of permafrost changes on the natural environment (e.g. ecosystems, hydrology, carbon cycle) as well as human-related concerns (e.g. infrastructure).
We are interested in all aspects of how permafrost is affected by global change with respect to climate as well as natural and human induced disturbances. The Permafrost Lab was established in the 1960s by Professor Thomas E. Osterkamp at the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The Group
Professor of Geophysics Dr. Vladimir E. Romanovsky is the head of the GI Permafrost Laboratory.
Currently, our international team consists of Associate Professor Dr. Sergey S. Marchenko, Assistant Professor Dr. Guido Grosse, Post Doctoral Fellows Dr. Ronald Daanen, Dr. Alexander Kholodov and Dr. Reginald Muskett, Ph.D. students Elchin Jafarov and Benjamin Jones, and M.S. students Meghan Tillapaugh and Meghan Leach.
Research Technician Bill Cable complements our group with his expertise. We are closely collaborating with many other researchers and students at UAF and other institutions.
Sea Ice
Welcome
The fact that ice floats is one of its most amazing and important properties. There are very few other materials on Earth, and none as abundant as water, that expand as they solidify so that the solid form becomes less dense than the liquid form. The cause of this remarkable trait is at the molecular level and the distribution of electric charge surrounding the two hydrogen atoms and the oxygen atom that comprise the water molecule. This leads to a more open crystal structure as opposed to a denser packing of water molecules in liquid water. The structure of the water molecule and its arrangement in the solid also gives rise to the spectacular 6-fold symmetry of snow flakes.
Visit the Sea Ice Group website.
The buoyancy of ice is such a well known phenomenon that it is easy to forget its importance. The world would be a vastly different place if ice sunk to the bottom of the sea, where it would accumulate and fill the ocean basins. In our floating ice world however, the ice remains on the surface where it modulates the global climate by reflecting solar energy and insulating the waters beneath. It also provides a habitat and platform for a wide range of organisms and is utilized as a travel corridor by man as well. In the Floating Ice Group, we study a broad range of subjects with global implications that all arise from the peculiarities of the water molecule.
Student research opportunities:
For student research opportunities, please contact Hajo Eicken (Hajo [dot] Eicken [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu) or Andy Mahoney (mahoney [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu) for details.
"Barrow Sea Ice Crack" image; credit/reference
"Looking for Amphipods" image; credit/reference