CAREER: Hydrogeologic implications of permafrost thaw - Developing a process-based understanding of biophysical controls and educational tools for rural communities

职业：永久冻土融化的水文地质影响 - 为农村社区建立对生物物理控制和教育工具的基于过程的理解

• 批准号: 2235308
• 负责人: Sarah Evans
• 金额: $ 49.97万
• 依托单位: Appalachian State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-01-15 至 2028-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2235308&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Hydrogeologic; implications; permafrost; thaw

Increasing air temperatures in the Arctic are causing frozen ground known as permafrost to thaw. As permafrost thaws, liquid water can more easily travel below ground, increasing fresh groundwater availability. For the millions of people who live above permafrost, increase groundwater availability is beneficial as groundwater is less susceptible to contamination than surface water. Despite this known link between permafrost thaw and groundwater flow, permafrost regions are often excluded or oversimplified in large-scale groundwater studies, creating a critical gap in our knowledge of how climate warming will impact water resources. This project will integrate data collected across permafrost landscapes, numerical models, and statistical analyses to generate a conceptual framework on how warming air temperatures in the Arctic impact groundwater availability. Results will be used to create a permafrost hydrology educational module for rural Alaska Native middle school students as part of the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program, to produce a children’s book about hydrology to increase a child’s sense of science identity, and expose undergraduate students at a public primarily undergraduate institution in the rural southeastern US to permafrost hydrology through the development of new courses, course modules, and training undergraduate researchers from underrepresented groups.Predicting future groundwater availability in the Arctic is complex due to nonlinear and unconstrained feedbacks between permafrost thaw and biophysical changes that affect snow distribution and ground temperatures, such as shifting rainfall extremes, subsiding microtopography, and shrub expansion. To address these challenges, this research will (1) determine the role of biophysical changes on groundwater flow in permafrost, and (2) quantify groundwater flow and availability in response to current and future climate perturbations by combining statistical analyses with an advanced groundwater-permafrost numerical model informed by existing spatially distributed hydrologic and remotely sensed data sets. In addition to increasing knowledge on groundwater availability in the Arctic, findings from this project will enhance understanding of saturation-controlled carbon dioxide and methane export hotspots and aid in anticipating at-risk Arctic infrastructure collapse due to groundwater flow. Project results will also be used by rural education partners in Alaska and the southeastern US, a K12 education specialist, and undergraduate students majoring in STEM, fine arts, and education to design and disseminate educational activities for rural communities.This award is co-funded by the Hydrologic Sciences and Artic Natural Sciences programsThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

北极的空气温度升高导致被称为永久冻土的冷冻地面融化。随着永久冻结的融化，液态水可以更容易地在地下下方行驶，从而增加新鲜的地下水。对于数百万居住在多年冻土上方的人来说，增加地下水的可用性是有益的，因为地下水比地表水不易受到污染。尽管多年冻结融化与地下水流量之间存在这种已知的联系，但在大规模地下水研究中，多年冻土区域通常被排除或过度简化，这在我们了解气候变暖将如何影响水资源的知识方面造成了巨大的差距。该项目将整合跨多年冻土景观，数值模型和统计分析的数据，以生成一个概念框架，以了解北极冲击地下水中的空气温度如何变暖。结果将用于为阿拉斯加本土科学与工程计划的一部分，为阿拉斯加艰难的阿拉斯加土著中学生创建一个多年冻土水文学教育模块，以制作一本有关儿童书籍的书籍，以提高儿童的科学认同感，并通过新的教育群体和培训新课程的培训，并在公立的基础上培训了一个公立的基础学生，从代表性不足的群体。由于多年冻土和生物物理变化之间的非线性和不受约束的反馈，影响雪的分布和地面温度，例如改变降雨极端，降雨极端，渐面图和灌木丛的扩张，预示了北极的未来地下水可用性。为了应对这些挑战，这项研究将（1）确定生物物理变化对地下水流动中的生物物理变化在多年冻土中的作用，以及（2）通过将统计分析与现有的空间分布的水平分散的水平分散的水平分析和Remotally Sensotalys Sensotalys Sensotally Sensotalys Sensotelys Sensotys Sensotys Sentss Setss相结合，以响应当前和未来的气候扰动来量化地下水流量和可用性。除了增加对北极地下水可用性的知识外，该项目的发现还将增强对饱和控制的二氧化碳和甲烷出口热点的理解，并有助于预期由于地下水流量而导致的高风险北极基础设施崩溃。项目结果还将被阿拉斯加的农村教育伙伴和美国东南部（K12教育专家）以及主修STEM，美术和教育主修的本科生，为农村社区设计和传播教育活动的本科生，该奖项是由该奖项由珍贵的自然科学奖所授予的，并由nsf的基础授予了nsf的基础。优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。