Introduction.- Arctic hydrology, permafrost and ecosystem / arctic system key components.- Climate change, variability, and extremes - past and future.- Snow cover and impact to northern hydrology/ecology.- Greenland ice sheet and arctic mountain glaciers.- Hydrology.- Streamflow regimes and changes/climate impact and human effect.- River/lake water temperature and thermal regimes.- River sediment/biogeochemistry and flux transport to the ocean.- Lakes/wetlands linkages and dynamics.- Lake and river ice processes.- Permafrost and seasonal frozen ground.- Permafrost classification and distribution.- Ground temperature regimes and changes/impacts.- Climate effect to regional permafrost conditions.- Permafrost-hydrology linkages/feedbacks (basin/case study).- Ecosystems.- Northern ecosystem features and functions.- Arctic NDVI patterns and changes including climatic and hydrological effects.- Land scape evolution/changes and factors.- Human activities and impacts.- Eco-hydrology research progress, needs, and directions.- Linkage and integration.- Land-ocean interface: large deltas and eateries.- River freshwater input.- River energy flux.- River sediment, nutrient and other geochemistry transport.- Extreme events – case study.- Arctic system integration – modelling, remote sensing, and synthesis.- Regional climate models.- Cold region hydrology models.- Snow cover models.- Permafrost models.- Vegetation / ecosystem models.- Coupled models for multiple components.- Earth system models – climate/land linkage to the ocean and sea ice.- Current and future arctic system science programs/projects.- SEARCH.- ICARP-III.- AMAP- arctic freshwater synthesis.- AC SWIPA update.- NASA – AboVE.- CCRN- Mac.- Satellite missions – PM/SWOT/SMAP/others.
Dr. Daqing Yang is a Research Scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, Victoria, Canada. He specializes in cold region hydrology and climates; northern river streamflow and water temperature regimes and changes; snow cover and snowfall measurements and dataset development; climate change and human impacts on watershed hydrology; and applications of remote sensing data in high latitudes.
Dr. Douglas L. Kane is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA. His research interests include groundwater hydrology; snow hydrology; water resources engineering; cold region hydrology; fish hydraulics; heat transfer; and climate change.
This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date assessment of the key terrestrial components of the Arctic system, i.e., its hydrology, permafrost, and ecology, drawing on the latest research results from across the circumpolar regions. The Arctic is an integrated system, the elements of which are closely linked by the atmosphere, ocean, and land. Using an integrated system approach, the book’s 30 chapters, written by a diverse team of leading scholars, carefully examine Arctic climate variability/change, large river hydrology, lakes and wetlands, snow cover and ice processes, permafrost characteristics, vegetation/landscape changes, and the future trajectory of Arctic system evolution. The discussions cover the fundamental features of and processes in the Arctic system, with a special focus on critical knowledge gaps, i.e., the interactions and feedbacks between water, permafrost, and ecosystem, such as snow pack and permafrost changes and their impacts on basin hydrology and ecology, river flow, geochemistry, and energy fluxes to the Arctic Ocean, and the structure and function of the Arctic ecosystem in response to past/future changes in climate, hydrology, and permafrost conditions. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable resource for researchers, graduate students, environmentalists, managers, and administrators who are concerned with the northern environment and resources.