Science Happens in Rain or Shine
CiPEHR is located at the end of Stampede Road, where there are no houses, and therefore no electrical service. So all electricity to run the equipment must be generated on site. Each of the three replicate plots have solar panels to generate this energy....when the sun is shining. But this summer, as I mentioned a few posts ago, has been so rainy. Cloud cover prevents the solar panels from generating enough energy, so gas generators are the back up for inclement weather. Unfortunately, these generators have been getting a work-out this research season. It rained all day today, so my rubber rain gear tried hard to keep me dry.
Solar Panel to run CiPEHR
Generator to Power When Cloudy
As the Atmosphere Warms, So Goes the Soil
Remember, CiPEHR is an experimental warming of the tundra soil to model future warming impacts, (accomplished by piling up snow during the winter to insulate the soil from the frigid air temperatures).
One of the measurements the CiPEHR team collects is depth to permafrost. This is a simple procedure, though not without challenge. Once each week, two measurements are taken at each of the treatment plots. A long thin metal rod is inserted into the tundra and pushed down until it hits a solid mass - the frozen tundra. Placing a finger at the place on the rod where it is level with the tundra, you then pull the rod out. Taking a measuring stick, you then measure the length of the rod that was submerged under the tundra. The challenge of this procedure is that pushing such a thin rod through tundra takes some force. Force exerted all while balancing on narrow board-walks, slippery with rain, and having to stretch from the narrow board across to the plot, trying to be careful not to place feet or hands into the experimental site. Any amount of tramping the site is discouraged as it may impact the health and well being of the plants, which would then introduce an unwanted variable. All of this stretching and forcing demands that a woman be careful not to land face first in the tundra!
Thin Rod Forced into Tundra
Measure Depth to Permafrost
Sometimes in the soil-warmed plots, subsidence has created little ponds, where data still needs to be collected. Meghan Taylor has not yet slipped and fallen into the water...so far.
Depth to Permafrost in Puddle
Dramatic Results
According to the graph below, data collected each year from 2009 (the beginning of the soil warming experiment) to last year, 2015, shows that soil warming increases the depth to the permafrost quite dramatically. In 2009, the control and soil warming plots had the same depth to permafrost. By 2015, after 6 years of soil warming, the depth to permafrost in the soil-warmed plots had deviated from the control by more than 20 cms.
Increasing Depth to Permafrost, graph credit; Marguerite Mauritz
Repairs
While Meghan Taylor, Michael Duric and I were collecting "depth to permafrost" and "depth to water table" data, Marguerite Mauritz spent her time repairing a broken pneumatic valve that opens and closes the CO2 flux chamber, as well as figuring out why we kept loosing input from the solar controller.
Pneumatic Arm Repair
Drenched and Cabin Bound
Wet clothes off, tea kettle on, and wood stove fired up. Now to look through and analyze data before dinner. The local Shakespeare play on our docket for the evening has been cancelled due to the downpour, so maybe some guitar and mandolin playing instead.
Marguerite Mauritz Drying Out by the FIre
Bird of the Day
White Winged Cross Bills often move in large flocks. I counted over 10! I watched the birds use their unusual crossed beak to tweeze out the seeds from the spruce cones. What a crazy looking bird - all dressed in Christmas colors with a bill that is just too weird!
Crazy Crossbill
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