Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 5.4.
Mean monthly energy balance at Alaskan coastal and upland sites (the latter in
parentheses) for June, July, and August as measured by various investigators
R
sfc
June
Q
H
Q
E
C
Chapin and Eugster
NA(58.4)
NA(−31.2)
NA(−26.3)
NA(13.8)
Kane and Hinzman
128.1(120.8)
−39.6(−21.3)
−61.0(−80.2)
27.5(19.3)
Oechel and Vourlitis
124.9(114.3)
−43.0(−47.8)
−39.6(−38.9)
40.5(23.0)
England and Kim
NA(126.4)
NA(NA)
NA(NA)
NA(8.8)
R
sfc
July
Q
H
Q
E
C
Chapin and Eugster
120.7(NA)
−46.7(NA)
−33.2(NA)
40.8(NA)
Kane and Hinzman
122.6(110.5)
−57.2(−37.5)
−38.1(−53.3)
27.3(19.7)
Oechel and Vourlitis
107.1(103.0)
−51.9(−38.9)
−50.2(−57.0)
26.7(15.7)
England and Kim
NA(105.8)
NA(NA)
NA(NA)
NA(7.1)
R
sfc
August
Q
H
Q
E
C
Chapin and Eugster
NA(NA)
NA(NA)
NA(NA)
NA(NA)
Kane and Hinzman
75.7(73.0)
−14.7(−26.0)
−48.6(−37.7)
12.4(9.2)
Oechel and Vourlitis
68.2(70.0)
−33.3(−27.8)
−22.6(−41.5)
10.1(10.6)
England and Kim
NA(94.2)
NA(NA)
NA(NA)
NA(3.4)
Note
: All values are in W m
−2
. NA indicates that data are not available.
Source
: From Lynch et al. (
1999b
).
data collected by four research groups over an area near Prudhoe Bay, AK, called
the Betty Pingo site. The coastal site is located in a wetlands complex. Although
there is fairly little topographic relief, the area has varied surface characteristics.
The vegetation is dominated by sedges with an average height of 10-15 cm. In drier
areas, the sedges are intermixed with lichen, moss, dwarf willow and birch, and a
variety of flowering herbaceous species. The second set of measurements is from
Sagwon Bluffs, an upland site approximately 100 km south of Betty Pingo with an
elevation of 300 m in a transitional zone between the coastal plain and foothills of
the Brooks Range. The vegetation is characteristic of tussock tundra. Mean fluxes
for June, July, and August for 1995 from the different investigators are provided in
Table 5.4
. Following our adopted convention, all terms are taken as taken as positive
downward. A positive ground (conductive) heat flux hence represents a flux of heat
into the ground.
There is considerable scatter between values at each location in the lowland and
upland sites. Note for example the much lower June value of R
net
at Sagwon Bluffs
from Chapin and Eugster compared to the other estimates for this area. Although
owing in part to differences in methodology, the frequency of measurement as well
