GLOBE Frost Tube Study
November 23, 2011 - 7:05pm | 
staff
The purpose of this study is to monitor the timing and depth of freezing in soil in cooperation with over 100 Alaska school sites and several international sites. It is part of The Arctic Climate Modeling Program at the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska. It is funded by the National Science Foundation.
Principal Investigator Kenji Yoshikawa of the University of Alaska is looking at ground freezing and thawing in a variety of regions. This program is part of the GLOBE Program, an international science program pairing scientists with students. Students benefit by doing authentic science, and scientists benefit by increased data sources. Dr. Yoshikawa has also produced a number of educational videos, starring Tunnel Man, about his project. These can be seen at www.uaf.edu/permafrost.
Students constructed a Frost Tube that was inserted into a hole in undisturbed and uncompacted soil. During the cold months, students measure the depth at which water in the Frost Tube has frozen, indicating that the surrounding soil has also frozen. Students check the freezing level weekly and send the data to Dr. Yoshikawa.
Below is a graph of student data for the winter of 2009-2010. The original graph is quite large, so only four schools are labeled here. (For more detail click here then click on the DATA drop down menu. Choose Active Layer Data.) The dates across the bottom of the graph represent the school year. The line for Fairbanks and Teller show how deeply the ground froze there. Haines and Mosquito Lake are at the top. It doesn't freeze as deeply here. The light blue straight line across the top is Valdez which doesn't show any ground frost for that winter.
