This free IARC Seminar Series is hosted by the International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Name: Kazuyuki Saito
Title: Past and present permafrost distribution in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere: Comparison of the GCM-based mapping with the observations
Large-scale modeling research, combining global climate models (GCMs) with land processes with physically-based permafrost dynamics, have not been extensively employed yet for evaluation of the long-term changes of permafrost and their impacts on climate. We employed both, a statistical (using near-surface atmospheric thermal indexes) and a physical method to reconstruct a frozen ground distribution, to compare the resulting global permafrost maps with the observation-based reconstruction for the late Quaternary conditions, i.e., 0ka (pre-industrial), 6ka (mid-Holocene), and 21ka (the last glacial maximum; LGM). Despite simplifications of the determining factors in the reality (e.g., vegetation, soil, snow, and topography), the statistical method produced reasonable results. Use of high-resolution topography data improved the regional details such as Andean permafrost and the northeastern Asian region including Japan islands.