Ninth International Conference on Permafrost ... - IARC Research

Digitizing Regional Permafrost Maps for Central and Eastern AsianPermafrost MappingLizong WuCold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, CAS, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaXin LiCold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, CAS, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaJerry Brown<strong>International</strong> Permafrost Association, P.O. Box 7, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USAIntroductionPermafrost and seasonally frozen ground regions occupyapproximately 24% and 60%, respectively, of the exposedland surface in the Northern Hemisphere. The actual areaunderlain by permafrost is approximately 12% to 18% ofthe exposed land area. Accelerated warming of permafrostin mountainous, highland, and plateau regions of Asia willresult in disequilibria of the water cycle, increased masswasting processes, and related sediment transport and slopehazards. Without a unified and verified regional permafrostmap, these processes cannot be assessed adequately.Although national permafrost maps exist for China, Kazakhstan,Mongolia, and Russia, there is no consistent cartographicfor mountainous and high altitude regions. The existingclassifications based on spatial continuity or percentagedistribution and ground ice content have limited applicationfor mountainous or plateau regions. The 2001 <strong>International</strong>Symposium on Mountain and Arid Land Permafrost held inMongolia recommends that an international team of expertsis required to prepare a uniform map of Central Asia permafrost.A team for central and eastern Asian permafrost mappingwas established during the workshop on Permafrost ofCentral and Eastern Asia held in China (2006). The membersagreed to digitize and archive the recent permafrost map,and auxiliary information exists for China, Kazakhstan,Mongolia, and Russia to complete a pilot map with a unifiedlegend. Classification-based temperature and/or thermalstability was recommended to employ in this work (Brownet al. 2006). The WDC for Glaciology and Geocryology atLanzhou was expected to organize the digitizing of the permafrostmaps for the four countries.Regional Permafrost Maps ResourceChinaPermafrost mapping study in China began in the 1960s.After that, regional permafrost distribution maps for Daand Xiao Xing’anling Mountain (1:2,000,000), TianshanMountain (10,000,000), and Qilian Mountain (1:10,000,000)were completed in 1980, 1981, and 1983, respectively(Cheng 1999). Permafrost mapping for the plateau regionsbegan in the 1980s; the permafrost map along the Qinghai-Tibetan Highway (1:600,000) was published in 1981, and thepermafrost map of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (1:3,000,000)was finished in 1996 (Tong et al. 1983, Li et al. 1996).Up to now, there are three permafrost maps that exist forall of China’s land territory. The first one, entitled “Map ofSnow, Ice and Frozen Ground in China” compiled by YafengShi, was published in 1988 (Shi et al. 1988). The “Map ofGeocryological Regionalization and Classification in China,”at a scale of 1:10,000,000, was published in 2000 (Qiu etal. 2000). The map was digitized by T. Zhang and collectedby NSIDC at Boulder. The latest version contained in the“Map of the Glaciers, Frozen Ground and Deserts in China”was published in 2006 at a scale of 1:4,000,000 (Wang etal. 2006). The classification used in these maps is based onspatial continuity or percentage distribution and elevation.Thermal stability was used to classify permafrost on Tibetby Nan, performed upon the analysis of mean annual groundtemperature distribution features from 76 observed data(Nan et al. 2002).In the last two years, most of these maps have beendigitized, and an attempt to merge different sources wascarried out at the WDC for Glaciology and Geocryology,Lanzhou to obtain a more detailed permafrost map.RussianBeginning in 1995, geocryological maps published in theUSSR (former Soviet Union) and Russia were identifiedand catalogued to form an inventory. This bibliography wascompiled in 1998 by Irena Streletskaya and Marina Leibman,Earth Cryosphere Institute Russian Academy of Sciences,Siberian Branch. The detail information can be browsedfrom the Frozen Ground Data Center of NSIDC (NSIDC).The “Geocryological Map of Russia and NeighbouringRepublics” by Yershov at a scale of 1:2,500,000, with fourattached maps at a scale of 1:25,000,000, were publishedbetween 1991 and 1996. An English-language description ofthe map and its compilation procedure are given by Zaitsev etal. (1998).The map divides permafrost zones by both percentof coverage and ground temperatures at the depth of zeroamplitude. So the present legends can be used as referenceclassification in compiling the other permafrost maps.The map project used is identified only as “conicequidistant projection,” and lacks specific information onthe projection. After the digitizing of the map, a geometrycorrection has been conducted.KazakhstanAn unpublished map of Kazakhstan was available andpresents the distribution of mountain permafrost and legend.Dr. Sergei S. Marchenko from the Geophysical Institute,349