Deployment of a network of observation points for the state of permafrost in Russia will begin in 2023

Scientists from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have completed a full cycle of seasonal work on the Svalbard archipelago, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources reported on its website.

“In six months, comprehensive studies of the natural environment of the island of Western Spitsbergen were carried out and a technology for satellite transmission of temperature data on the state of frozen rocks was developed, which will later be used to create a Russian permafrost monitoring system,” the report says.

Scientists have taken data from existing thermometric stations near the villages of Barentsburg and Pyramiden, measured the thickness of the seasonally thawed permafrost layer, and studied the state of permafrost landforms. The data was transferred to the international CALM system.
In addition to the existing monitoring network, the specialists of the Research Institute drilled a test well 25.5 meters deep to test the technologies for equipping permafrost monitoring points. For remote monitoring of the state of frozen soil, a thermometric spit with the function of transmitting temperature data via satellite was installed in the well. As noted in the Ministry of Natural Resources, the samples obtained from the well will be used in further studies of the development and transformation of permafrost in the archipelago.

“The work was carried out as part of a large-scale task to organize a network of monitoring observations of the state of permafrost zones in Russia. The deployment of the network will begin next year,” the agency said in a statement.

The first points of such monitoring are planned to be created in the Altai Territory, Western Siberia and Transbaikalia. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, from 2023 to 2025, it is planned to deploy more than 140 observation points for the state of permafrost in Russia.