Snowmelt acceleration effects on soil temperature

September 14, 2011 – 1:42 pm

Back in Toledo this week! Toolik was great fun as always, but it is good to be home again.

I just finished graphing some data showing the effect of our snowmelt acceleration treatment on soil temperature. The fabric (shadecloth) was on the ground for 8 days, creating a two-week acceleration in snowmelt. The iButtons were installed at a depth of 5 cm in August 2010 and left in the ground over the winter. Soil temperatures were definitely higher while the fabric was on and remained higher by a couple degrees while the snow melted off of the control plots. The upper panels show the mean temperatures for the two treatments and the lower panels show the difference between the treatments (accelerated-control). Click to enlarge.

Last year’s data here.

R code for the graphic here.

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