Quantifying the influencing factors of the thermal state of permafrost in Northeast China
Xiaoying Jin,
Shuai Huang,
Hongwei Wang,
Wenhui Wang,
Xiaoying Li,
Ruixia He,
Sizhong Yang,
Xue Yang,
Shanzhen Li,
Shengrong Zhang,
Ze Zhang,
Lin Yang,
Raul-David Șerban,
Huijun Jin
Affiliations
Xiaoying Jin
School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Permafrost Institute and Ministry of Education Northeast-China Station of Permafrost Geo-environment, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Shuai Huang
School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Permafrost Institute and Ministry of Education Northeast-China Station of Permafrost Geo-environment, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China; Key Laboratory of Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management (Ministry of Education), College of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Hongwei Wang
School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Permafrost Institute and Ministry of Education Northeast-China Station of Permafrost Geo-environment, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China; Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Hei’he Remote Sensing Experimental Research Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Wenhui Wang
School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Permafrost Institute and Ministry of Education Northeast-China Station of Permafrost Geo-environment, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Xiaoying Li
Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Hei’he Remote Sensing Experimental Research Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soils Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Ruixia He
State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soils Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Sizhong Yang
State Key Laboratory of Cryosphere Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Xue Yang
School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Permafrost Institute and Ministry of Education Northeast-China Station of Permafrost Geo-environment, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Shanzhen Li
School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Permafrost Institute and Ministry of Education Northeast-China Station of Permafrost Geo-environment, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Shengrong Zhang
School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Permafrost Institute and Ministry of Education Northeast-China Station of Permafrost Geo-environment, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Ze Zhang
School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Permafrost Institute and Ministry of Education Northeast-China Station of Permafrost Geo-environment, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Lin Yang
School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Permafrost Institute and Ministry of Education Northeast-China Station of Permafrost Geo-environment, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China; College of Agriculture, Chifeng University, Chifeng 024000, China
Raul-David Șerban
State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soils Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Universitätsplatz 5 – piazza Università, 5, Bozen-Bolzano 39100, Italy
Huijun Jin
School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Permafrost Institute and Ministry of Education Northeast-China Station of Permafrost Geo-environment, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China; Key Laboratory of Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management (Ministry of Education), College of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China; Corresponding author.
In Northeast China, permafrost is controlled by a combination of biotic, climatic, physiographic, and anthropogenic factors. Due to the complexity of these governing or influencing factors, it is challenging to exactly describe the features of the Xing’an permafrost in Northeast China. By integrating remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) technologies, we have quantified these influencing factors of permafrost changes as an important approach to understanding the nature of latitudinal and mountain permafrost in Northeast China at the mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. In this study, we combine Geographical Detector (Geodetector) model, trend analysis, and multi-source RS data to quantify the controlling or influencing factors of permafrost thermal state and of permafrost changes, and explain the interactions among permafrost, environment, and climate. The results indicate that, at the regional scale, changes in the thermal state of permafrost are primarily governed or influenced by mean annual land surface temperature (MALST), precipitation, and snow cover duration (SCD). Topographic factors also affect the spatial patterns of permafrost development. Additionally, in the context of climate warming, the insulation effect of snow cover on the permafrost is weakened, or has been weakening. Moreover, the interactive effects among various factors significantly enhance their explanatory power for changes in the thermal state of permafrost. The study emphasizes the complexity of the interactions among permafrost, climate, and the environment, and highlights the significance of understanding these interactions for regional socio-economic development, ecological management, carbon pool stabilization, and research on future climate change in Northeast China.
