Design of the tundra rainfall experiment (TRainEx) to simulate future summer precipitation scenarios

Abstract

The majority of climate models predict severe increases in future temperature and precipitation in the Arctic. Increases in temperature and precipitation can lead to an intensification of the hydrologic cycle that strongly impacts Arctic environmental conditions. In order to investigate effects of future precipitation scenarios on ecosystems, precipitation manipulation experiments are being performed to simulate drought and extreme precipitation conditions. However, most of the existing research so far has been unevenly distributed, primarily focusing on temperate grasslands and woodlands. Despite large changes in the predicted precipitation and potentially high sensitivity of the Arctic tundra ecosystem to these changes, it is among the most understudied ecosystems for precipitation manipulation experiments. Gherardi and Sala (2013) presented a design for precipitation manipulation experiments that, relative to other methods at the time, was cheap, simplistic, and easily reproducible. In this study, we: Present modifications to the original Gherardi and Sala (2013) design that are adapted to cold, harsh conditions, such as those present in the Siberian Arctic tundra. Provide a detailed documentation of the improved design. Validate our modified experimental design based on the first two years of our experiment.

Continentality determines warming or cooling impact of heavy rainfall events on permafrost

“…A general guide on how to conduct such an experiment can be found in ref. 58 . In addition to the exploration of governing physical mechanisms that determine the effect of summer precipitation on the ground temperatures through modeling, our study provides useful information on where and how to measure the soil temperature response in field experiments.…”

Greening, browning, or drowning? : permafrost – vegetation – climate interactions in the Siberian lowland tundra

“…Panarctic monitoring initiatives such as the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) already exist for the effect of warming on tundra vegetation Molau 1997, Elmendorf et al 2012b). A similar setup for rainfall impacts (Grysko et al 2021) would enable simultaneous monitoring of geophysical and ecological changes following extreme rainfall. To upscale findings across the permafrost region, physically based models that incorporate thermal and hydrological processes relevant for permafrost such as the Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (used in Chapter 4) may be valuable.…”