Spatial and temporal freeze-thaw variations in Alaskan roads

Kraatz, Simon; Jacobs, Jennifer M.; Miller, Heather J.

doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2018.10.006

Cited by 13 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…These findings represent a basis for examining how near-0 • C conditions may change in the future. Some studies of future freezing rain conditions have been carried out over North America (e.g., Lambert and Hansen, 2011;Jeong et al, 2019) and southern Quebec but none have focused specifically on near-0 • C conditions. One can anticipate more indications of significant trends in near-0 • C conditions.…”

Section: Factors Affecting Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Near-0 °C surface temperature and precipitation type patterns across Canada

Mekis

Stewart

Thériault³

et al. 2020

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The 0 ∘C temperature threshold is critical for many meteorological and hydrological processes driven by melting and freezing in the atmosphere, surface, and sub-surface and by the associated precipitation varying between rain, freezing rain, wet snow, and snow. This threshold is especially important in cold regions such as Canada, because it is linked with freeze–thaw, snowmelt, and permafrost. This study develops a Canada-wide perspective on near-0 ∘C conditions using hourly surface temperature and precipitation type observations from 92 climate stations for the period from 1981 to 2011. In addition, nine stations from various climatic regions are selected for further analysis. Near-0 ∘C conditions are defined as periods when the surface temperature is between −2 and 2 ∘C. Near-0 ∘C conditions occur often across all regions of the country, although the annual number of days and hours and the duration of these events varies dramatically. Various types of precipitation (e.g., rain, freezing rain, wet snow, and ice pellets) sometimes occur with these temperatures. Near-0 ∘C conditions and the reported precipitation type occurrences tend to be higher in Atlantic Canada, although high values also occur in other regions. Trends of most temperature-based and precipitation-based indicators show little or no change despite a systematic warming in annual surface temperatures over Canada. Over the annual cycle, near-0 ∘C temperatures and precipitation often exhibit a pattern: short durations occur around summer, driven by the diurnal cycle, and a tendency toward longer durations around winter, associated with storms. There is also a tendency for near-0 ∘C surface temperatures to occur more often than expected relative to other temperature windows at some stations due, at least in part, to diabatic cooling and heating that take place with melting and freezing, respectively, in the atmosphere and at the surface.

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Section: Factors Affecting Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Near-0 °C surface temperature and precipitation type patterns across Canada

Mekis

Stewart

Thériault³

et al. 2020

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…Although previous studies have noted a fairly strong diurnal variation in temperatures measured near the surface of the asphalt layer in roadways, there was only modest evidence of a diurnal variation in FT states in this study ( 11 , 12 ). This can be attributed to TDP measurements from deeper depths for which FT states would be expected to be more constant over time, relative to surface observations ( 24 ). In several instances (in both this and previous studies), the SMAP signal changes to thawed just before the TDP data rises above 0°C.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Use of NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive Freeze–Thaw Tool to Assist in Minnesota Seasonal Load Restriction Timing

Kraatz

Miller

Poirier

et al. 2020

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation R

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The U.S. encompasses over 4 million roadway miles, with about half of them located in seasonal frost areas. Roads are especially susceptible to damage when the subsurface is saturated with water (i.e., spring thaw). Spring load restrictions (SLR) are important for maintaining the integrity of roads. Routine determinations of road freeze–thaw (FT) state are limited to vertically embedded temperature data probes (TDP). Although TDPs are valuable to departments of transportation for determining SLRs, TDPs only represent individual points within the road network and are costly to install and maintain. Recent updates to spaceborne technology and algorithms made physically based retrievals of FT conditions possible at improved accuracy and temporal resolution (every 3 days) and have potential use for assisting with SLRs. Although instruments such as NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) platform cannot resolve individual roads, past comparisons have shown good correspondence with TDPs. The main objective of this study is to provide information on the potential value of NASA’s SMAP FT tool to supplement other methods for making seasonal load restriction decisions. Results are compared against data and protocols by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) at 10 sites in Minnesota, over four winter seasons (2016–2019). Results show that even when a simple criterion is used—the date of the third consecutive thaw from the SMAP afternoon retrieval—those dates typically fell within a week of MnDOT road postings (61% of the time). In addition, SMAP FT typically matches TDP FT states throughout the year (79% of the time).

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“…The crossing of 0 C of temperature have, alone or in combination with, for example, snow conditions and soil moisture, consequences for human societies as well as ecosystems. Zero-crossings have been reported to damage infrastructure and roads (e.g., Daniel et al, 2018;Kraatz et al, 2019). Information on zero-crossings is crucial to prevent slippery roads (Arvidsson et al, 2012; Abbreviations: COR-BA, ensemble median of CORDEX models regridded to 1 × 1 km and bias-adjusted against seNorge; DJF, winter; DMI, Danish meteorological institute; DTR, diurnal temperature range; DZC, day with zero-crossings; EQM, empirical quantile mapping method; EQDM, empirical quantile delta mapping method; ECDF, empirical cumulative distribution function; GCM, global climate model; JJA, summer; KNMI, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute; MAM, spring; RCM, regional climate model; SMHI, Swedish meteorological and hydrological institute; SON, autumn; T max , maximum temperature; T min , minimum temperature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The crossing of 0°C of temperature have, alone or in combination with, for example, snow conditions and soil moisture, consequences for human societies as well as ecosystems. Zero‐crossings have been reported to damage infrastructure and roads (e.g., Daniel et al ., 2018; Kraatz et al ., 2019). Information on zero‐crossings is crucial to prevent slippery roads (Arvidsson et al ., 2012; Šidlauskaitė and Kažys, 2019), because temperatures close to zero degrees often lead to difficult driving conditions (Andersson and Chapman, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Projected changes in days with zero‐crossings for Norway

Nilsen

Hanssen-Bauer

Tveito

et al. 2020

Intl Journal of Climatology

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This paper describes annual and seasonal changes in the number of days with 0 C crossings, comparing projections (2071-2100) based upon regional climate model (RCM) results under the medium and high emission scenarios with the period 1971-2000. A trend analysis of historical observations of days with zero-crossings (DZCs) for the period 1971-2016 showed a general increase in DZCs in cold seasons and regions and a decrease in DZCs in mild seasons and regions. A cold bias in the unadjusted EURO-CORDEX model ensemble rendered bias-adjustment necessary before analyses. In regions and seasons that are mild, temperatures will exceed 0 C during a larger part of the year by the end of this century, and the number of DZCs is thus projected to decrease. This decrease was found for lowland regions in spring and coastal regions in winter. In regions and seasons that are cold, temperatures will rise up above 0 C for a larger part of the year, such that the number of DZCs is projected to give more frequent crossings of the 0 C threshold. This increase was found for inland regions in winter and Finnmark, the northernmost county, in spring. Thus, more frequent icing of the snowpack is expected in Finnmark. However, less frequent icing in coastal and lowland regions may indicate a lesser need for winter road maintenance.

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Spatial and temporal freeze-thaw variations in Alaskan roads

Cited by 13 publications

References 13 publications

Near-0 °C surface temperature and precipitation type patterns across Canada

Near-0 °C surface temperature and precipitation type patterns across Canada

Potential Use of NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive Freeze–Thaw Tool to Assist in Minnesota Seasonal Load Restriction Timing

Projected changes in days with zero‐crossings for Norway

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