Palsa mires in Finnmark – measuring and modeling the thermal regime of the ground

Palsa mires are a landform indicative for ground ice and permafrost conditions, which are widespread in N Scandinavia, in particular in Finnmark and the northern parts of Finland. They consist of elevated mounds with an ice core which is visible in high-resolution aerial imagery. In the course of permafrost degradation, the ice core can melt, leading to a collapse of the palsa and in some cases the formation of a pond.

In the last two years, we have instrumented palsa mires with several hundred temperature sensors at the ground surface. The master project offers reseacrh oppertunities in various directions. You can perform a statistical analysis on the environmental factors governing the ground thermal regime and the occurrecne of permafrost. You can also compile a DEM and possibly a landcover map from aerial images acquired with the UiO drone for selected mires.
Furthermore, you can perform numerical simulations of ground temperatures with the thermal model CryoGrid 3 which is written in Matlab.