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URPP Global Change and Biodiversity

Second URPP GCB field season at the Siberian test site

This year, the field season at the Kytalyk site started beginning of May. Inge Juszak visited the site and reestablished two automatic measurement stations for solar radiation, thermal radiation and soil temperature. The two stations are located on the most widespread vegetation types in the area, dwarf shrubs and cotton grass. The purpose of the measurements is to quantify the influence of the vegetation type on the amount of radiation which is reflected or transmitted by the canopy and other parts of the surface energy balance. In May, the tundra was still covered with a 50cm deep snow layer and the temperatures ranged from -20°C to 0°C. Hopefully the sensors recorded the date of snowmelt and will continue measuring until end of August. Maitane Iturrate is the first URPP researcher returning to the station this summer, 6 weeks after the initial set-up and in completely different conditions. This year she will focus on measuring plant traits. Bernardo Maestrini from the soil sciences group and Inge Juszak will join Maitane mid of July. The summer in Kytalyk is short, Maitane and Inge will be the last to return to civilisation in the second half of August.

Photo: Impressions from the Kytalyk field site beginning of May (from top left going clockwise): landscape with distant pingo, measurement station in the morning fog, field station and a polar fox. Picture Inge Juszak, 2014.