Michael Giebels

Arctic Permafrost and Greenhouse Gases: Methane Fluxesin Wet Polygonal Tundraon Samoylov Island,lena River Delta, Siberia Michael Giebels

Methane is an important radiatively active trace gas. As its atmosphericconcentration has more than doubled since pre-industrial times, a need tounderstand the processes involved driving methane exchange between lithosphereand atmosphere exists, especially in the context of climate change, where theArctic is of major interest. This book aims at providing spatially highlyresolved small-scale methane flux measurements of the Arctic wet polygonaltundra on Samoylov Island in the Lena River Delta region of North Siberia. Small-scale process understanding is needed to understand and interpret ecosystem-scale measurements provided by methods, where the focus is primarily put on high temporalresolution. For this purpose, an extensive array of micro-sites for plot-basedmethane flux measurements sampled on an almost daily basis throughsummer season 2006. The data set presented in this book is uniquewith regard to its extend, the investigation area, and its further potential forintegrating flux measurements on different spatial scales. This book is adressed to readers with environmental science background interested in Arctic climate change and greenhouse gas sources.