COSMICRAY

Cosmic-Ray Moisture Probe on North Slope of Alaska

1 July 2012 - 31 August 2016

Lead Scientist: Darin Desilets

Observatory: NSA

Soil moisture and snow are critical variables affecting the energy balance at the earth's surface and also crucial to Arctic ecosystems and to the carbon cycle. Large amounts of carbon are stored in perennially frozen soils. If the permafrost melts then carbon can be release, providing a large positive feedback to global warming. A new soil moisture/snow monitoring instrument will be installed at the Barrow site in the Arctic that detects cosmic-ray neutrons as a proxy for soil moisture and snow cover. Depending upon the results achieved, this may lead to a network of probes for installation in the Arctic.