Spasskaya Pad (Yakutsk) Primary CryoNet Station Information
Spasskaya Pad (Yakutsk) Observatory is located on the left side of the central part of the Lena river in Eastern Siberia at an elevation of 220 m a.s.l. approximately 20 km north of the city of Yakutsk. The site, located in a region of continuous permafrost is referred to as the Spasskaya Pad experimental forest of the Institute of Biological Problems in the Cryolithozone, Siberian Brunch of Russian Academy of Sciences (SB RAS). There are two observational towers (32 m in larch forest and 24 m in pine forest) with a wide range of micrometeorological devices and eddy-covariance systems. Three 20 m high crown-access towers with full access to any tree level in larch forest are available for botanical, morphological, and ecophysiological studies.
The Spasskaya Pad Scientific Forest Station was founded in 1952 by the Krasnoyarsk Forest Institute (SB RAS). In 1992, the station was transferred to IBPC SB RAS. It consists of several new or recently renovated buildings. The station is fully equipped with year-round accommodation facilities, heating, electricity, portable electrical generators, radiotelephone, computer, printer, scanner, etc. A laboratory is available, equipped with some basic tool-boxes and instruments, drying ovens, refrigerators, scales, etc. The station can accommodate up to 30 persons during the summer.
Inter-disciplinary research is conducted at the station with focus on understanding fundamental characteristics, processes, and their spatio-temporal variations of the atmosphere, the biosphere, the hydrosphere, and the cryolithosphere in boreal forest with underlying continuous permafrost. Ecosystem dynamics and biodiversity are also studied to assess the impact of global environmental change. Research also includes short term monitoring of different aspects of human activity.
Other Networks to Which This CryoNet Station Belongs
CEOP (Coordinated Enhanced Observing Period)
FLUXNET
INTERACT(International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic)
PAGE21 (Changing Permafrost in the Arctic and its Global Effects in the 21st Century)
GRENE-TEA (GRENE Arctic Climate Change Research Project, Terrestrial Ecosystem in Arctic)
Measurement Methods Used
WMO Technical Regulations
GTN-P
Other relevant measurement method documents:
Ohta, T., A. Kotani, Y. Iijima, T. C. Maximov. S. Ito, M. Hanamura, A. V. Kononov, A. P. Maximov 2014. Effects of waterlogging on water and carbon dioxide fluxes and environmental variables in a Siberian larch forest, 1988-2011. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 188, 64-75.
Iijima, Y., T. Ohta, A. Kotani, A. N. Fedorov, Y. Kodama and T. C. Maximov 2014. Sap flow changes in relation to permafrost degradation under increasing precipitation in an eastern Siberian larch forest. Ecohydrology, 7, 177-187. DOI: 10.1002/eco.1366
Data Information
Are the data quality controlled? yes
How are the data accessible? HTTP (web)
Data availability (may depend on the variable measured): delayed more than one year
Measurements
The measurements made at Spasskaya Pad (Yakutsk) are listed in the following tables. (Note: If End Year is blank, measurements are ongoing.)
Cryosphere Measurements
Element
Variable
Start Year
End Year
Frequency
Snow
Depth
1998
Fragmented
Snow
Snow water equivalent
1998
Sporadic
Snow
Snowpack profile
1998
Sporadic
Snow
Extent
1998
Sporadic
Snow
Albedo
1998
Continuous
Permafrost
Soil temperature
1998
Continuous
Permafrost
Active layer depth
1998
Continuous
Permafrost
Soil moisture
1998
Continuous
Permafrost
Thermal state
1998
Continuous
Permafrost
Distribution (local/regional)
1998
Sporadic
Permafrost
Duration of thaw
1998
Continuous
Permafrost
Onset of seasonal freezing
1998
Continuous
Permafrost
Depth of seasonal freezing
1998
Continuous
Atmosphere Measurements
Element
Variable
Start Year
End Year
Frequency
Met
Air temperature
1998
Continuous
Met
Humidity/vapour pressure
1998
Continuous
Met
Wind speed and direction
1998
Met
Air pressure
1998
Met
Snowfall
1998
Fragmented
Met
Total precipitation
1998
Met
Rainfall
1998
Continuous
Met
Trace gases
Met
Sensible and latent heat
1998
Continuous
Radiation
Downwelling shortwave
1998
Radiation
Upwelling shortwave
1998
Radiation
Downwelling longwave
1998
Continuous
Radiation
Upwelling longwave
1998
Measurement Notes and Other Measurements
Category
Description or List
Ecology
Phenological Photographs of Siberian Larch Forest from 1997 to 2000 at Spasskaya Pad, Republic of Sakha, Russia.
The Spasskaya Pad Scientific Forest Station was founded in 1952 by the Krasnoyarsk Forest Institute (SB RAS). In 1992, the station was transferred to IBPC SB RAS. It consists of several new or recently renovated buildings. The station is fully equipped with year-round accommodation facilities, heating, electricity, portable electrical generators, radiotelephone, computer, printer, scanner, etc. A laboratory is available, equipped with some basic tool-boxes and instruments, drying ovens, refrigerators, scales, etc. The station can accommodate up to 30 persons during the summer.
Inter-disciplinary research is conducted at the station with focus on understanding fundamental characteristics, processes, and their spatio-temporal variations of the atmosphere, the biosphere, the hydrosphere, and the cryolithosphere in boreal forest with underlying continuous permafrost. Ecosystem dynamics and biodiversity are also studied to assess the impact of global environmental change. Research also includes short term monitoring of different aspects of human activity.