Understanding Thermal Impact of Roads on Permafrost Using Normalized Spectral Entropy

Chi Zhang, Hong Zhang, Fuqiang Zhao and Jing Sun
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Chi Zhang: Key Laboratory for Special Area Highway Engineering of Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Hong Zhang: Key Laboratory for Special Area Highway Engineering of Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Fuqiang Zhao: College of Life Science and Bioengineering, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China
Jing Sun: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 24, 1-10

Abstract: Permafrost is characterized by low temperature, and its thermal stability is key to geohydrological cycles, energy exchange, and climate regulation. Increasing engineering activities, i.e., road construction and operations, are affecting the thermal stability in permafrost regions and have already led to the degradation of permafrost and caused environmental problems. To understand the spatiotemporal influence of road construction and operations on the thermal dynamics in permafrost regions, we conducted a study in the Ela Mountain Pass where multiple roads intersect on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) and calculated the thermal dynamics from 2000 to 2017 using normalized spectral entropy (measuring the disorderliness of time-series data). Our results indicate that road level is a significant influencing factor, where high-level roads (expressways) exhibit stronger thermal impacts than low-level roads (province- and county-level roads). Our results also indicate that duration of operation is the most significant factor that determines the thermal impacts of roads on permafrost: the thermal impacts of the newly paved expressway are positively related to elevation, while the thermal impacts of the old expressway are positively related to less vegetated areas. The study provides an excellent method for understanding the spatiotemporal impacts of engineering activities on the temperature dynamics in permafrost regions, thereby helping policymakers in China and other countries to better plan their infrastructure projects to avoid environmentally vulnerable regions. The study also calls for advanced techniques in road maintenance, which can reduce the accumulated disturbance of road operations on permafrost regions.

Keywords: entropy; thermal impact; Qinghai–Tibet Plateau; road construction; permafrost (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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