Estimating thawing depths and mean annual ground temperatures in the Khuvsgul region of Mongolia

Permafrost is an important component in the ecosystem and plays a key role in soil regime characteristics in high-altitude regions. Thawing depths and mean annual ground temperatures are the main parameters to conduct research on permafrost. Here we present the results of different modeling approaches for estimating thawing depths and mean annual ground temperatures in the Khuvsgul region of Mongolia. The aim of this study was to analyze the modeling approaches and determine what model best simulates the different characteristics of the soils. Moreover, this study investigates the factors that determine the best fit model approaches for certain conditions of the study area. For this study, the Stefan model was applied to estimate thawing depths and the TTOP and Kudryavtsev model approaches were applied for the estimations of mean annual ground temperatures. The estimations were performed at seven observational boreholes in the region. The evaluations show that model results are more sensitive to thermal and physical properties of the soil than the air temperatures for estimating thawing depths and mean annual ground temperatures.