Ground temperature monitoring and its recent change in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

It is very important to analyze the change of the active layer and the permafrost thermal regime for Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Formerly, there is only few data of monitoring to analyze the response of the active layer and the permafrost to climate change in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The monitoring data of the permafrost thermal regime with seven sites from 1995 to 2000 make it possible to analyze this response relationship. The monitoring data is used to analyze the recent change in the thickness of active layer, the subsurface temperature, the near permafrost surface temperature, and the permafrost temperature at the depth of 6 or 8 m. The results show that their changes have a better accordance with air temperature change. The climate change has an impact on the change of the active layer and the thermal regime of the permafrost. The change of the active layer and the thermal regime of the permafrost can indirectly explain some features of climate change. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.