Agreement for Service: Assessment of Permafrost Health on the Summit of Maunakea

Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii

Start Date: 11/12/2024
Project #: 2018
End Date: 12/30/2027
Award #: Z10298001

Non PSI Personnel: Kenji Yoshikawa (Support, Self)

Project Description

Contractor shall complete the following services:
1. Continue long-term permafrost temperature monitoring at Pu‘uwēkiu and Pu‘uhaukea.

a. The Contractor has previously established permafrost temperature monitors at Pu‘uwēkiu and Pu‘uhaukea with data loggers hidden below boulders and hidden from afar. The Contractor will keep these monitors in place and visit them periodically to download the data, which will enable them to monitor the thawing of the permafrost and to capture a range of snow conditions.

  1. Investigate the relation of ground temperatures (permafrost health) with climatic variables.
  2. Monitoring of periglacial geomorphology (e.g., stripes, etc.), freeze-thaw cycles, and undergroundwater levels.
  3. Sample precipitation from storms for analysis.
  4. Annual updates of collected temperature data to be made to the public database at http://zenodo.org/records/8105009,Multi-year temperature time series from cinder cones on the Mauna Kea summit plateau, Hawaii.
  5. By the end of 2027, present a report summarizing results to Project.