Frost Tube Campaign

Frost Tube Campaign

× Important: This initiative is completed and no longer accepting submissions.

 

Community Webinar during GLOBE Virtual Annual Meeting

Title: Soil frost tubes & the vernal window: collaboration within the Frost Tube campaign community
Contact: Christi Buffington (and Elizabeth Burakowski), University of Alaska Fairbanks (and University of New Hampshire)
Date and Time: Tuesday, July 14, 2020, 12:00 pm Mountain Time

Description:  In this session, GLOBE Alaska teacher and trainer Christina Buffington shares the synergies that unfolded during the first-ever GLOBE Frost tube campaign and Dr. Elizabeth Burakowski presents her research on how to track changes in timing and duration of the vernal window using soil frost tubes with other GLOBE protocols.  

 

 

 

Does your soil freeze during any part of the year?  If yes, the GLOBE community is leading an exciting new Frost Tube campaign for Northern latitudes.  

 

Frost Tube Campaign dates in Northern latitudes: October, 2019 to April, 2020

 

Learn how to construct a Frost Tube and insert it into undisturbed and uncompacted soil. During the cold months, you'll measure the depth to which water in the Frost Tube has frozen, which indicates the depth to which surrounding soil is frozen as well. You will learn how to check frost depth, upload data to the GLOBE database, and review that data in GLOBE's Visualization System. 

 

 

How to get started:

  • Watch the frost tube how-to video. Youtube:

  • Find a site suitable for a frost tube. Call the local Utility before probing the soil. (Call 811 in the US). Take the coordinates and complete the site set up.

  • Do the new Frost Tube eTraining.

  • Read the Frost Tube Protocol.

 

Build and Install a Frost Tube:

  • You may not need a drill like TunnelMan to install your Frost Tube. He waited until winter!  

  • Complete the site set-up

 

Monitor frost depth every week:

 

What else you can do:

  • Take your observations to the next level: Select a research question, make relevant observations, collect documentation about your research and at the end submit a report about your research to the 2020 GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium.

  • Bring your findings to the attention of your road and building planning commissions to make your research even more meaningful.

  • Work of selected schools will be highlighted at a Frost Tube webinar in July.

Contact:

For more information on the Frost Tube Regional Campaign, check with your respective Region Coordination Office or email Christi Buffington at cbuffington@alaska.edu.