
COUP
Constraining Uncertainties in the Permafrost-Climate Feedback
COUP is aimed to improve the way climate models deal with permafrost, ground that is frozen all year round.
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COUP supported new field campaigns which allowed us to samples soils and describe ecosystems in unique, remote Arctic locations.This includes the first studies of peat-rich mountain soils in NW Canada and discovering a new source of methane from the receding Greenland ice-sheet.
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COUP used field data to improve the state-of-the-art CryoGRID permafrost modelthat will form the basis of the next official global permafrost map.
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In COUP, we were able to use knowledge from detailed studies and specialised permafrost models to improve the global scale climate model UKESM.New runs with the improved model showed us that the permafrost-carbon feedback is important to consider if we want to reach global warming stabilisation at +1.5 or 2° C.

About
What is the COUP project about?
COUP aimed to improve the way climate models deal with permafrost, ground that is frozen all year round. As the global climate warms, thawing permafrost may lead to increased greenhouse gas release from the huge amounts of carbon frozen into the earth. This permafrost-carbon climate feedback is important, but remains poorly understood. The overall aim of COUP is to use detailed understanding of landscape-scale processes to improve global scale climate models. Better predictions of how permafrost areas will respond to a warming climate can help us understand and plan for future global change.
Highlights
- COUP supported new field campaigns which allowed us to samples soils and describe ecosystems in unique, remote Arctic locations. This includes the first studies of peat-rich mountain soils in NW Canada and discovering a new source of methane from the receding Greenland ice-sheet.
- COUP used field data to improve the state-of-the-art CryoGRID permafrost model that will form the basis of the next official global permafrost map.
- In COUP, we were able to use knowledge from detailed studies and specialised permafrost models to improve the global scale climate model UKESM. New runs with the improved model showed us that the permafrost-carbon feedback is important to consider if we want to reach global warming stabilisation at +1.5 or 2° C.
Keywords
Keywords: JPI COUP; permafrost; climate change; permafrost carbon feedback; climate model
Potential societal impacts
COUP has generated extensive new knowledge about the permafrost-climate feedback, especially focusing on low emissions scenarios relevant to the COP21 Paris Agreement and the SDG no 13 “Climate Action” under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These results have been published in high-impact papers that are being absorbed into high-level syntheses documents, such as reports from the IPCC. The results of this research thus has the potential to influence global climate policy.
The role of JPI Climate
The unique opportunity offered by JPI Climate to collaborate across multiple countries and to initiate and deepen collaboration between scientist working in the field and with modelling. The JPI framework allowed us to gather a large group of scientists, but also allowed greater scientific freedom than traditional EU consortia which allowed us to adapt and improve our science as the project progressed.
Project leader
My name is Gustaf Hugelius and my main scientific interest is the role of soils in the global carbon cycle. I have particularly worked on the carbon cycle in Arctic and Boreal ecosystems. I was the lead principal investigator of COUP. The project provided a unique opportunity to make real progress in our ability to project permafrost changes and the collaborative aspect of the project was a fantastic learning experience for us.
Project consortium
University of Helsinki
University of Copenhagen
University of Eastern Finland
University of Vienna
University of Oslo
Met Office UK
Met Office Hadley Centre
University of Leeds
Stockholm University
The COUP consortium included participants of different backgrounds and career stages from several institutions. Stockholm University coordinated COUP and led the work on detailed field surveys of soils as well as making new pan-Arctic maps to support model development. The University of Helsinki led the work on high-resolution remote sensing with satellites and field sampling of Arctic vegetation. The University of Copenhagen led work on synthesising field data of greenhouse gas fluxes as well as field work to measure methane fluxes. The University of Eastern Finland led the work on local scale ecosystem modelling and laboratory studies of permafrost soil greenhouse gas fluxes. The University of Vienna led the work studying the composition of permafrost soil and its sensitivity to temperature increases. The University of Oslo led the permafrost modelling. The global modelling and development of global climate models was jointly led by the United Kingdom Met Office, Hadley Centre and the University of Leeds.
Documents
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News & Events
Parent programme
Call 2013
Joint Call for Transnational Collaborative Research Projects
This JPI Climate Joint Call for Transnational Collaborative Research Projects provided support for top-quality research projects on topics that are of high societal relevance in Europe and globally, recognising that such challenges require joint efforts through multinational approaches. JPI Climate is seeking proposals from consortia consisting of partners from the participating European countries as well as others. Consortia brought together different scientific disciplines to address the issues within the scope of the described call topics. The projects displayed clear links to decision-makers and users of climate knowledge as well as potential change agents in society.
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