New technique for monitoring soil freezing will make building on permafrost safer

Skoltech researchers and their colleagues from JSC Research Center of Construction have demonstrated the practical utility of their previously patented method for determining at what temperature soil freezes and how much unfrozen water it contains. Monitoring these two parameters is crucial for building and maintaining roads, bridges, houses, factories, etc. in the permafrost region—particularly in the era of global warming, which causes soil thawing and instability. The technique is precise, fast, relatively inexpensive, and applicable to different types of soils. The paper detailing the tests of this so-called water potential method came out in the journal Cold Regions Science and Technology.