Monitoring periglacial processes: Towards construction of a global network

This paper outlines the strategy for constructing a global monitoring network for periglacial processes. The monitoring system should be designed with appropriate choices of parameters and techniques, which depend on the purpose of monitoring (e.g. modelling individual processes or assessing the sediment budget of a catchment). Acquisition of comparable data from globally distributed sites requires standardized techniques and instruments. In addition, expansion of the monitoring network to poorly accessible periglacial sites benefits from compact, cold-resistant and maintenance-free instruments; priority is given to automatic acquisition of year-round data that promote understanding of interactions between ground movements and environmental factors. Examples of previous process monitoring (frost wedging, solifluction and permafrost creep) suggest the significances of (1) high resolution of data for short-term, small-scale processes, (2) combination of movement and its major variables and (3) long-lasting monitoring that distinguishes long-term trend from interannual fluctuation. As the first stage of the monitoring network, a model experimental site is under construction in Svalbard where a variety of periglacial processes coexist in a small area, to test and compare various techniques to be standardized.