Jing Luo

• Ph.D
• Associate professor at State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources

Thermal conductivity is a crucial factor for the soil, which is significantly affected by environmental conditions. Based on the variation in the thermal conductivity and the influencing factors of silty clay obtained by the freeze–thaw cycle test, this paper adopted four machine learning models optimized by particle swarm optimization (PSO), inclu...

Embankment–bridge transition sections (EBTSs) suffer from diverse engineering diseases that have escalated into one of the most severe issues along the Qinghai‐Tibet Railway (QTR). Nevertheless, the causes and mechanisms of engineering diseases in EBTSs remain limited. This study employed a methodological approach to conduct field surveys in the Tu...

Thermokarst lakes are shallow bodies of freshwater that develop in permafrost regions, and they are an essential focus of international permafrost research. However, research regarding the mechanisms driving temperature fluctuations in thermokarst lakes and the factors that influence these changes is limited. We aimed to analyze seasonal variations...

Plain Language Summary The Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau is warming rapidly, causing permafrost to thaw. Retrogressive thaw slumps as visible indicators of permafrost degradation have been widely distributed and actively developed in recent years. Understanding the spatial distribution and temporal changes is important for modeling the occurrence and evo...

The reliable operation of railway embankments traversing degrading permafrost regions is challenged by climate warming. This study examines performances of four main types of railway embankments on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in thermally stabilizing permafrost foundation over warm permafrost using numerical modelling and 10-year monitoring data. The...

Climate warming has induced the thawing of permafrost, which increases the probability of thaw slump occurrences in permafrost regions of the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor (QTEC). As a key and important corridor, thaw slump distribution is widespread, but research into effectively using neural networks to predict thaw slumping remains insuffic...

Climate warming and anthropogenic disturbances result in permafrost degradation in cold regions, including in the Qilian Mountains. These changes lead to extensive hillslope thermokarst (HT) formation, such as retrogressive thaw slumps, active-layer detachment slides, and thermal erosion gullies. These in turn cause, e.g., degradation of local vege...

To investigate the variation in the mechanical properties of clay under freeze-thaw cycles (FTCs), a series of experiments were conducted in the laboratory. Samples with different water contents and dry densities were subjected to FTCs ranging from 0 to 11 times. Then, cohesion, shear strength, internal friction angle and elastic modulus were obtai...

The degree of water saturation significantly affects the rate of rock deterioration caused by freeze–thaw weathering, which may trigger serious geological engineering hazards. This study aimed to explore the impacts of water saturation on freeze–thaw-induced deterioration of sandstone, and to improve our understanding of this damage mechanism. Sand...

Climate warming and anthropogenic disturbances result in permafrost degradation in cold regions, including in the Qilian Mountains. These changes lead to extensive hillslope thermokarst (HT) formation, such as retrogressive thaw slumps, active-layer detachment slides, and thermal erosion gullies. These in turn cause, e.g., degradation of local vege...

Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTSs), which frequently occur in permafrost regions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), China, can cause significant damage to the local surface, resulting in material losses and posing a threat to infrastructure and ecosystems in the region. However, quantitative assessment of ground ice ablation and hydrological ecosyst...

Thaw slumping is a periglacial process that occurs on slopes in cold environments, where the ground becomes unstable and the surface slides downhill due to saturation with water during thawing. In this study, GaoFen-1 remote sensing and fused multi-source feature data were used to automatically map thaw slumping landforms in the Beilu River Basin o...

Permafrost warming leads to greenhouse gas release to the atmosphere, resulting in a positive feedback to climate change. Earth system models indicate that more than 80% of the near‐surface permafrost is projected to disappear by the end of this century, but with a high degree of uncertainty. Here, we apply the Stefan solution to estimate permafros...

Due to the increasing air temperatures, retrogressive thaw slumps (RTSs) have become more common on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP), but their inventory, frequency, and initiation have not been fully investigated. In satellite imagery for the period 2018–2020, 2669 active RTSs were identified in permafrost regions of the QTP. Most of the RTSs occur...

Ice-rich permafrost in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP), China, is becoming susceptible to thermokarst landforms, and the most dramatic among these terrain-altering landforms is retrogressive thaw slump (RTS). Concurrently, RTS development can in turn affect the eco-environment, and especially soil erosion and carbon emission, during their evolution...

Thermokarst lakes are an important ecosystem component in permafrost terrains; therefore, quantifying changes in these lakes is important for evaluating the water balance and carbon budget on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). In this study, we utilized high spatial resolution aerial and satellite images from 1969, 2010, and 2019 to quantify changes...

The important Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor (QTEC) covers the part of the Highway and Railway underlain by permafrost. The permafrost on the QTEC is sensitive to climate warming and human disturbance and suffers accelerating degradation. Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTSs) are slope failures due to the thawing of ice-rich permafrost. They typical...

In order to analyze the mechanical behavior of cracked rock in cold region subjected to cyclic loading, step cyclic loading and unloading (SCLU) triaxial tests with different stress paths have been designed. The mechanical responses such as strength, deformation, and failure mode were analyzed. The test results show that limestone has obvious stren...

The important Qinghai Tibet Engineering Corridor (QTEC) covers the part of the Highway and Railway underlain by permafrost. The permafrost on the QTEC is sensitive to climate warming and human disturbance and suffers accelerating degradation. Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTSs) are slope failures due to the thawing of ice-rich permafrost. They typical...

Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTSs) are among the most dynamic landforms resulting from the thawing of ice-rich permafrost. However, RTS distribution and evolution are poorly quantified because most of them occur in remote and inaccessible areas. In this study, we propose a method that integrates deep learning, change detection, and medial axis transf...

The degradation of near-surface permafrost under ongoing climate change on the Qinghai‒Tibet Plateau (QTP) is of growing concern due to its impacts on geomorphological and ecological processes, as well as human activities. There is an increased need for an in‒depth understanding of the evolution of permafrost temperature (Ttop) and active-layer thi...

The soil hydrological properties (HPs) in active layers regulate soil water migration and affect the evolution of permafrost and biogeochemical cycles. There is relatively little understanding of the changes in soil HPs as a result of soil particle-size distribution (PSD) in the permafrost regions of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. In this study, differ...

Although the thermal regime and degradation of permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) have been widely documented, little information exists regarding the island permafrost in the area. Ground temperatures were therefore measured for 8 years (2013–2020) at a permafrost island and at two contrasting sites in the Xidatan region to elucidate th...

The crushed-rock interlayer (CRI), as typical cooling technique used in the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, cannot be directly applied in expressways traversing permafrost areas because of the intense heat-absorption asphalt pavement. Sufficient cooling of permafrost foundation to meet the demand of engineering stability is an important issue. In this study...

Slope direction affects permafrost degradation because of its influence on the surface energy balance. The ground thermal difference between slopes of differing aspect is known, however there are few detailed reports on differences in soil temperature, humidity, and radiation from slopes in permafrost areas that caused permafrost degradation. In th...

Thermokarst lakes (TLs) caused by the thaw of massive ground ice in ice-rich permafrost landscapes are increasing and have strong impacts on the hydro–ecological environment and human infrastructure on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP), however, its spatial distribution characteristics and environmental controls have not been underrepresented at the...

Permafrost is an important part of the cryosphere, playing an integral role in the hydrologic cycle, ecology, and influencing human activity. Melting of ground ice can drastically change landscapes and associated thaw subsidence may induce instability of infrastructure. The terrain conditions on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are complex, and the spatia...

Thermokarst landslides (TL) caused by the thaw of ground ice in permafrost slopes are increasing on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), but the understanding of the spatially suitable environmental conditions including terrains and climate for them has not been fully established. Here, we applied multiple machine learning models and their ensemble to...

A crushed-rock revetment (CRR) with high permeability that can be paved on embankment slopes is widely used to cool and protect the subgrade permafrost. In this study, a traditional CRR over warm permafrost was selected to investigate its cooling characteristics based on the ground temperature observed from 2003 to 2014. A new mitigation structure...

Freeze-thaw interface in unsaturated coarse-grained soil (CGS) is a weak plane which can cause slope failures in cold regions. This study presents a series of large-scale direct shear tests on freeze-thaw interface in CGS through a temperature control system. The tested soil was taken from a high slope in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It was remolded...

How to deal with the issues that crushed-rock revetment embankments are facing, such as inadequate cooling, sand-filling, and rock-weathering, is of importance for the integrity and safe service of roadways built on warm permafrost (> −1.0 °C) in the Tibet Plateau. In this study, a new slope cooling and protection structure (SCPS) was developed and...

Ground ice is a key component of permafrost, and its melt induced by climate change and anthropogenic disturbance has been causing increased ground surface subsidence, thermal erosion, and engineering problems. However, the distribution and quantity of ground ice in permafrost have yet to be investigated in detail on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP)...

A poor cooling effect on warm permafrost (> −1.0 °C) was observed in the crushed-rock revetment embankment (CRRE), which is widely used in the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. The filling of the porous rock layers caused by wind-blown sand and rock-weathering in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau can further weaken the cooling capacity of the CRRE and may cause insta...

The mechanisms of hydrological processes, biochemical cycles, and permafrost revolution, and the potential impacts of climate change on these, are still poorly quantified in alpine regions, partly due to a lack of understanding of soil water dynamics in the permafrost active layer. In this study, soil water in the active layer was monitored in-situ...

To evaluate the geotechnical properties of coarse-grained soil affected by cyclic freeze-thaw, the electrical resistivity and mechanical tests are conducted. The soil specimens are prepared under different water contents, dry densities and exposed to 0-20 freeze-thaw cycles. As a result, the stress-strain behavior of the specimen (w =14.0% and ρd=1...

Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTSs) are among the most dynamic landforms in permafrost areas, and their formation can be attributed to the thawing of ice-rich permafrost. The spatial distribution and impacts of RTSs on the Tibetan Plateau are poorly understood due to their remote location and the technical challenges of automatic mapping. In this stud...

Fine-grained valley sediments in cold mountain regions can cause frost heave and thaw settlement problems to infrastructure. These processes have caused major issues along a highway between Tanchang County and Diebu County in south Gansu province (the TDH), northwest China. A planned high-speed railway between Chengdu and Xi’ning, the capitals in t...

The Harbin–Dalian Passenger Dedicated Line (HDPDL) is the first high-speed railway in deep seasonally frozen ground in China. Frost heave is among the most difficult problems in roadbed deformation control in such area. In this study, the ground temperatures and frost heave in a road cut section (K865) and an embankment section (K866) along the HDP...

Freeze-thaw cycles are closely related to the slope instability in high-altitude mountain regions. In this study, cohesive coarse-grained soils were collected from a high-altitude slope in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to study the effect of cyclic freeze-thaw on their uniaxial mechanical properties. The soil specimens were remolded with three dry dens...

Permafrost is degrading on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) due to climate change. Permafrost degradation can result in ecosystem changes and damage to infrastructure. However, we lack baseline data related to permafrost thermal dynamics at a local scale. Here, we model climate change impacts on permafrost from 1986 to 2075 at a high resolution usin...

Air, ground surface, and permafrost surface temperatures are important components of the permafrost thermal regime. However, ground temperatures from one or two boreholes are commonly considered representative of site conditions in permafrost studies despite significant variations in local surface conditions. This makes the evaluation of site-scale...

Freezing/thawing indices are useful for assessments of climate change, surface and subsurface hydrology, energy balance, moisture balance, carbon exchange, ecosystem diversity and productivity. Current freezing/thawing indices are inadequate to meet these requirements. We use 16 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) models available...

Permafrost thermal conditions across the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor (QTEC) is of growing interest due to infrastructure development. Most modeling of the permafrost thermal regime has been conducted at coarser spatial resolution, which is not suitable for engineering construction in a warming climate. Here we model the spatial permafrost th...

The Lanzhou-Xinjiang high-speed railway is the first and the longest high-speed railway built in the high altitude and seasonally frozen areas in the North-west China. Frost heave is a basic problem need to be studied and prevented for the safe operation of the railway. In this paper, frost heave was monitored in four sections along the railway fro...

Frost-heave of the subgrade significantly influences the stability of transportation infrastructure. In particular, small amounts of frost heave in coarse-grained subgrade fill may pose challenges to the safe operation of high-speed railway lines in cold regions. In this study, frost heave, ground temperatures, and soil moisture contents were exami...

The current crushed-rock interlayer structure, which was successfully adopted in construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, cannot maintain the foundation stability of expressways in permafrost regions because of the strong heat absorption of the wide and dark-colored asphalt pavement surface. To satisfy the higher cooling requirement of expressway...

Thermokarst lakes are a ubiquitous landscape feature, which widely distributed in the pan-arctic and some low latitude regions, and are associated with regional hydrological processes. The studies were taken to obtain a better understanding of the water balance of thermokarst lakes in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) in order to gain insight of the...

The distribution and variations of permafrost in the Xidatan region, the northern permafrost boundary of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, were examined and analyzed using ground penetrating radar (GPR), borehole drilling, and thermal monitoring data. Results from GPR profiles together with borehole verification indicate that the lowest elevation limit of...

Crushed-rock revetment embankments (CRRE) were the most commonly used structure in the construction of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway, and also is a main strengthening measure at the later period's maintenance. Numerical and short-time field monitoring results have confirmed the cooling effects of CRRE, but studies regarding the long-term embankment the...

Coupled strengthening measures of ripped-rock (RR) revetment and two-phase closed thermosyphons (TCPTs), referred to as CRRTs, have proved to be effective in solving the thaw-induced problems in engineering constructions in permafrost regions. However, one of the key issues is related to the effectiveness of the current CRRT systems in the long ter...

Purpose Soil water retention plays a crucial role in regulating soil moisture dynamics, water circulation, plant growth, contaminant transport, and permafrost stability, and it is an issue of concern in water-limited ecosystems. However, our understanding of the relationship between plant roots and soil water retention is still relatively poor in t...

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is known as the Third Polar of the earth and the Water Tower of Asia, with more than 70% of the area on the QTP is covered by permafrost possibly. An accurate permafrost distribution map based on valid and available methods is indispensable for the local environment evaluation and engineering constructions planning....

Permafrost distribution in the Qinghai-Tibet Engineering Corridor (QTEC) is of growing interest due to the increase in infrastructure development in this remote area. Empirical models of mountain permafrost distribution have been established based on field sampled data, as a tool for regional-scale assessments of its distribution. This kind of mode...

Parts of Eurasia underlain by large areas of frozen ground that are both sensitive to, and an indicator of, climate change. Previous studies have investigated the effect of climate change on frozen ground; however, those studies did not quantify the past or projected climate change effects for specific frozen ground regions. This study applied surf...

Pile foundations of Chalaping bridge in the basically stable low temperature permafrost region and Huashixia test site in the unstable warm permafrost region along the National Road G214 were selected for study. The influence of the pile foundations on the ground temperature was analyzed based on the measured data of ground temperature around the p...

Sun sheds were once used as an effective roadbed cooling technique in permafrost regions. Numerical and indoor-experiment results have confirmed the cooling effects of the sun-shaded embankments, but field-monitored data are still necessary to evaluate their long-term performance. This paper discusses the cooling effects of a sun shed over a sectio...

Lakes are the main water resource for migrating animals and herdsmen in permafrost regions along the Qinghai-Tibet Engineering Corridor (QTEC) and play a crucial role in regulating the balance between regional surface water and groundwater. Hydrochemical properties also affect the soil environment, ecological conditions, and hydrological cycle. In...

It has been proved that the crushed-rock revetment (CRR), used as technique for improving foundation stability in the Qinghai-Tibet Railway (QTR), produces an insufficient cooling effect on warm permafrost; this may affect the stability of the roadbed and pose a threat to its long-term safe operation, particularly in a warming climate. To solve thi...

A series of 1-D freezing experiments were conducted to simulate frost heave in saturated coarse-grained soil (CGS) with variable fines content. Visible frost heave occurred in CGS that contained a considerable fraction of fines when supplied by an external water source. Near the beginning of the experiments, a small amount of water was expelled, li...

Beiluhe basin is underlain by warm and ice-rich permafrost, and covered by vegetation and soils characteristic of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. A field monitoring network was established to investigate permafrost conditions and to assess potential impacts of local factors and climate change. This paper describes the spatial variations in permafrost co...

Thermokarst is a term associated with the thaw of ice-rich permafrost and the resulting formation of irregular depressions in the landscape from thaw settlement. Thermokarst lakes may subsequently develop from ponds formed in depressions. These lakes commonly have collapsing shorelines, and the development of thermokarst terrain and associated ther...

Permafrost is determined to a large extent by the Earth’s surface temperature, therefore it distributes mainly in high altitude and latitude regions. However, stable, warm (about −1 °C) permafrost occurs within a scree slope in northern China that is more than 600 km south of the southernmost limit of latitudinal permafrost on the Eurasian Continen...

The formation of thermokarst lakes can degrade alpine meadow ecosystems through changes in soil water and heat properties, which might have an effect on the regional surface water and groundwater processes. In this study, a typical thermokarst lake was selected in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), and the ecological index (SL) was used to divide the...

Knowledge of the spatial distribution of permafrost and the effects of climate on ground temperature are important for land use and infrastructure development on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). Different permafrost models have been developed to simulate the ground temperature and active layer thickness (ALT). In this study, Temperature at Top of P...

The thermal influence of a thermokarst lake on permafrost in the Beiluhe Basin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was examined over nearly 10 yr (2006-2014), and lake development involved both downward and lateral heat transfers. Downward heat transfer rapidly thawed 8 m of permafrost beneath the lake bottom center, forming a through talik (i.e., year-ro...

Crushed rock embankment, as a typical technique to cool roadbeds, is widely used in the embankment engineering of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway (QTR) in permafrost regions. Its cooling effect has been paid special attention under a climate warming scenario and the warm and ice-rich permafrost. Ground temperatures of three kinds of crushed rock embankme...

Ten years of ground temperature data (2003-2013) indicate that the long-term thermal regimes within embankments of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway (QTR) vary significantly with different embankment structures. Obvious asymmetries exist in the ground temperature fields within the traditional embankment (TE) and the crushed-rock basement embankment (CRBE)....

This work presents changes of thermokarst lakes from Beilu River Basin on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau over the past four decades (1969-2010) using aerial and satellite image interpretation. The results indicated that thermokarst lake activity had generally increased rapidly between 1969 and 2010. The number of thermokarst lakes had increased by appro...

Commonly, permafrost conditions are characterised by one or two temperature profiles within each unit of a study area. Intra-unit variation is therefore unknown, and the extent to which the data represent unit conditions cannot be estimated. We have collected ground temperatures from 55 boreholes to 5 m depth drilled in four 200 m2 plots next to th...

The distribution of permafrost-related slope failures along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway from Wuddaoliang to Fenghuoshan correlates with ice content, slope gradient, and ground temperature. Slope failures are of two types. (1) Retrogressive thaw slumps result from icy permafrost being exposed by either man-induced excavation or fluvial-thermal erosion...

Thermokarst lakes have greatly influenced landscapes in cold regions, and the thermal erosion of their lakeshores may induce ground instability that affects infrastructure. Our study area includes three sub-regions where thermokarst lakes have obviously extended: the Chumaerhe high plateau, Wudaoliang basin, and Beiluhe basin. Based on continual mo...

With recent climatic warming and enhanced human activities, slope failures related to permafrost degradation are widespread along the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor. Assessment and mapping of the slope failures are necessary to mitigate hazards and plan engineering activities. According to our field investigations, the occurrence of slope failu...

In order to determine the distribution and morphometric characteristics of thermokarst lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, SPOT-5 satellite images were acquired from the Chumaerhe High Plateau to Beiluhe Basin within a 10-km-wide corridor along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. A total of 2163 water bodies, having a total area of 1.09 × 107 m2, were ident...

Citation: Liu MH, Niu FJ, Fang JH, et al., 2014. In-situ testing study on convection and temperature characteristics of a new crushed-rock slope embankment design in a permafrost region. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 6(4): 0378–0387. ABSTRACT For the purpose of enhancing air convection and controlling solar radiation, a new crushed-rock slope...

As one of the areas with numerous lakes on the Tibetan Plateau, the Hoh Xil region plays an extremely important role in the fragile plateau eco-environment. Based on topographic maps in the 1970s and Landsat TM/ETM+ remote sensing images in the 1990s and the period from 2000 to 2011, the data of 83 lakes with an area above 10 km2 each were obtained...

Namco Lake, Yamzho Yumco Lake, and Mapam Yamco Lake are the “three holy lakes” of Tibet. Based on the topographic map of 1970 and the Landsat TM/ETM + remote sensing images of 1970 and from 1990 to 2012, satellite altimetry data, observed data from meteorological stations, and the changes of the “three holy lakes” in area, water level and water sto...

Thermokarst lakes have been developing recently along the Qinghai-Tibet engineering corridor in association with increased human activity and persistent climatic warming. Based on field observations, we assessed the susceptibility of terrain to the development of thermokarst lakes between the Chumaerhe River and Fenghuoshan mountain pass. A suscept...