The Role of Convective Heat Transport in the Thawing of Frozen Soils

Abstract

One-dimensional solutions for the rate of thaw in frozen soils often neglect the effects of convective heat transfer in the thawing soil. To the present time, it has been difficult to assess the importance of such effects for thawing soils due to the complexities in obtaining solutions to the mathematical problem. This note describes a solution for a one-dimensional thawing problem of considerable practical interest, which accounts for convective heat transfer caused by the migration of melt water to the soil surface. The solution applies for a wide range of conditions likely to be experienced in the field, and demonstrates the very minor role played by convective heat transfer in determining the rate of thaw. It is encouraging to observe that for most one-dimensional thaw calculations, the effects of convective heat transfer may be neglected without significant loss in accuracy.