Hydrothermal regime of the urban soils in the cold period of the hydrological year of Western Siberia (Russia)

This study analysed the temperature and humidity properties of urban soils in the territory of the Mikhailovskaya Embankment Park of Culture and Recreation in Novosibirsk, Russian Federation, in the cold period of the 2018-2019 hydrological year. Data on the temperature of the air and soil at various depths, winter and spring soil moisture and data on the dynamics of snow accumulation and snow distribution were analysed. This study found that, despite high levels of humidity in the autumn and the high snow reserves that accumulated during the winter, a decrease in soil moisture content was observed after the snow had melted. Temperatures in the range of -3 to -7 degrees C were recorded in the layer of soil from 0 to 30 cm below the ground surface. Systematic clearing of the pedestrian zones of the park of snow during the winter leads to both an increase in snow height and, accordingly, water reserves in the snow in adjacent areas, and to exposure of the surfaces of rabattes, or cement subterranean garden beds, in which perennial ornamental plants are grown. This study also revealed the presence of an additional cooling effect within these rabattes on the temperature regime of the soils within them during the cold period.