Scientists and senior schoolchildren have measured the permafrost seasonal thaw depth near the town of Kharp in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, the press service of the Arctic Research Center reports. Schoolchildren will also help process the data and will be able to use it for their own projects.

"An expedition has been carried out to the town of Kharp, to the site of the international Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) program," the press center said. "Together with scientists, children of the Salekhard children's and youth center took part in studying the permafrost seasonal thaw depth. The researchers and the children used a frost tube and modern electrical research tools — ground-penetrating radar and electrical tomography."

These methods help acquire additional information about the cryolithic zone (the top layer of the Earth's crust) to study its evolution.

"Schoolchildren were involved in the project for encouraging talented teenagers' interest in research activities," said Anton Sinitsky, director of the Arctic Research Center. "The schoolchildren felt like real field researchers at the CALM site."

The children will also be able to help analyze the data and use the results for their own projects and for school research and practical conferences.