Estimating the extent of near‐surface permafrost using remote sensing, Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories

Nguyễn, Thị Nhạn; Burn, C. R.; King, Douglas J.; Smith, S L

doi:10.1002/ppp.637

Cited by 60 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…However, the association between land surface features and permafrost conditions has to be clear and interpretation needs good knowledge and experience. Several studies map permafrost distribution by classifying satellite images (e.g., Morrisey et al, 1986;Leverington and Duguay, 1997;Nguyen et al, 2009). Since permafrost cannot presently be directly imaged by optical satellite-based sensors, permafrost condition must be indirectly derived from permafrost-related and remote-sensing detectable geophysical or surface features.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such local variation depends primarily on the distribution of vegetation and ground conditions including soil composition, snow, topography, and drainage (e.g., Brown, 1973;Shur and Jorgenson, 2007;Morse et al, 2012). High resolution land cover maps developed from satellite imagery can capture some general features of soil and hydrological conditions, therefore they can explain some of the major differences in permafrost conditions Nguyen et al, 2009;Jorgenson et al, 2010 (Duguay et al, 2005;Zhang et al, 2013). Field observations show that organic layer thickness (OLT) on the top of the mineral soil, including mosses and lichens, is a dominant factor affecting active-layer thickness and ground temperature (e.g., Harris, 1987;Kasischke and Johnstone, 2005;Johnson et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A new approach to mapping permafrost and change incorporating uncertainties in ground conditions and climate projections

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Spatially detailed information on permafrost distribution and change with climate is important for land use planning, infrastructure development, and environmental assessments. However, the required soil and surficial geology maps in the North are coarse, and projected climate scenarios vary widely. Considering these uncertainties, we propose a new approach to mapping permafrost distribution and change by integrating remote sensing data, field measurements, and a process-based model. Land cover types from satellite imagery are used to capture the general land conditions and to improve the resolution of existing permafrost maps. For each land cover type, field observations are used to estimate the probabilities of different ground conditions. A process-based model is used to quantify the evolution of permafrost for each ground condition under three representative climate scenarios (low, medium, and high warming). From the model results, the probability of permafrost occurrence and the most likely permafrost conditions are determined. We apply this approach at 20 m resolution to a large area in Northwest Territories, Canada. Mapped permafrost conditions are in agreement with field observations and other studies. The data requirements, model robustness, and computation time are reasonable, and this approach may serve as a practical means to mapping permafrost and changes at high resolution in other regions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new approach to mapping permafrost and change incorporating uncertainties in ground conditions and climate projections

et al. 2014

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“…With the recent development of infrared remote sensing technology, an increasing number of land surface temperature (LST, defined as the average temperature of an element of the exact surface of the Earth (e.g. surface of ground, vegetation canopy, or snow cover) calculated from measured radiance; Gillespie, 2014) products derived from different satellite images have been applied to global and regional permafrost distribution research (Kääb, 2008;Hachem et al, 2009;Nguyen et al, 2009;Langer et al, 2010;Westermann et al, 2012Westermann et al, , 2015. These products are effective alternatives to GST, especially for regions with limited in situ observations, such as the TP.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new map of permafrost distribution on the Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2017

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Abstract. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) has the largest areas of permafrost terrain in the mid-and low-latitude regions of the world. Some permafrost distribution maps have been compiled but, due to limited data sources, ambiguous criteria, inadequate validation, and deficiency of high-quality spatial data sets, there is high uncertainty in the mapping of the permafrost distribution on the TP. We generated a new permafrost map based on freezing and thawing indices from modified Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperatures (LSTs) and validated this map using various ground-based data sets. The soil thermal properties of five soil types across the TP were estimated according to an empirical equation and soil properties (moisture content and bulk density). The temperature at the top of permafrost (TTOP) model was applied to simulate the permafrost distribution. Permafrost, seasonally frozen ground, and unfrozen ground covered areas of 1.06 × 10 6 km 2 (0.97-1.15 × 10 6 km 2 , 90 % confidence interval) (40 %), 1.46 × 10 6 (56 %), and 0.03 × 10 6 km 2 (1 %), respectively, excluding glaciers and lakes. Ground-based observations of the permafrost distribution across the five investigated regions (IRs, located in the transition zones of the permafrost and seasonally frozen ground) and three highway transects (across the entire permafrost regions from north to south) were used to validate the model. Validation results showed that the kappa coefficient varied from 0.38 to 0.78 with a mean of 0.57 for the five IRs and 0.62 to 0.74 with a mean of 0.68 within the three transects. Compared with earlier studies, the TTOP modelling results show greater accuracy. The results provide more detailed information on the permafrost distribution and basic data for use in future research on the Tibetan Plateau permafrost.

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“…The delta is dominated by permafrost and oil, and gas extraction activities are disturbing the environment (Kuenzer et al, 2015). The floodplain is composed of silt and sand, covered by boreal species of spruce (Picea), alder (Alnus), willow (Salix), birch (Betula), poplar (Populus), Equisetum and tundra species north of the tree line (Nguyen et al, 2009)…”

Section: Study Region 10mentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantification of surface water volume changes in the Mackenzie Delta using satellite multi-mission data

Normandin¹,

Frappart²,

Lubac³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Abstract. Quantification of surface water storage in extensive floodplains and their dynamics are crucial for a better understanding of global hydrological and biogeochemical cycles. In this study, we present estimates of both 15 surface water extent and storage combining multi-missions remotely-sensed observations and their temporal evolution over more than 15 years in the Mackenzie Delta. The Mackenzie Delta is located in the North West of Canada and is the second largest delta in the Arctic Ocean. The delta is frozen from October to May and the recurrent ice break up provokes an increase of the river's flows. Thus, this phenomenon causes intensive floods along the delta every year with dramatic environmental impacts. In this study, the dynamics of surface water 20 extent and volume analyzed from 2000 to 2015 by combining multi-satellite information from MODIS multispectral images at 500 m spatial resolution and river stages derived from ERS-2 (1995ERS-2 ( -2003, ENVISAT (2002ENVISAT ( -2010 and SARAL (since 2013) altimetry data. The surface water extent (permanent water and flooded area) peaked in June with an area of 9,600 km² (+/-200 km²) on average, representing approximately 70% of the delta's total surface. Altimetry-based water levels exhibit annual amplitudes ranging from 4 m in the downstream part to 25 more than 10 m in the upstream part of the Mackenzie Delta. A high overall correlation between the satellitederived and in situ water heights (R>0.84) is found for the three altimetry missions. Finally, using altimetry-based water levels and MODIS-derived surface water extents, maps of interpolated water heights over the surface water extents are produced. Results indicate a high variability of the water height magnitude that can reach 10 meters compared to the lowest water height in the upstream part of the delta during the flood peak in June. Furthermore, 30 the total surface water volume is estimated and shows an annual variation of approximately 8.5 km 3 during the whole study period, with a maximum of 14.4 km 3 observed in 2006. The good agreement between the total surface water volume retrievals and in situ river discharges (R=0.66) allows validating this innovative multi-mission approach and highlights the high potential to study the surface water extent dynamics.

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Estimating the extent of near‐surface permafrost using remote sensing, Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories

Cited by 60 publications

References 34 publications

A new approach to mapping permafrost and change incorporating uncertainties in ground conditions and climate projections

A new approach to mapping permafrost and change incorporating uncertainties in ground conditions and climate projections

A new map of permafrost distribution on the Tibetan Plateau

Quantification of surface water volume changes in the Mackenzie Delta using satellite multi-mission data

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