Remote sensing of frozen lakes on the north slope of Alaska

French, N. H. F.; Savage, Sean; Shuchman, Robert A.; Edson, Roger T.; Payne, John; Josberger, Edward G.

doi:10.1109/igarss.2004.1370330

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…If lake ice grows thick enough to completely ground to the lake bed, the C-band SAR backscatter intensity is low (−14 to −18 dB). Evaluating high or low C-band SAR backscatter from lake ice has become an established method for determining whether a lake retains floating ice all winter or if lake ice is frozen completely to the lake bed in arctic and subarctic lakes (Jeffries et al, 1996;French et al, 2004;White et al, 2008;Arp et al, 2012). After a thorough literature search, we could not find any detailed reports that characterized Lband calibrated SAR backscatter intensity from floating and grounded lake ice to follow the early potential that Elachi et al (1976) reported from L-band airborne radar.…”

Section: Engram Et Al: Characterization Of L-band Synthetic Apertmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…The same phenomenon of high-backscatter return from floating ice and low return from grounded ice was observed in the early 1990s with the advent of calibrated spaceborne SAR, using the C-band VV microwave signal of ERS-1 and ERS-2 (Jeffries et al, 1994;Morris et al, 1995;French et al, 2004). Others have observed this difference using Radarsat-1 C-band HH data Hirose et al, 2008;Arp et al, 2011).…”

Section: Engram Et Al: Characterization Of L-band Synthetic Apertmentioning

confidence: 82%

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Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska

et al. 2013

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Abstract. Radar remote sensing is a well-established method to discriminate lakes retaining liquid-phase water beneath winter ice cover from those that do not. L-band (23.6 cm wavelength) airborne radar showed great promise in the 1970s, but spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) studies have focused on C-band (5.6 cm) SAR to classify lake ice with no further attention to L-band SAR for this purpose. Here, we examined calibrated L-band single-and quadraturepolarized SAR returns from floating and grounded lake ice in two regions of Alaska: the northern Seward Peninsula (NSP) where methane ebullition is common in lakes and the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) where ebullition is relatively rare. We found average backscatter intensities of −13 dB and −16 dB for late winter floating ice on the NSP and ACP, respectively, and −19 dB for grounded ice in both regions. Polarimetric analysis revealed that the mechanism of L-band SAR backscatter from floating ice is primarily roughness at the ice-water interface. L-band SAR showed less contrast between floating and grounded lake ice than C-band; however, since L-band is sensitive to ebullition bubbles trapped by lake ice (bubbles increase backscatter), this study helps elucidate potential confounding factors of grounded ice in methane studies using SAR.

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Section: Engram Et Al: Characterization Of L-band Synthetic Apertmentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Engram Et Al: Characterization Of L-band Synthetic Apertmentioning

confidence: 82%

Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska

et al. 2013

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“…Our analysis matched these past findings, with frequent cloud gaps and sun glint artifacts in the Landsat and Sentinel 2 time series. SAR has also been found to better characterize lakes during ice cover compared to optical data [50,51], though accuracy declines once the lake fully freezes over [52][53][54] and it results in overestimation of water area due to specular reflection from a smooth surface. A hybrid approach incorporating optical and SAR data could help address this limitation during winter.…”

Section: Effectiveness Of Sensors For Capturing Water Area and Water-...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Multi-Sensor Approach to Characterize Winter Water-Level Drawdown Patterns in Lakes

Kumar,

Roy,

Andreadis

et al. 2024

Remote Sensing

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Artificial manipulation of lake water levels through practices like winter water-level drawdown (WD) is prevalent across many regions, but the spatiotemporal patterns are not well documented due to limited in situ monitoring. Multi-sensor satellite remote sensing provides an opportunity to map and analyze drawdown frequency and metrics (timing, magnitude, duration) at broad scales. This study developed a cloud computing framework to process time series of synthetic aperture radar (Sentinel 1-SAR) and optical sensor (Landsat 8, Sentinel 2) data to characterize WD in 166 lakes across Massachusetts, USA, during 2016–2021. Comparisons with in situ logger data showed that the Sentinel 1-derived surface water area captured relative water-level fluctuations indicative of WD. A machine learning approach classified lakes as WD versus non-WD based on seasonal water-level fluctuations derived from Sentinel 1-SAR data. The framework mapped WD lakes statewide, revealing prevalence throughout Massachusetts with interannual variability. Results showed WDs occurred in over 75% of lakes during the study period, with high interannual variability in the number of lakes conducting WD. Mean WD magnitude was highest in the wettest year (2018) but % lake area exposure did not show any association with precipitation and varied between 8% to 12% over the 5-year period. WD start date was later and duration was longer in wet years, indicating climate mediation of WD implementation driven by management decisions. The data and tools developed provide an objective information resource to evaluate ecological impacts and guide management of this prevalent but understudied phenomenon. Overall, the results and interactive web tool developed as part of this study provide new hydrologic intelligence to inform water management and policies related to WD practices.

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“…These methods use the difference in backscatter between FI and BFI to identify threshold(s) capable of differentiating between the two types of ice cover. Approaches vary from applying a single threshold for binary classification to a variable threshold determined through interactive threshold algorithms according to the diversity of the SAR datasets involved (e.g., French et al 2004;Engram et al 2018) 2022). Our goal is to determine the lake ice regime (FI and BFI) for lakes in our study area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using RADARSAT constellation mission imagery to support talik mapping, Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Canada

Sladen,

LeBlanc,

Chartrand

et al. 2024

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In continuous permafrost regions, taliks (perennially unfrozen ground) are mainly found beneath lakes that do not freeze to their bottom. Open taliks penetrate permafrost and provide conduits between surface water and groundwater. Knowledge of these pathways is critical for mining projects to understand mine-water inflow and assess the effects of mining activities on the groundwater-surface water system. Among other factors, talik extent is a function of lake bottom temperature, lake size, and the presence of shallow terraces, where bottom-fast ice (BFI) may occur. In this paper, we use RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) imagery to support the classification of lakes with potential for open taliks in the Rankin Inlet area, Nunavut. We use RCM images collected in December 2022 and March 2023 to classify pixel values as BFI or floating ice (FI) based on image differencing and a threshold of -2 dB. The classified BFI showed good agreement with available bathymetry and field measurements. Ninety-nine percent (98.9%) of BFI mapped coincided with lake depths < 2 m. Lake depths < 0.5 m were classified as having on average 28.4% BFI. The lower proportion of BFI at the shallow depths is likely related to the timing of the reference RCM image. Classified BFI was less than half as extensive as lake terraces determined from multi-spectral imagery, suggesting that this methodology would result in a greater number of lakes with potential taliks. These results could be improved by obtaining imagery earlier in the season before BFI is established.

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Remote sensing of frozen lakes on the north slope of Alaska

Cited by 5 publications

References 8 publications

Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska

Characterization of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from floating and grounded thermokarst lake ice in Arctic Alaska

A Multi-Sensor Approach to Characterize Winter Water-Level Drawdown Patterns in Lakes

Using RADARSAT constellation mission imagery to support talik mapping, Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Canada

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