Semiautomatic mapping of permafrost in the Yukon Flats, Alaska

Gulbrandsen, Mats Lundh; Minsley, Burke J.; Ball, Lyndsay B.; Hansen, Thomas Mejer

doi:10.1002/2016gl071334

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…This study deployed AirSWOT and a field team to eastern interior Alaska in June 2015 for testing over the Yukon Flats Basin (YFB), a protected wetland area within the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, which straddles the Arctic circle (Figure a). The YFB has complex, low‐relief topography and is underlain by discontinuous permafrost (Gulbrandsen et al, ; Minsley et al, ; Pastick et al, ). It is characterized by hydrologically connected and disconnected lakes (Cooley et al, ), remnant oxbows (Brabets et al, ), and intermittently inundated lakes and wetlands (Jepsen et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

AirSWOT InSAR Mapping of Surface Water Elevations and Hydraulic Gradients Across the Yukon Flats Basin, Alaska

Pitcher

Pavelsky

Smith

et al. 2019

Water Resources Research

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AirSWOT, an experimental airborne Ka-band interferometric synthetic aperture radar, was developed for hydrologic research and validation of the forthcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission (to be launched in 2021). AirSWOT and SWOT aim to improve understanding of surface water processes by mapping water surface elevation (WSE) and water surface slope (WSS) in rivers, lakes, and wetlands. However, the utility of AirSWOT for these purposes remains largely unexamined. We present the first investigation of AirSWOT WSE and WSS surveys over complex, low-relief, wetland-river hydrologic environments, including (1) a field-validated assessment of AirSWOT WSE and WSS precisions for lakes and rivers in the Yukon Flats Basin, an Arctic-Boreal wetland complex in eastern interior Alaska; (2) improved scientific understanding of surface water flow gradients and the influence of subsurface permafrost; and (3) recommendations for improving AirSWOT precisions in future scientific and SWOT validation campaigns. AirSWOT quantifies WSE with an RMSE of 8 and 15 cm in 1 and 0.0625 km 2 river reaches, respectively, and 21 cm in lakes. This indicates good utility for studying hydrologic flux, WSS, geomorphic processes, and coupled surface/subsurface hydrology in permafrost environments. This also suggests that AirSWOT supplies sufficient precision for validating SWOT WSE and WSS over rivers, but not lakes. However, improvements in sensor calibration and flight experiment design may improve precisions in future deployments as may modifications to data processing. We conclude that AirSWOT is a useful tool for bridging the gap between field observations and forthcoming global SWOT satellite products.This study deployed AirSWOT and a field team to eastern interior Alaska in June 2015 for testing over the Yukon Flats Basin (YFB), a protected wetland area within the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, which straddles the Arctic circle (Figure 1a). The YFB has complex, low-relief topography and is underlain by PITCHER ET AL.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

AirSWOT InSAR Mapping of Surface Water Elevations and Hydraulic Gradients Across the Yukon Flats Basin, Alaska

Pitcher

Pavelsky

Smith

et al. 2019

Water Resources Research

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“…Airborne and spaceborne remote sensors can easily cover broad areas (Romanovsky et al 2010, Hu et al 2021. Machine learning models can assist in predicting ALT and other related features from specific measurement locations in cold regions across a wider area (Panda et al 2012, Pastick et al 2015, Gulbrandsen et al 2016, Shi et al 2018, Whitley et al 2018, Baral and Haq 2020. To strengthen these models, inputs such as multispectral (Oldenborger et al 2022) and hyperspectral (Anderson et al 2019) remote sensing imagery, airborne geophysics (Jorgenson and Grosse 2016), terrestrial laser scanning (Anders et al 2020), light detection and ranging (LiDAR; Brown et al 2016), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI; Beck et al 2015), and vegetation data (Heijmans et al 2022) can be utilized.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantification of active layer depth at multiple scales in Interior Alaska permafrost

Brodylo,

Douglas,

Zhang

2024

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Much of Interior Alaska is underlain by permafrost that has been thawing at an unprecedented rate. Top-down expansion of the seasonally thawed “active layer” and development of thermokarst features are increasing across the landscape. This can be attributed primarily due to a warming climate and disturbances like wildfires which have accelerated summer season permafrost thaw. Quantification of active layer thickness (ALT) is critical to understanding the response of permafrost terrains to these disturbances. ALT measurements are time consuming, and point based. As a result, there are large uncertainties in ALT estimates at regional/global scales (100 km2 or larger) using field scale (1 m2) measurements as direct inputs for calibrating/validating large scale process-based or statistical/empirical models. Here we developed a framework to link field scale ALT measurements with satellite observations to a regional scale (100 km2) via an intermediary upscaling of field scale ALT to the local scale (1 km2) with fine-resolution airborne hyperspectral and LiDAR data, thus leading to a characterization of ALT across space and time at multiple scales. We applied an object-based machine learning ensemble approach to upscale field scale (1 m2) measurements to the local (1 km2) and regional scale (100 km2) and achieved encouraging results across three permafrost experimental sites in Interior Alaska that represent a variety of terrain types. Our study demonstrates that generating local scale data products is an effective approach to bridge the gap with field scale measurements and regional scale estimations as it seeks to reduce upscaling uncertainty.

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“…(2012) and Gulbrandsen et al. (2016) used airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys to delineate taliks below lakes and rivers in a discontinuous permafrost environment in the Yukon Flats, Alaska. While AEM surveys cover a large area, they provide less detail in comparison to ground ERT surveys on permafrost and unfrozen zones below water bodies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…GPR, e.g., has been used in a few studies to determine the active layer thickness beneath arctic streams (Bradford et al, 2010;Brosten et al, 2009) and to identify the features of river taliks (Steven et al, 1998). In addition, Minsley et al (2012) and Gulbrandsen et al (2016) used airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys to delineate taliks below lakes and rivers in a discontinuous permafrost environment in the Yukon Flats, Alaska. While AEM surveys cover a large area, they provide less detail in comparison to ground ERT surveys on permafrost and unfrozen zones below water bodies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Three‐Dimensional Numerical Modeling of Cryo‐Hydrogeological Processes in a River‐Talik System in a Continuous Permafrost Environment

Liu

Fortier

Molson

et al. 2022

Water Resources Research

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In continuous permafrost environments, understanding complex river‐talik system dynamics is fundamental for the sustainable use of talik aquifers as a source of drinking water in remote communities. A conceptual model of a river‐talik system was previously developed based on field investigations in the floodplain of the Kuuguluk River at Salluit, Nunavik (Quebec), Canada, including geophysical surveys and monitoring of hydraulic heads and riverbed temperatures. This conceptual model is here used to develop a 3D numerical model for simulating the governing cryo‐hydrogeological processes and dynamic system behavior. The numerical simulations, supported by the field data, show that the width and thickness of the river talik is highly correlated to the width of the overlying riverbed. In summer, the river talik is hydraulically connected to the riverbed, and groundwater from the talik aquifer is contributing to river baseflow. In winter, when the river and riverbed freeze, the river talik becomes hydraulically isolated from the riverbed. Under such conditions, the river talik acts as a tube‐like conduit system which focusses groundwater flow. Increasing hydraulic heads at constrictions in the talik can be sufficient to fracture the frozen riverbed and ice cover, leading to groundwater overflows and icing formation. This study presents an integrated field and modeling approach for assessing the potential of talik aquifers as reliable sources of drinking water in northern communities.

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Semiautomatic mapping of permafrost in the Yukon Flats, Alaska

Cited by 10 publications

References 28 publications

AirSWOT InSAR Mapping of Surface Water Elevations and Hydraulic Gradients Across the Yukon Flats Basin, Alaska

AirSWOT InSAR Mapping of Surface Water Elevations and Hydraulic Gradients Across the Yukon Flats Basin, Alaska

Quantification of active layer depth at multiple scales in Interior Alaska permafrost

Three‐Dimensional Numerical Modeling of Cryo‐Hydrogeological Processes in a River‐Talik System in a Continuous Permafrost Environment

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