Landsat-Based Monitoring of Landscape Dynamics in Arctic Permafrost Region
Ice-rich permafrost thaws as a result of Arctic warming, and the land surface collapses to form characteristic thermokarst landscapes. Thermokarst landscapes can bring instability to the permafrost layer, affecting regional geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology and may further lead to permafrost deg...
Published in: | Journal of Remote Sensing |
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2022
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.34133/2022/9765087 http://downloads.spj.sciencemag.org/remotesensing/2022/9765087.pdf https://spj.science.org/doi/pdf/10.34133/2022/9765087 |
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craaas:10.34133/2022/9765087 2024-06-23T07:49:42+00:00 Landsat-Based Monitoring of Landscape Dynamics in Arctic Permafrost Region Chen, Yating Liu, Aobo Cheng, Xiao National Key Research and Development Program of China National Outstanding Youth Grant 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.34133/2022/9765087 http://downloads.spj.sciencemag.org/remotesensing/2022/9765087.pdf https://spj.science.org/doi/pdf/10.34133/2022/9765087 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Remote Sensing volume 2022 ISSN 2694-1589 journal-article 2022 craaas https://doi.org/10.34133/2022/9765087 2024-05-30T08:05:52Z Ice-rich permafrost thaws as a result of Arctic warming, and the land surface collapses to form characteristic thermokarst landscapes. Thermokarst landscapes can bring instability to the permafrost layer, affecting regional geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology and may further lead to permafrost degradation and greenhouse gas emissions. Field observations in permafrost regions are often limited, while satellite imagery provides a valuable record of land surface dynamics. Currently, continuous monitoring of regional-scale thermokarst landscape dynamics and disturbances remains a challenging task. In this study, we combined the Theil–Sen estimator with the LandTrendr algorithm to create a process flow for monitoring thermokarst landscape dynamics in Arctic permafrost region on the Google Earth Engine platform. A robust linear trend analysis of the Landsat Tasseled Cap index time series based on the Theil–Sen estimator and Mann–Kendall test showed the overall trends in greenness, wetness, and brightness in northern Alaska over the past 20 years. Six types of disturbances that occur in thermokarst landscape were demonstrated and highlighted, including long-term processes (thermokarst lake expansion, shoreline retreat, and river erosion) and short-term events (thermokarst lake drainage, wildfires, and abrupt vegetation change). These disturbances are widespread throughout the Arctic permafrost region and represent hotspots of abrupt permafrost thaw in a warming context, which would destabilize fragile thermokarst landscapes rich in soil organic carbon and affect the ecological carbon balance. The cases we present provide a basis for understanding and quantifying specific disturbance analyses that will facilitate the integration of thermokarst processes into climate models. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ice permafrost Thermokarst Alaska AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Arctic Kendall ENVELOPE(-59.828,-59.828,-63.497,-63.497) Journal of Remote Sensing 2022 1 17 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) |
op_collection_id |
craaas |
language |
English |
description |
Ice-rich permafrost thaws as a result of Arctic warming, and the land surface collapses to form characteristic thermokarst landscapes. Thermokarst landscapes can bring instability to the permafrost layer, affecting regional geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology and may further lead to permafrost degradation and greenhouse gas emissions. Field observations in permafrost regions are often limited, while satellite imagery provides a valuable record of land surface dynamics. Currently, continuous monitoring of regional-scale thermokarst landscape dynamics and disturbances remains a challenging task. In this study, we combined the Theil–Sen estimator with the LandTrendr algorithm to create a process flow for monitoring thermokarst landscape dynamics in Arctic permafrost region on the Google Earth Engine platform. A robust linear trend analysis of the Landsat Tasseled Cap index time series based on the Theil–Sen estimator and Mann–Kendall test showed the overall trends in greenness, wetness, and brightness in northern Alaska over the past 20 years. Six types of disturbances that occur in thermokarst landscape were demonstrated and highlighted, including long-term processes (thermokarst lake expansion, shoreline retreat, and river erosion) and short-term events (thermokarst lake drainage, wildfires, and abrupt vegetation change). These disturbances are widespread throughout the Arctic permafrost region and represent hotspots of abrupt permafrost thaw in a warming context, which would destabilize fragile thermokarst landscapes rich in soil organic carbon and affect the ecological carbon balance. The cases we present provide a basis for understanding and quantifying specific disturbance analyses that will facilitate the integration of thermokarst processes into climate models. |
author2 |
National Key Research and Development Program of China National Outstanding Youth Grant |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Chen, Yating Liu, Aobo Cheng, Xiao |
spellingShingle |
Chen, Yating Liu, Aobo Cheng, Xiao Landsat-Based Monitoring of Landscape Dynamics in Arctic Permafrost Region |
author_facet |
Chen, Yating Liu, Aobo Cheng, Xiao |
author_sort |
Chen, Yating |
title |
Landsat-Based Monitoring of Landscape Dynamics in Arctic Permafrost Region |
title_short |
Landsat-Based Monitoring of Landscape Dynamics in Arctic Permafrost Region |
title_full |
Landsat-Based Monitoring of Landscape Dynamics in Arctic Permafrost Region |
title_fullStr |
Landsat-Based Monitoring of Landscape Dynamics in Arctic Permafrost Region |
title_full_unstemmed |
Landsat-Based Monitoring of Landscape Dynamics in Arctic Permafrost Region |
title_sort |
landsat-based monitoring of landscape dynamics in arctic permafrost region |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.34133/2022/9765087 http://downloads.spj.sciencemag.org/remotesensing/2022/9765087.pdf https://spj.science.org/doi/pdf/10.34133/2022/9765087 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-59.828,-59.828,-63.497,-63.497) |
geographic |
Arctic Kendall |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Kendall |
genre |
Arctic Ice permafrost Thermokarst Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ice permafrost Thermokarst Alaska |
op_source |
Journal of Remote Sensing volume 2022 ISSN 2694-1589 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.34133/2022/9765087 |
container_title |
Journal of Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
2022 |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
17 |
_version_ |
1802640296341667840 |