Quantification of active layer depth at multiple scales in Interior Alaska permafrost
Abstract 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 climat...
Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad264b https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad264b https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad264b/pdf |
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crioppubl:10.1088/1748-9326/ad264b 2024-06-02T07:54:16+00:00 Quantification of active layer depth at multiple scales in Interior Alaska permafrost Brodylo, David Douglas, Thomas A Zhang, Caiyun Environmental Security Technology Demonstration Program Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center Army Direct Program 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad264b https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad264b https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad264b/pdf unknown IOP Publishing http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining Environmental Research Letters volume 19, issue 3, page 034013 ISSN 1748-9326 journal-article 2024 crioppubl https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad264b 2024-05-07T14:06:20Z Abstract 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 km 2 or larger) using field scale (1 m 2 ) 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 km 2 ) via an intermediary upscaling of field scale ALT to the local scale (1 km 2 ) with fine-resolution airborne hyperspectral and light detection and ranging 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 m 2 ) measurements to the local (1 km 2 ) and regional scale (100 km 2 ) 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Active layer thickness permafrost Thermokarst Alaska IOP Publishing Environmental Research Letters 19 3 034013 |
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Abstract 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 km 2 or larger) using field scale (1 m 2 ) 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 km 2 ) via an intermediary upscaling of field scale ALT to the local scale (1 km 2 ) with fine-resolution airborne hyperspectral and light detection and ranging 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 m 2 ) measurements to the local (1 km 2 ) and regional scale (100 km 2 ) 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. |
author2 |
Environmental Security Technology Demonstration Program Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center Army Direct Program |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Brodylo, David Douglas, Thomas A Zhang, Caiyun |
spellingShingle |
Brodylo, David Douglas, Thomas A Zhang, Caiyun Quantification of active layer depth at multiple scales in Interior Alaska permafrost |
author_facet |
Brodylo, David Douglas, Thomas A Zhang, Caiyun |
author_sort |
Brodylo, David |
title |
Quantification of active layer depth at multiple scales in Interior Alaska permafrost |
title_short |
Quantification of active layer depth at multiple scales in Interior Alaska permafrost |
title_full |
Quantification of active layer depth at multiple scales in Interior Alaska permafrost |
title_fullStr |
Quantification of active layer depth at multiple scales in Interior Alaska permafrost |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantification of active layer depth at multiple scales in Interior Alaska permafrost |
title_sort |
quantification of active layer depth at multiple scales in interior alaska permafrost |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad264b https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad264b https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad264b/pdf |
genre |
Active layer thickness permafrost Thermokarst Alaska |
genre_facet |
Active layer thickness permafrost Thermokarst Alaska |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters volume 19, issue 3, page 034013 ISSN 1748-9326 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad264b |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
034013 |
_version_ |
1800751021210730496 |