Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub‐Arctic Québec
Abstract Recent land cover changes in the Umiujaq region of northern Québec, Canada, have been quantified in order to estimate changes in the extent of discontinuous permafrost that strongly affect the forest‐tundra ecotone. Changes in the areas covered by different vegetation types, thermokarst lak...
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crwiley:10.1002/ppp.1839 2024-06-23T07:44:56+00:00 Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub‐Arctic Québec Beck, Inga Ludwig, Ralf Bernier, Monique Lévesque, Esther Boike, Julia 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1839 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fppp.1839 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ppp.1839 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Permafrost and Periglacial Processes volume 26, issue 2, page 129-141 ISSN 1045-6740 1099-1530 journal-article 2015 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1839 2024-06-13T04:23:03Z Abstract Recent land cover changes in the Umiujaq region of northern Québec, Canada, have been quantified in order to estimate changes in the extent of discontinuous permafrost that strongly affect the forest‐tundra ecotone. Changes in the areas covered by different vegetation types, thermokarst lakes and degradation of lithalsas have been investigated over an area of 60 km 2 , extending from widespread discontinuous permafrost in the north to areas of scattered permafrost in the south, and from Hudson Bay in the west to the Lac Guillaume‐Delisle graben 10 km further east. We used high‐resolution remote sensing images (QuickBird 2004, GeoEye 2009) and four Landsat scenes (1986, 1990, 2001, 2008) as well as ground‐based data (vegetation, active layer thickness, snow parameters) collected between 2009 and 2011. Two change detection methods applied to estimate the land cover changes between 1986 and 2009 showed an overall increase in vegetation extent between 1986 and 2009, and a 21 per cent increase in tall vegetation (spruce and tall shrubs) between 2004 and 2009 at the expense of low vegetation (lichens, prostrate shrubs, herbaceous vegetation). Thermokarst lakes and lithalsas in ten sub‐areas were mapped manually from satellite imagery. The area covered by water decreased by 24 per cent between 2004 and 2009, often due to vegetation colonising the margins of lakes, and 93 of the observed lakes disappeared completely over that period. The area covered by lithalsas declined by 6 per cent. Our results demonstrate the viability of using high‐resolution satellite imagery to detect changes in the land surface that can serve as indicators of permafrost degradation in the sub‐Arctic. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Article in Journal/Newspaper Active layer thickness Arctic Hudson Bay permafrost Permafrost and Periglacial Processes Thermokarst Tundra Umiujaq Wiley Online Library Arctic Hudson Bay Canada Hudson Guillaume ENVELOPE(70.150,70.150,-49.350,-49.350) Umiujaq ENVELOPE(-76.549,-76.549,56.553,56.553) Lac Guillaume-Delisle ENVELOPE(-76.294,-76.294,56.249,56.249) Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 26 2 129 141 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Recent land cover changes in the Umiujaq region of northern Québec, Canada, have been quantified in order to estimate changes in the extent of discontinuous permafrost that strongly affect the forest‐tundra ecotone. Changes in the areas covered by different vegetation types, thermokarst lakes and degradation of lithalsas have been investigated over an area of 60 km 2 , extending from widespread discontinuous permafrost in the north to areas of scattered permafrost in the south, and from Hudson Bay in the west to the Lac Guillaume‐Delisle graben 10 km further east. We used high‐resolution remote sensing images (QuickBird 2004, GeoEye 2009) and four Landsat scenes (1986, 1990, 2001, 2008) as well as ground‐based data (vegetation, active layer thickness, snow parameters) collected between 2009 and 2011. Two change detection methods applied to estimate the land cover changes between 1986 and 2009 showed an overall increase in vegetation extent between 1986 and 2009, and a 21 per cent increase in tall vegetation (spruce and tall shrubs) between 2004 and 2009 at the expense of low vegetation (lichens, prostrate shrubs, herbaceous vegetation). Thermokarst lakes and lithalsas in ten sub‐areas were mapped manually from satellite imagery. The area covered by water decreased by 24 per cent between 2004 and 2009, often due to vegetation colonising the margins of lakes, and 93 of the observed lakes disappeared completely over that period. The area covered by lithalsas declined by 6 per cent. Our results demonstrate the viability of using high‐resolution satellite imagery to detect changes in the land surface that can serve as indicators of permafrost degradation in the sub‐Arctic. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Beck, Inga Ludwig, Ralf Bernier, Monique Lévesque, Esther Boike, Julia |
spellingShingle |
Beck, Inga Ludwig, Ralf Bernier, Monique Lévesque, Esther Boike, Julia Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub‐Arctic Québec |
author_facet |
Beck, Inga Ludwig, Ralf Bernier, Monique Lévesque, Esther Boike, Julia |
author_sort |
Beck, Inga |
title |
Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub‐Arctic Québec |
title_short |
Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub‐Arctic Québec |
title_full |
Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub‐Arctic Québec |
title_fullStr |
Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub‐Arctic Québec |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub‐Arctic Québec |
title_sort |
assessing permafrost degradation and land cover changes (1986–2009) using remote sensing data over umiujaq, sub‐arctic québec |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1839 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fppp.1839 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ppp.1839 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(70.150,70.150,-49.350,-49.350) ENVELOPE(-76.549,-76.549,56.553,56.553) ENVELOPE(-76.294,-76.294,56.249,56.249) |
geographic |
Arctic Hudson Bay Canada Hudson Guillaume Umiujaq Lac Guillaume-Delisle |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Hudson Bay Canada Hudson Guillaume Umiujaq Lac Guillaume-Delisle |
genre |
Active layer thickness Arctic Hudson Bay permafrost Permafrost and Periglacial Processes Thermokarst Tundra Umiujaq |
genre_facet |
Active layer thickness Arctic Hudson Bay permafrost Permafrost and Periglacial Processes Thermokarst Tundra Umiujaq |
op_source |
Permafrost and Periglacial Processes volume 26, issue 2, page 129-141 ISSN 1045-6740 1099-1530 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1839 |
container_title |
Permafrost and Periglacial Processes |
container_volume |
26 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
129 |
op_container_end_page |
141 |
_version_ |
1802641523071778816 |