Subpixel heterogeneity of ice-wedge polygonal tundra: a multi-scale analysis of land cover and evapotranspiration in the Lena River Delta, Siberia

Ignoring small-scale heterogeneities in Arctic land cover may bias estimates of water, heat and carbon fluxes in large-scale climate and ecosystem models. We investigated subpixel-scale heterogeneity in CHRIS/PROBA and Landsat-7 ETM+ satellite imagery over ice-wedge polygonal tundra in the Lena Delt...

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Published in:Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology
Main Authors: Muster, Sina, Langer, Moritz, Heim, Birgit, Westermann, Sebastian, Boike, Julia
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/25961/
https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v64i0.17301
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.38964
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author Muster, Sina
Langer, Moritz
Heim, Birgit
Westermann, Sebastian
Boike, Julia
author_facet Muster, Sina
Langer, Moritz
Heim, Birgit
Westermann, Sebastian
Boike, Julia
author_sort Muster, Sina
collection Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center)
container_issue 1
container_start_page 17301
container_title Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology
container_volume 64
description Ignoring small-scale heterogeneities in Arctic land cover may bias estimates of water, heat and carbon fluxes in large-scale climate and ecosystem models. We investigated subpixel-scale heterogeneity in CHRIS/PROBA and Landsat-7 ETM+ satellite imagery over ice-wedge polygonal tundra in the Lena Delta of Siberia, and the associated implications for evapotranspiration (ET) estimation. Field measurements were combined with aerial and satellite data to link fine-scale (0.3m resolution) with coarse-scale (upto 30m resolution) land cover data. A large portion of the total wet tundra (80%) and water body area (30%) appeared in the form of patches less than 0.1 ha in size, which could not be resolved with satellite data. Wet tundra and small water bodies represented about half of the total ET in summer. Their contribution was reduced to 20% in fall, during which ET rates from dry tundra were highest instead. Inclusion of subpixel-scale water bodies increased the total water surface area of the Lena Delta from 13% to 20%. The actual land/water proportions within each composite satellite pixel was best captured with Landsat data using a statistical downscaling approach, which is recommended for reliable large-scale modelling of water, heat and carbon exchange from permafrost landscapes.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
genre Arctic
Ice
lena delta
lena river
permafrost
Tundra
wedge*
Siberia
genre_facet Arctic
Ice
lena delta
lena river
permafrost
Tundra
wedge*
Siberia
geographic Arctic
geographic_facet Arctic
id ftawi:oai:epic.awi.de:25961
institution Open Polar
language unknown
op_collection_id ftawi
op_doi https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v64i0.17301
op_relation Muster, S. , Langer, M. orcid:0000-0002-2704-3655 , Heim, B. orcid:0000-0003-2614-9391 , Westermann, S. and Boike, J. orcid:0000-0002-5875-2112 (2012) Subpixel heterogeneity of ice-wedge polygonal tundra: a multi-scale analysis of land cover and evapotranspiration in the Lena River Delta, Siberia , Tellus B, 64 (17301) . doi:10.3402/tellusb.v64i0.17301 <https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v64i0.17301> , hdl:10013/epic.38964
op_source EPIC3Tellus B, 64(17301), ISSN: 0280-6509
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spelling ftawi:oai:epic.awi.de:25961 2025-01-16T20:40:01+00:00 Subpixel heterogeneity of ice-wedge polygonal tundra: a multi-scale analysis of land cover and evapotranspiration in the Lena River Delta, Siberia Muster, Sina Langer, Moritz Heim, Birgit Westermann, Sebastian Boike, Julia 2012-03-09 https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/25961/ https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v64i0.17301 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.38964 unknown Muster, S. , Langer, M. orcid:0000-0002-2704-3655 , Heim, B. orcid:0000-0003-2614-9391 , Westermann, S. and Boike, J. orcid:0000-0002-5875-2112 (2012) Subpixel heterogeneity of ice-wedge polygonal tundra: a multi-scale analysis of land cover and evapotranspiration in the Lena River Delta, Siberia , Tellus B, 64 (17301) . doi:10.3402/tellusb.v64i0.17301 <https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v64i0.17301> , hdl:10013/epic.38964 EPIC3Tellus B, 64(17301), ISSN: 0280-6509 Article isiRev 2012 ftawi https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v64i0.17301 2024-06-24T04:03:41Z Ignoring small-scale heterogeneities in Arctic land cover may bias estimates of water, heat and carbon fluxes in large-scale climate and ecosystem models. We investigated subpixel-scale heterogeneity in CHRIS/PROBA and Landsat-7 ETM+ satellite imagery over ice-wedge polygonal tundra in the Lena Delta of Siberia, and the associated implications for evapotranspiration (ET) estimation. Field measurements were combined with aerial and satellite data to link fine-scale (0.3m resolution) with coarse-scale (upto 30m resolution) land cover data. A large portion of the total wet tundra (80%) and water body area (30%) appeared in the form of patches less than 0.1 ha in size, which could not be resolved with satellite data. Wet tundra and small water bodies represented about half of the total ET in summer. Their contribution was reduced to 20% in fall, during which ET rates from dry tundra were highest instead. Inclusion of subpixel-scale water bodies increased the total water surface area of the Lena Delta from 13% to 20%. The actual land/water proportions within each composite satellite pixel was best captured with Landsat data using a statistical downscaling approach, which is recommended for reliable large-scale modelling of water, heat and carbon exchange from permafrost landscapes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ice lena delta lena river permafrost Tundra wedge* Siberia Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) Arctic Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology 64 1 17301
spellingShingle Muster, Sina
Langer, Moritz
Heim, Birgit
Westermann, Sebastian
Boike, Julia
Subpixel heterogeneity of ice-wedge polygonal tundra: a multi-scale analysis of land cover and evapotranspiration in the Lena River Delta, Siberia
title Subpixel heterogeneity of ice-wedge polygonal tundra: a multi-scale analysis of land cover and evapotranspiration in the Lena River Delta, Siberia
title_full Subpixel heterogeneity of ice-wedge polygonal tundra: a multi-scale analysis of land cover and evapotranspiration in the Lena River Delta, Siberia
title_fullStr Subpixel heterogeneity of ice-wedge polygonal tundra: a multi-scale analysis of land cover and evapotranspiration in the Lena River Delta, Siberia
title_full_unstemmed Subpixel heterogeneity of ice-wedge polygonal tundra: a multi-scale analysis of land cover and evapotranspiration in the Lena River Delta, Siberia
title_short Subpixel heterogeneity of ice-wedge polygonal tundra: a multi-scale analysis of land cover and evapotranspiration in the Lena River Delta, Siberia
title_sort subpixel heterogeneity of ice-wedge polygonal tundra: a multi-scale analysis of land cover and evapotranspiration in the lena river delta, siberia
url https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/25961/
https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v64i0.17301
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.38964