Post-fire Thermokarst Development Along a Planned Road Corridor in Arctic Alaska
Wildfire disturbance in northern high latitude regions is an important factor contributing to ecosystem and landscape change. In permafrost influenced terrain, fire may initiate thermokarst development which impacts hydrology, vegetation, wildlife, carbon storage and infrastructure. In this study we...
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ftawi:oai:epic.awi.de:39330 2023-05-15T14:26:39+02:00 Post-fire Thermokarst Development Along a Planned Road Corridor in Arctic Alaska Jones, Benjamin M. Guido, Grosse Christopher, Larsen Daniel, Hayes Christopher, Arp Lin, Liu Eric, Miller 2015-12-15 https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/39330/ https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/66359 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.46512 unknown Jones, B. M. , Guido, G. orcid:0000-0001-5895-2141 , Christopher, L. , Daniel, H. , Christopher, A. , Lin, L. and Eric, M. (2015) Post-fire Thermokarst Development Along a Planned Road Corridor in Arctic Alaska , AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 14 December 2015 - 18 December 2015 . hdl:10013/epic.46512 EPIC3AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 2015-12-14-2015-12-18 Conference notRev 2015 ftawi 2021-12-24T15:40:57Z Wildfire disturbance in northern high latitude regions is an important factor contributing to ecosystem and landscape change. In permafrost influenced terrain, fire may initiate thermokarst development which impacts hydrology, vegetation, wildlife, carbon storage and infrastructure. In this study we differenced two airborne LiDAR datasets that were acquired in the aftermath of the large and severe Anaktuvuk River tundra fire, which in 2007 burned across a proposed road corridor in Arctic Alaska. The 2009 LiDAR dataset was acquired by the Alaska Department of Transportation in preparation for construction of a gravel road that would connect the Dalton Highway with the logistical camp of Umiat. The 2014 LiDAR dataset was acquired by the USGS to quantify potential post-fire thermokarst development over the first seven years following the tundra fire event. By differencing the two 1 m resolution digital terrain models, we measured permafrost thaw subsidence across 34% of the burned tundra area studied, and observed less than 1% in similar, undisturbed tundra terrain units. Ice-rich, yedoma upland terrain was most susceptible to thermokarst development following the disturbance, accounting for 50% of the areal and volumetric change detected, with some locations subsiding more than six meters over the study period. Calculation of rugosity, or surface roughness, in the two datasets showed a doubling in microtopography on average across the burned portion of the study area, with a 340% increase in yedoma upland terrain. An additional LiDAR dataset was acquired in April 2015 to document the role of thermokarst development on enhanced snow accumulation and subsequent snowmelt runoff within the burn area. Our findings will enable future vulnerability assessments of ice-rich permafrost terrain as a result of shifting disturbance regimes. Such assessments are needed to address questions focused on the impact of permafrost degradation on physical, ecological, and socio-economic processes. Conference Object Arctic Arctic Ice permafrost Thermokarst Tundra Alaska Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) Arctic |
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Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) |
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ftawi |
language |
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description |
Wildfire disturbance in northern high latitude regions is an important factor contributing to ecosystem and landscape change. In permafrost influenced terrain, fire may initiate thermokarst development which impacts hydrology, vegetation, wildlife, carbon storage and infrastructure. In this study we differenced two airborne LiDAR datasets that were acquired in the aftermath of the large and severe Anaktuvuk River tundra fire, which in 2007 burned across a proposed road corridor in Arctic Alaska. The 2009 LiDAR dataset was acquired by the Alaska Department of Transportation in preparation for construction of a gravel road that would connect the Dalton Highway with the logistical camp of Umiat. The 2014 LiDAR dataset was acquired by the USGS to quantify potential post-fire thermokarst development over the first seven years following the tundra fire event. By differencing the two 1 m resolution digital terrain models, we measured permafrost thaw subsidence across 34% of the burned tundra area studied, and observed less than 1% in similar, undisturbed tundra terrain units. Ice-rich, yedoma upland terrain was most susceptible to thermokarst development following the disturbance, accounting for 50% of the areal and volumetric change detected, with some locations subsiding more than six meters over the study period. Calculation of rugosity, or surface roughness, in the two datasets showed a doubling in microtopography on average across the burned portion of the study area, with a 340% increase in yedoma upland terrain. An additional LiDAR dataset was acquired in April 2015 to document the role of thermokarst development on enhanced snow accumulation and subsequent snowmelt runoff within the burn area. Our findings will enable future vulnerability assessments of ice-rich permafrost terrain as a result of shifting disturbance regimes. Such assessments are needed to address questions focused on the impact of permafrost degradation on physical, ecological, and socio-economic processes. |
format |
Conference Object |
author |
Jones, Benjamin M. Guido, Grosse Christopher, Larsen Daniel, Hayes Christopher, Arp Lin, Liu Eric, Miller |
spellingShingle |
Jones, Benjamin M. Guido, Grosse Christopher, Larsen Daniel, Hayes Christopher, Arp Lin, Liu Eric, Miller Post-fire Thermokarst Development Along a Planned Road Corridor in Arctic Alaska |
author_facet |
Jones, Benjamin M. Guido, Grosse Christopher, Larsen Daniel, Hayes Christopher, Arp Lin, Liu Eric, Miller |
author_sort |
Jones, Benjamin M. |
title |
Post-fire Thermokarst Development Along a Planned Road Corridor in Arctic Alaska |
title_short |
Post-fire Thermokarst Development Along a Planned Road Corridor in Arctic Alaska |
title_full |
Post-fire Thermokarst Development Along a Planned Road Corridor in Arctic Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Post-fire Thermokarst Development Along a Planned Road Corridor in Arctic Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Post-fire Thermokarst Development Along a Planned Road Corridor in Arctic Alaska |
title_sort |
post-fire thermokarst development along a planned road corridor in arctic alaska |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/39330/ https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/66359 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.46512 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ice permafrost Thermokarst Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ice permafrost Thermokarst Tundra Alaska |
op_source |
EPIC3AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 2015-12-14-2015-12-18 |
op_relation |
Jones, B. M. , Guido, G. orcid:0000-0001-5895-2141 , Christopher, L. , Daniel, H. , Christopher, A. , Lin, L. and Eric, M. (2015) Post-fire Thermokarst Development Along a Planned Road Corridor in Arctic Alaska , AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 14 December 2015 - 18 December 2015 . hdl:10013/epic.46512 |
_version_ |
1766299931045265408 |