Regional variability of methane fluxes in the permafrost landscape of the Mackenzie River Delta, Canada derived from airborne measurements
Wetlands are the dominant natural source of methane release on a global scale. Estimates about the contribution of Arctic permafrost wetlands to the emission are still uncertain and need further assessment. A reason for that variability is the heterogeneity of the Arctic permafrost landscapes. They...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Conference Object |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
Reklim
2014
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/39545/ https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.46697 |
| Summary: | Wetlands are the dominant natural source of methane release on a global scale. Estimates about the contribution of Arctic permafrost wetlands to the emission are still uncertain and need further assessment. A reason for that variability is the heterogeneity of the Arctic permafrost landscapes. They extend over large areas and are characterised by temporally and spatially varying environmental properties like land cover, surface temperature or soil water content. With chamber and tower measurements, exchange processes of matter fluxes have been determined for decades and have contributed to our understanding of the underlying processes. These results give an idea about possible changes in the future related to changing climatic conditions. For conclusions on a regional scale, however, these measurements cannot represent the true spatial variability of these fluxes, due to their local quality. Regional information about the fluxes, especially methane fluxes, is indispensable for assessing and predicting the climatic importance of the Arctic permafrost regions. To overcome this spatial limitation we use airborne measurements. During the Airborne Measurements of Methane Fluxes (AIRMETH) campaigns we conducted low level flights across the Mackenzie River Delta in Canada in the summers of 2012 and 2013. With statistical methods, the measured methane fluxes are related to relevant spatio-temporal meteorological information and surface properties derived from remote sensing products. Here we will show first results of the spatial variation of methane fluxes in the Mackenzie River Delta in 2013. |
|---|