The Permafrost Information System PerSys – An Open Access geospatial data dissemination and visualization portal for products from ESA GlobPermafrost

• Main Authors: Grosse, Guido, Heim, Birgit, Haas, Antonie, Schaefer-Neth, C., Laboor, Sebastian, Nitze, Ingmar, Bartsch, Annett, Seifert, Frank Martin
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: permafrost
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/48590/; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.9bc6ec1a-9ad2-4c73-b691-ad9cb0432932

Permafrost is an important component of the Cryosphere, which is affected by rapid warming of the Arctic. The degradation and thaw of permafrost in vertical as well as lateral directions results in a reduction of permafrost in high latitudes and high altitudes. Since permafrost affects the ecosystem conditions of the about 23 million square kilometer large permafrost region, its loss has strong effects on hydrology, geomorphology, biogeochemistry, and biota. In addition, permafrost soils store about 1500 Gt of organic carbon, about twice the amount currently in the atmosphere and hence changes in permafrost will likely have impacts well beyond local scales. Remote sensing has become an essential tool for quantitatively detecting and monitoring changes in permafrost and associated landscapes. The European Space Agency (ESA) has supported permafrost-focused remote sensing activities in two recent projects, ESA DUE Permafrost (2009-2012) and the ESA GlobPermafrost (2016-2019; http://www.globpermafrost.info). The first ESA DUE Permafrost project with spatial overage of the Northern Hemisphere developed, validated and implemented Earth Observation to support research communities and international organizations in their work on better understanding permafrost characteristics and dynamics. Now, the GlobPermafrost project expands on this successful approach by including both polar hemispheres as well as mountain permafrost regions. Products in the new project will cover different aspects of permafrost by integrating in situ measurements of subsurface properties and surface properties, Earth Observation, and modelling. Currently, the GlobPermafrost team is creating prototype remote sensing derived datasets for defined product and user groups. Selected users will be able to access the usability and validity of the products and provide feedback back to the GlobPermafrost team. The feedback from the Users Groups will be integrated into optimized remote sensing products until they have achieved a final state. To bring the ...