InSAR detects increase in surface subsidence caused by an Arctic tundra fire

Wildfire is a major disturbance in the Arctic tundra and boreal forests, having a significant impact on soil hydrology, carbon cycling, and permafrost dynamics. This study explores the use of the microwave Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technique to map and quantify ground surface...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Liu, Lin, Jafarov, Elchin E., Schaefer, Kevin M., Jones, Benjamin M., Zebker, Howard A., Williams, Christopher A., Rogan, John, Zhang, Tingjun
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: Clark Digital Commons 2014
Subjects:
Arctic
permafrost
remote sensing
subsidence
tundra
wildfire
Geography
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Active layer thickness
Ice
north slope
Tundra
Alaska
Online Access:https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_geography/646
https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL060533
Description
Summary:Wildfire is a major disturbance in the Arctic tundra and boreal forests, having a significant impact on soil hydrology, carbon cycling, and permafrost dynamics. This study explores the use of the microwave Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technique to map and quantify ground surface subsidence caused by the Anaktuvuk River fire on the North Slope of Alaska. We detected an increase of up to 8cm of thaw-season ground subsidence after the fire, which is due to a combination of thickened active layer and permafrost thaw subsidence. Our results illustrate the effectiveness and potential of using InSAR to quantify fire impacts on the Arctic tundra, especially in regions underlain by ice-rich permafrost. Our study also suggests that surface subsidence is a more comprehensive indicator of fire impacts on ice-rich permafrost terrain than changes in active layer thickness alone. © 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Similar Items