A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data
Permafrost is a key element of the terrestrial cryosphere which makes mapping and monitoring of its state variables an imperative task. We present a modeling scheme based on remotely sensed land surface temperatures and reanalysis products from which mean annual ground temperatures (MAGT) can be der...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tc28413 2023-05-15T15:48:59+02:00 A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data Westermann, S. Østby, T. I. Gisnås, K. Schuler, T. V. Etzelmüller, B. 2018-09-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1303-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/1303/2015/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-9-1303-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/1303/2015/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1303-2015 2020-07-20T16:24:33Z Permafrost is a key element of the terrestrial cryosphere which makes mapping and monitoring of its state variables an imperative task. We present a modeling scheme based on remotely sensed land surface temperatures and reanalysis products from which mean annual ground temperatures (MAGT) can be derived at a spatial resolution of 1 km at continental scales. The approach explicitly accounts for the uncertainty due to unknown input parameters and their spatial variability at subgrid scale by delivering a range of MAGTs for each grid cell. This is achieved by a simple equilibrium model with only few input parameters which for each grid cell allows scanning the range of possible results by running many realizations with different parameters. The approach is applied to the unglacierized land areas in the North Atlantic region, an area of more than 5 million km 2 ranging from the Ural Mountains in the east to the Canadian Archipelago in the west. A comparison to in situ temperature measurements in 143 boreholes suggests a model accuracy better than 2.5 °C, with 139 considered boreholes within this margin. The statistical approach with a large number of realizations facilitates estimating the probability of permafrost occurrence within a grid cell so that each grid cell can be classified as continuous, discontinuous and sporadic permafrost. At its southern margin in Scandinavia and Russia, the transition zone between permafrost and permafrost-free areas extends over several hundred km width with gradually decreasing permafrost probabilities. The study exemplifies the unexploited potential of remotely sensed data sets in permafrost mapping if they are employed in multi-sensor multi-source data fusion approaches. Text Canadian Archipelago North Atlantic permafrost Copernicus Publications: E-Journals The Cryosphere 9 3 1303 1319 |
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Open Polar |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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ftcopernicus |
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English |
description |
Permafrost is a key element of the terrestrial cryosphere which makes mapping and monitoring of its state variables an imperative task. We present a modeling scheme based on remotely sensed land surface temperatures and reanalysis products from which mean annual ground temperatures (MAGT) can be derived at a spatial resolution of 1 km at continental scales. The approach explicitly accounts for the uncertainty due to unknown input parameters and their spatial variability at subgrid scale by delivering a range of MAGTs for each grid cell. This is achieved by a simple equilibrium model with only few input parameters which for each grid cell allows scanning the range of possible results by running many realizations with different parameters. The approach is applied to the unglacierized land areas in the North Atlantic region, an area of more than 5 million km 2 ranging from the Ural Mountains in the east to the Canadian Archipelago in the west. A comparison to in situ temperature measurements in 143 boreholes suggests a model accuracy better than 2.5 °C, with 139 considered boreholes within this margin. The statistical approach with a large number of realizations facilitates estimating the probability of permafrost occurrence within a grid cell so that each grid cell can be classified as continuous, discontinuous and sporadic permafrost. At its southern margin in Scandinavia and Russia, the transition zone between permafrost and permafrost-free areas extends over several hundred km width with gradually decreasing permafrost probabilities. The study exemplifies the unexploited potential of remotely sensed data sets in permafrost mapping if they are employed in multi-sensor multi-source data fusion approaches. |
format |
Text |
author |
Westermann, S. Østby, T. I. Gisnås, K. Schuler, T. V. Etzelmüller, B. |
spellingShingle |
Westermann, S. Østby, T. I. Gisnås, K. Schuler, T. V. Etzelmüller, B. A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data |
author_facet |
Westermann, S. Østby, T. I. Gisnås, K. Schuler, T. V. Etzelmüller, B. |
author_sort |
Westermann, S. |
title |
A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data |
title_short |
A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data |
title_full |
A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data |
title_fullStr |
A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data |
title_full_unstemmed |
A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data |
title_sort |
ground temperature map of the north atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1303-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/1303/2015/ |
genre |
Canadian Archipelago North Atlantic permafrost |
genre_facet |
Canadian Archipelago North Atlantic permafrost |
op_source |
eISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-9-1303-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/1303/2015/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1303-2015 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
1303 |
op_container_end_page |
1319 |
_version_ |
1766384074466787328 |