The seasonal dynamics of Arctic surface hydrology in permafrost environments ...

• Main Author: Trofaier, Anna Maria
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository 2014
• Subjects: permafrost; synthetic aperture radar; Envisat ASAR WS; seasonal inundation; Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District; West Siberia; nenets; Yamalo Nenets; Siberia
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.16314; https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/246466

Climate-induced landscape evolution is resulting in changes to biogeochemical and hydrologi- cal cycling. In the Arctic and sub-Arctic permafrost zones, rising air temperatures are warming, and in some regions even thawing, the frozen ground. Permafrost is a carbon sink. The thermal state of the ground therefore has important implications on carbon exchange with the atmo- sphere. Permafrost thaw mobilises previously sequestered carbon stocks, potentially turning these high latitude regions into a net carbon source. Borehole temperature and active layer depth measurements are the traditional means for monitoring permafrost, however these point measurements cannot easily be extrapolated to the landscape-scale; Earth Observation (EO) data may be used for such purposes. It is widely recognised that changes in the thermal state of permafrost may be associated with longterm changes in surface hydrology. As the ground shifts from a frozen to a thawed state, Arctic lakes display changes in surface extent. Therefore, ...