Spatial Variability of Active Layer Thickness along the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor Resolved Using Ground-Penetrating Radar
Active layer thickness (ALT) is a sensitive indicator of response to climate change. ALT has important influence on various aspects of the regional environment such as hydrological processes and vegetation. In this study, 57 ground-penetrating radar (GPR) sections were surveyed along the Qinghai–Tib...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e92935c01ad34cbc9840ad6f91213849 2023-05-15T13:03:15+02:00 Spatial Variability of Active Layer Thickness along the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor Resolved Using Ground-Penetrating Radar Shichao Jia Tingjun Zhang Jiansheng Hao Chaoyue Li Roger Michaelides Wanwan Shao Sihao Wei Kun Wang Chengyan Fan 2022-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14215606 https://doaj.org/article/e92935c01ad34cbc9840ad6f91213849 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/21/5606 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs14215606 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/e92935c01ad34cbc9840ad6f91213849 Remote Sensing, Vol 14, Iss 5606, p 5606 (2022) active layer thickness ground-penetrating radar Tibetan Plateau permafrost engineering Science Q article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14215606 2022-12-30T23:16:23Z Active layer thickness (ALT) is a sensitive indicator of response to climate change. ALT has important influence on various aspects of the regional environment such as hydrological processes and vegetation. In this study, 57 ground-penetrating radar (GPR) sections were surveyed along the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor (QTEC) during 2018–2021, covering a total length of 58.5 km. The suitability of GPR-derived ALT was evaluated using in situ measurements and reference datasets, for which the bias and root mean square error were approximately −0.16 and 0.43 m, respectively. The GPR results show that the QTEC ALT was in the range of 1.25–6.70 m (mean: 2.49 ± 0.57 m). Observed ALT demonstrated pronounced spatial variability at both regional and fine scales. We developed a statistical estimation model that explicitly considers the soil thermal regime (i.e., ground thawing index, TI g ), soil properties, and vegetation. This model was found suitable for simulating ALT over the QTEC, and it could explain 52% ( R 2 = 0.52) of ALT variability. The statistical model shows that a difference of 10 °C.d in <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msqrt><mrow><mi>T</mi><msub><mi>I</mi><mi>g</mi></msub></mrow></msqrt></mrow></semantics></math> is equivalent to a change of 0.67 m in ALT, and an increase of 0.1 in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is equivalent to a decrease of 0.23 m in ALT. The fine-scale (<1 km) variation in ALT could account for 77.6% of the regional-scale (approximately 550 km) variation. These results provide a timely ALT benchmark along the QTEC, which can inform the construction and maintenance of engineering facilities along the QTEC. Article in Journal/Newspaper Active layer thickness permafrost Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Remote Sensing 14 21 5606 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
active layer thickness ground-penetrating radar Tibetan Plateau permafrost engineering Science Q |
spellingShingle |
active layer thickness ground-penetrating radar Tibetan Plateau permafrost engineering Science Q Shichao Jia Tingjun Zhang Jiansheng Hao Chaoyue Li Roger Michaelides Wanwan Shao Sihao Wei Kun Wang Chengyan Fan Spatial Variability of Active Layer Thickness along the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor Resolved Using Ground-Penetrating Radar |
topic_facet |
active layer thickness ground-penetrating radar Tibetan Plateau permafrost engineering Science Q |
description |
Active layer thickness (ALT) is a sensitive indicator of response to climate change. ALT has important influence on various aspects of the regional environment such as hydrological processes and vegetation. In this study, 57 ground-penetrating radar (GPR) sections were surveyed along the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor (QTEC) during 2018–2021, covering a total length of 58.5 km. The suitability of GPR-derived ALT was evaluated using in situ measurements and reference datasets, for which the bias and root mean square error were approximately −0.16 and 0.43 m, respectively. The GPR results show that the QTEC ALT was in the range of 1.25–6.70 m (mean: 2.49 ± 0.57 m). Observed ALT demonstrated pronounced spatial variability at both regional and fine scales. We developed a statistical estimation model that explicitly considers the soil thermal regime (i.e., ground thawing index, TI g ), soil properties, and vegetation. This model was found suitable for simulating ALT over the QTEC, and it could explain 52% ( R 2 = 0.52) of ALT variability. The statistical model shows that a difference of 10 °C.d in <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msqrt><mrow><mi>T</mi><msub><mi>I</mi><mi>g</mi></msub></mrow></msqrt></mrow></semantics></math> is equivalent to a change of 0.67 m in ALT, and an increase of 0.1 in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is equivalent to a decrease of 0.23 m in ALT. The fine-scale (<1 km) variation in ALT could account for 77.6% of the regional-scale (approximately 550 km) variation. These results provide a timely ALT benchmark along the QTEC, which can inform the construction and maintenance of engineering facilities along the QTEC. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Shichao Jia Tingjun Zhang Jiansheng Hao Chaoyue Li Roger Michaelides Wanwan Shao Sihao Wei Kun Wang Chengyan Fan |
author_facet |
Shichao Jia Tingjun Zhang Jiansheng Hao Chaoyue Li Roger Michaelides Wanwan Shao Sihao Wei Kun Wang Chengyan Fan |
author_sort |
Shichao Jia |
title |
Spatial Variability of Active Layer Thickness along the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor Resolved Using Ground-Penetrating Radar |
title_short |
Spatial Variability of Active Layer Thickness along the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor Resolved Using Ground-Penetrating Radar |
title_full |
Spatial Variability of Active Layer Thickness along the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor Resolved Using Ground-Penetrating Radar |
title_fullStr |
Spatial Variability of Active Layer Thickness along the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor Resolved Using Ground-Penetrating Radar |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatial Variability of Active Layer Thickness along the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor Resolved Using Ground-Penetrating Radar |
title_sort |
spatial variability of active layer thickness along the qinghai–tibet engineering corridor resolved using ground-penetrating radar |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14215606 https://doaj.org/article/e92935c01ad34cbc9840ad6f91213849 |
genre |
Active layer thickness permafrost |
genre_facet |
Active layer thickness permafrost |
op_source |
Remote Sensing, Vol 14, Iss 5606, p 5606 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/21/5606 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs14215606 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/e92935c01ad34cbc9840ad6f91213849 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14215606 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
21 |
container_start_page |
5606 |
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1766332107507892224 |