Comparing Thermal Regime Stages along a Small Yakutian Fluvial Valley with Point Scale Measurements, Thermal Modeling, and Near Surface Geophysics

Arctic regions are highly impacted by the global temperature rising and its consequences and influences on the thermo-hydro processes and their feedbacks. Theses processes are especially not very well understood in the context of river–permafrost interactions and permafrost degradation. This paper f...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Remote Sensing
Main Authors: Emmanuel Léger, Albane Saintenoy, Christophe Grenier, Antoine Séjourné, Eric Pohl, Frédéric Bouchard, Marc Pessel, Kirill Bazhin, Kencheeri Danilov, François Costard, Claude Mugler, Alexander Fedorov, Ivan Khristoforov, Pavel Konstantinov
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023
Subjects:
near-surface geophysics
river thermal influence
cryosphere
thermal modeling
Science
Q
Arctic
Syrdakh
Active layer thickness
permafrost
Yakutia
Siberia
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15102524
https://doaj.org/article/ec7e62e2139740dfbec63a94de5fb089
Description
Summary:Arctic regions are highly impacted by the global temperature rising and its consequences and influences on the thermo-hydro processes and their feedbacks. Theses processes are especially not very well understood in the context of river–permafrost interactions and permafrost degradation. This paper focuses on the thermal characterization of a river–valley system in a continuous permafrost area (Syrdakh, Yakutia, Eastern Siberia) that is subject to intense thawing, with major consequences on water resources and quality. We investigated this Yakutian area through two transects crossing the river using classical tools such as in–situ temperature measurements, direct active layer thickness estimations, unscrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery, heat transfer numerical experiments, Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR), and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT). Of these two transects, one was closely investigated with a long-term temperature time series from 2012 to 2018, while both of them were surveyed by geophysical and UAV data acquisition in 2017 and 2018. Thermodynamical numerical simulations were run based on the long-term temperature series and are in agreement with river thermal influence on permafrost and active layer extensions retrieved from GPR and ERT profiles. An electrical resistivity-temperature relationship highlights the predominant role of water in such a complicated system and paves the way to coupled thermo-hydro-geophysical modeling for understanding permafrost–river system evolution.

Similar Items