Thaw-Season InSAR Surface Displacements and Frost Susceptibility Mapping to Support Community-Scale Planning in Ilulissat, West Greenland
In permafrost regions, ground surface deformations induced by freezing and thawing threaten the integrity of the built environment. Mapping the frost susceptibility of the ground at a high spatial resolution is of practical importance for the construction and planning sectors. We processed Sentinel-...
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MDPI AG
2023
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15133310 https://doaj.org/article/f5b03a7ce599469e9973919e9e3a70aa |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f5b03a7ce599469e9973919e9e3a70aa 2023-07-30T03:55:27+02:00 Thaw-Season InSAR Surface Displacements and Frost Susceptibility Mapping to Support Community-Scale Planning in Ilulissat, West Greenland Johanna Scheer Rafael Caduff Penelope How Marco Marcer Tazio Strozzi Annett Bartsch Thomas Ingeman-Nielsen 2023-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15133310 https://doaj.org/article/f5b03a7ce599469e9973919e9e3a70aa EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/13/3310 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs15133310 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/f5b03a7ce599469e9973919e9e3a70aa Remote Sensing, Vol 15, Iss 3310, p 3310 (2023) InSAR permafrost active layer Arctic infrastructure ice content Science Q article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15133310 2023-07-16T00:34:46Z In permafrost regions, ground surface deformations induced by freezing and thawing threaten the integrity of the built environment. Mapping the frost susceptibility of the ground at a high spatial resolution is of practical importance for the construction and planning sectors. We processed Sentinel-1 Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data from thawing seasons 2015 to 2019, acquired over the area of Ilulissat, West Greenland. We used a least-squares inversion scheme to retrieve the average seasonal displacement (S) and long-term deformation rate (R). We secondly investigated two different methods to extrapolate active layer thickness (ALT) measurements, based on their statistical relationship with remotely sensed surface characteristics. A generalized linear model (GLM) was first implemented, but the model was not able to fit the data and represent the ALT spatial variability over the entire study domain. ALT were alternatively averaged per vegetation class, using a land cover map derived by supervised classification of Sentinel-2 images. We finally estimated the active layer ice content and used it as a proxy to map the frost susceptibility of the ground at the community scale. Fine-grained sedimentary basins in Ilulissat were typically frost susceptible and subject to average seasonal downward displacements of 3 to 8 <semantics> cm </semantics> . Areas following a subsiding trend of up to 2.6 <semantics> cm / yr </semantics> were likely affected by permafrost degradation and melting of ground ice below the permafrost table. Our approach enabled us to identify frost-susceptible areas subject to severe seasonal deformations, to long-term subsidence induced by degrading permafrost, or to both. Used in combination with traditional site investigations, InSAR maps provide valuable information for risk management and community planning in the Arctic. Article in Journal/Newspaper Active layer thickness Arctic Greenland Ice Ilulissat permafrost Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Greenland Ilulissat ENVELOPE(-51.099,-51.099,69.220,69.220) Remote Sensing 15 13 3310 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
InSAR permafrost active layer Arctic infrastructure ice content Science Q |
spellingShingle |
InSAR permafrost active layer Arctic infrastructure ice content Science Q Johanna Scheer Rafael Caduff Penelope How Marco Marcer Tazio Strozzi Annett Bartsch Thomas Ingeman-Nielsen Thaw-Season InSAR Surface Displacements and Frost Susceptibility Mapping to Support Community-Scale Planning in Ilulissat, West Greenland |
topic_facet |
InSAR permafrost active layer Arctic infrastructure ice content Science Q |
description |
In permafrost regions, ground surface deformations induced by freezing and thawing threaten the integrity of the built environment. Mapping the frost susceptibility of the ground at a high spatial resolution is of practical importance for the construction and planning sectors. We processed Sentinel-1 Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data from thawing seasons 2015 to 2019, acquired over the area of Ilulissat, West Greenland. We used a least-squares inversion scheme to retrieve the average seasonal displacement (S) and long-term deformation rate (R). We secondly investigated two different methods to extrapolate active layer thickness (ALT) measurements, based on their statistical relationship with remotely sensed surface characteristics. A generalized linear model (GLM) was first implemented, but the model was not able to fit the data and represent the ALT spatial variability over the entire study domain. ALT were alternatively averaged per vegetation class, using a land cover map derived by supervised classification of Sentinel-2 images. We finally estimated the active layer ice content and used it as a proxy to map the frost susceptibility of the ground at the community scale. Fine-grained sedimentary basins in Ilulissat were typically frost susceptible and subject to average seasonal downward displacements of 3 to 8 <semantics> cm </semantics> . Areas following a subsiding trend of up to 2.6 <semantics> cm / yr </semantics> were likely affected by permafrost degradation and melting of ground ice below the permafrost table. Our approach enabled us to identify frost-susceptible areas subject to severe seasonal deformations, to long-term subsidence induced by degrading permafrost, or to both. Used in combination with traditional site investigations, InSAR maps provide valuable information for risk management and community planning in the Arctic. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Johanna Scheer Rafael Caduff Penelope How Marco Marcer Tazio Strozzi Annett Bartsch Thomas Ingeman-Nielsen |
author_facet |
Johanna Scheer Rafael Caduff Penelope How Marco Marcer Tazio Strozzi Annett Bartsch Thomas Ingeman-Nielsen |
author_sort |
Johanna Scheer |
title |
Thaw-Season InSAR Surface Displacements and Frost Susceptibility Mapping to Support Community-Scale Planning in Ilulissat, West Greenland |
title_short |
Thaw-Season InSAR Surface Displacements and Frost Susceptibility Mapping to Support Community-Scale Planning in Ilulissat, West Greenland |
title_full |
Thaw-Season InSAR Surface Displacements and Frost Susceptibility Mapping to Support Community-Scale Planning in Ilulissat, West Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Thaw-Season InSAR Surface Displacements and Frost Susceptibility Mapping to Support Community-Scale Planning in Ilulissat, West Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Thaw-Season InSAR Surface Displacements and Frost Susceptibility Mapping to Support Community-Scale Planning in Ilulissat, West Greenland |
title_sort |
thaw-season insar surface displacements and frost susceptibility mapping to support community-scale planning in ilulissat, west greenland |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15133310 https://doaj.org/article/f5b03a7ce599469e9973919e9e3a70aa |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-51.099,-51.099,69.220,69.220) |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland Ilulissat |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland Ilulissat |
genre |
Active layer thickness Arctic Greenland Ice Ilulissat permafrost |
genre_facet |
Active layer thickness Arctic Greenland Ice Ilulissat permafrost |
op_source |
Remote Sensing, Vol 15, Iss 3310, p 3310 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/13/3310 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs15133310 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/f5b03a7ce599469e9973919e9e3a70aa |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15133310 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
13 |
container_start_page |
3310 |
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1772812586897637376 |