Multidisciplinary Hazard Mapping Framework for Critical Infrastructure on Terrestrial Permafrost

• Main Author: Scheer, Johanna
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Technical University of Denmark 2023
• Subjects: /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action; name=SDG 13 - Climate Action; Arctic; Climate change; permafrost
• Online Access: https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/48e2d64a-8d4c-49a4-ba8e-0a5e1720048c; https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/349872092/Thesis_Johann_Scheer.pdf

As the Arctic is warming faster than any other part of the world, Arctic settlements are confronted with growing environmental and socioeconomic pressures while contemplating emerging prospects. In coastal permafrost regions, landscape transformations and permafrost thaw significantly impact local lifestyles and increasingly expose communities to hazards. Changes in the frequency and magnitude of ground subsidence, erosion, and mass wasting events especially threaten the integrity of the built environment. In this context, maintaining functional infrastructure and adapting to rapid changes becomes paramount for the resiliency and sustainable development of Arctic communities. Building and maintaining infrastructure on permafrost terrains entails many geotechnical and planning challenges. Ensuring permafrost’s mechanical and thermal stability notably requires detailed knowledge of local subsurface conditions and adaptation of construction timing and staging. The adverse effects of poorly adapted designs and practices combined with those of climate change exacerbate permafrost thaw and contribute to the rapid deterioration of the built environment. As a result, infrastructures established on permafrost are already subject to stability issues and at risk of failure under projected climate scenarios. Consequent rehabilitation costs, which are expected to increase and impact already limited local budgets and resources, constitute an additional source of concern. In regions vulnerable to permafrost thaw, mapping hazards, identifying critical infrastructures, and quantifying the socioeconomic impacts of permafrost thaw is essential. The planning and design of future constructions require improving the characterization of local permafrost conditions and integrating climate predictions. Ultimately, decision support tools are needed at the community scale to support risk management and proactive adaptation strategies. This study was conducted as part of the work package 6 of the European Horizon 2020 Nunataryuk project, ...