Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub-Arctic Québec.
Recent land cover changes in the Umiujaq region of northern Québec, Canada, have been quantified in order to estimate changes in the extent of discontinuous permafrost that strongly affect the forest-tundra ecotone. Changes in the areas covered by different vegetation types, thermokarst lakes and de...
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Online Access: | https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/3801/ https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1839 |
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ftinrsquebec:oai:espace.inrs.ca:3801 2023-05-15T13:03:16+02:00 Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub-Arctic Québec. Beck, Inga Ludwig, Ralf Peter Bernier, Monique Lévesque, Esther Boike, Julia 2015 https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/3801/ https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1839 unknown Beck, Inga, Ludwig, Ralf Peter, Bernier, Monique, Lévesque, Esther et Boike, Julia (2015). Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub-Arctic Québec. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes , vol. 26 , nº 2. p. 129-141. DOI:10.1002/ppp.1839 <https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1839>. doi:10.1002/ppp.1839 permafrost vegetation changes remote sensing thermokarst ponds lithalsas Article Évalué par les pairs 2015 ftinrsquebec https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1839 2023-02-10T11:42:39Z Recent land cover changes in the Umiujaq region of northern Québec, Canada, have been quantified in order to estimate changes in the extent of discontinuous permafrost that strongly affect the forest-tundra ecotone. Changes in the areas covered by different vegetation types, thermokarst lakes and degradation of lithalsas have been investigated over an area of 60 km², extending from widespread discontinuous permafrost in the north to areas of scattered permafrost in the south, and from Hudson Bay in the west to the Lac Guillaume-Delisle graben 10 km further east. We used high-resolution remote sensing images (QuickBird 2004, GeoEye 2009) and four Landsat scenes (1986, 1990, 2001, 2008) as well as ground-based data (vegetation, active layer thickness, snow parameters) collected between 2009 and 2011. Two change detection methods applied to estimate the land cover changes between 1986 and 2009 showed an overall increase in vegetation extent between 1986 and 2009, and a 21 per cent increase in tall vegetation (spruce and tall shrubs) between 2004 and 2009 at the expense of low vegetation (lichens, prostrate shrubs, herbaceous vegetation). Thermokarst lakes and lithalsas in ten sub-areas were mapped manually from satellite imagery. The area covered by water decreased by 24 per cent between 2004 and 2009, often due to vegetation colonising the margins of lakes, and 93 of the observed lakes disappeared completely over that period. The area covered by lithalsas declined by 6 per cent. Our results demonstrate the viability of using high-resolution satellite imagery to detect changes in the land surface that can serve as indicators of permafrost degradation in the sub-Arctic. Article in Journal/Newspaper Active layer thickness Arctic Arctic Hudson Bay permafrost Permafrost and Periglacial Processes Thermokarst Tundra Umiujaq Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Québec: Espace INRS Arctic Hudson Bay Canada Hudson Guillaume ENVELOPE(70.150,70.150,-49.350,-49.350) Umiujaq ENVELOPE(-76.549,-76.549,56.553,56.553) Lac Guillaume-Delisle ENVELOPE(-76.294,-76.294,56.249,56.249) Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 26 2 129 141 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Québec: Espace INRS |
op_collection_id |
ftinrsquebec |
language |
unknown |
topic |
permafrost vegetation changes remote sensing thermokarst ponds lithalsas |
spellingShingle |
permafrost vegetation changes remote sensing thermokarst ponds lithalsas Beck, Inga Ludwig, Ralf Peter Bernier, Monique Lévesque, Esther Boike, Julia Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub-Arctic Québec. |
topic_facet |
permafrost vegetation changes remote sensing thermokarst ponds lithalsas |
description |
Recent land cover changes in the Umiujaq region of northern Québec, Canada, have been quantified in order to estimate changes in the extent of discontinuous permafrost that strongly affect the forest-tundra ecotone. Changes in the areas covered by different vegetation types, thermokarst lakes and degradation of lithalsas have been investigated over an area of 60 km², extending from widespread discontinuous permafrost in the north to areas of scattered permafrost in the south, and from Hudson Bay in the west to the Lac Guillaume-Delisle graben 10 km further east. We used high-resolution remote sensing images (QuickBird 2004, GeoEye 2009) and four Landsat scenes (1986, 1990, 2001, 2008) as well as ground-based data (vegetation, active layer thickness, snow parameters) collected between 2009 and 2011. Two change detection methods applied to estimate the land cover changes between 1986 and 2009 showed an overall increase in vegetation extent between 1986 and 2009, and a 21 per cent increase in tall vegetation (spruce and tall shrubs) between 2004 and 2009 at the expense of low vegetation (lichens, prostrate shrubs, herbaceous vegetation). Thermokarst lakes and lithalsas in ten sub-areas were mapped manually from satellite imagery. The area covered by water decreased by 24 per cent between 2004 and 2009, often due to vegetation colonising the margins of lakes, and 93 of the observed lakes disappeared completely over that period. The area covered by lithalsas declined by 6 per cent. Our results demonstrate the viability of using high-resolution satellite imagery to detect changes in the land surface that can serve as indicators of permafrost degradation in the sub-Arctic. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Beck, Inga Ludwig, Ralf Peter Bernier, Monique Lévesque, Esther Boike, Julia |
author_facet |
Beck, Inga Ludwig, Ralf Peter Bernier, Monique Lévesque, Esther Boike, Julia |
author_sort |
Beck, Inga |
title |
Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub-Arctic Québec. |
title_short |
Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub-Arctic Québec. |
title_full |
Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub-Arctic Québec. |
title_fullStr |
Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub-Arctic Québec. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub-Arctic Québec. |
title_sort |
assessing permafrost degradation and land cover changes (1986–2009) using remote sensing data over umiujaq, sub-arctic québec. |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/3801/ https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1839 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(70.150,70.150,-49.350,-49.350) ENVELOPE(-76.549,-76.549,56.553,56.553) ENVELOPE(-76.294,-76.294,56.249,56.249) |
geographic |
Arctic Hudson Bay Canada Hudson Guillaume Umiujaq Lac Guillaume-Delisle |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Hudson Bay Canada Hudson Guillaume Umiujaq Lac Guillaume-Delisle |
genre |
Active layer thickness Arctic Arctic Hudson Bay permafrost Permafrost and Periglacial Processes Thermokarst Tundra Umiujaq |
genre_facet |
Active layer thickness Arctic Arctic Hudson Bay permafrost Permafrost and Periglacial Processes Thermokarst Tundra Umiujaq |
op_relation |
Beck, Inga, Ludwig, Ralf Peter, Bernier, Monique, Lévesque, Esther et Boike, Julia (2015). Assessing Permafrost Degradation and Land Cover Changes (1986–2009) using Remote Sensing Data over Umiujaq, Sub-Arctic Québec. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes , vol. 26 , nº 2. p. 129-141. DOI:10.1002/ppp.1839 <https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1839>. doi:10.1002/ppp.1839 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1839 |
container_title |
Permafrost and Periglacial Processes |
container_volume |
26 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
129 |
op_container_end_page |
141 |
_version_ |
1766332811299520512 |