Thaw Settlement Monitoring and Active Layer Thickness Retrieval Using Time Series COSMO-SkyMed Imagery in Iqaluit Airport
Thaw consolidation of degrading permafrost is a serious hazard to the safety and operation of infrastructure. Monitoring thermal changes in the active layer (AL), the proportion of the soil above permafrost that thaws and freezes periodically, is critical to understanding the conditions of the top l...
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2022
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2072-4292/14/9/2156/ 2023-08-20T03:59:06+02:00 Thaw Settlement Monitoring and Active Layer Thickness Retrieval Using Time Series COSMO-SkyMed Imagery in Iqaluit Airport Deying Ma Mahdi Motagh Guoxiang Liu Rui Zhang Xiaowen Wang Bo Zhang Wei Xiang Bing Yu agris 2022-04-30 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14092156 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Remote Sensing in Geology, Geomorphology and Hydrology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs14092156 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Remote Sensing; Volume 14; Issue 9; Pages: 2156 permafrost ALT FCNInSAR CSK images thaw settlement coefficient VWC SoilGrids Text 2022 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14092156 2023-08-01T04:55:44Z Thaw consolidation of degrading permafrost is a serious hazard to the safety and operation of infrastructure. Monitoring thermal changes in the active layer (AL), the proportion of the soil above permafrost that thaws and freezes periodically, is critical to understanding the conditions of the top layer above the permafrost and regulating the construction, operation, and maintenance of facilities. However, this is a very challenging task using ground-based methods such as ground-penetrating radar (GPR) or temperature sensors. This study explores the integration of interferometric measurements from high-resolution X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images and volumetric water content (VWC) data from SoilGrids to quantify detailed spatial variations in active layer thickness (ALT) in Iqaluit, the territorial capital of Nunavut in Canada. A total of 21 SAR images from COSMO Sky-Med (CSK) were first analyzed using the freely connected network interferometric synthetic aperture radar (FCNInSAR) method to map spatial and temporal variations in ground surface subsidence in the study area. Subsequently, we built an ALT retrieval model by introducing the thaw settlement coefficient, which takes soil properties and saturation state into account. The subsidence measurements from InSAR were then integrated with VWC extracted from the SoilGrids database to estimate changes in ALT. For validation, we conducted a comparison between estimated ALTs and in situ measurements in the airport sector. The InSAR survey identifies several sites of ground deformation at Iqaluit, subsiding at rates exceeding 80 mm/year. The subsidence rate changes along the runway coincide with frost cracks and ice-wedge furrows. The obtained ALTs, ranging from 0 to 5 m, vary significantly in different sediments. Maximum ALTs are found for rock areas, while shallow ALTs are distributed in the till blanket (Tb), the intertidal (Mi) sediments, and the alluvial flood plain (Afp) sediment units. The intersection of taxiway and runway has an AL thicker than ... Text Active layer thickness Ice Iqaluit Nunavut permafrost wedge* MDPI Open Access Publishing Nunavut Canada Iqaluit Airport ENVELOPE(-68.553,-68.553,63.755,63.755) Remote Sensing 14 9 2156 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
permafrost ALT FCNInSAR CSK images thaw settlement coefficient VWC SoilGrids |
spellingShingle |
permafrost ALT FCNInSAR CSK images thaw settlement coefficient VWC SoilGrids Deying Ma Mahdi Motagh Guoxiang Liu Rui Zhang Xiaowen Wang Bo Zhang Wei Xiang Bing Yu Thaw Settlement Monitoring and Active Layer Thickness Retrieval Using Time Series COSMO-SkyMed Imagery in Iqaluit Airport |
topic_facet |
permafrost ALT FCNInSAR CSK images thaw settlement coefficient VWC SoilGrids |
description |
Thaw consolidation of degrading permafrost is a serious hazard to the safety and operation of infrastructure. Monitoring thermal changes in the active layer (AL), the proportion of the soil above permafrost that thaws and freezes periodically, is critical to understanding the conditions of the top layer above the permafrost and regulating the construction, operation, and maintenance of facilities. However, this is a very challenging task using ground-based methods such as ground-penetrating radar (GPR) or temperature sensors. This study explores the integration of interferometric measurements from high-resolution X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images and volumetric water content (VWC) data from SoilGrids to quantify detailed spatial variations in active layer thickness (ALT) in Iqaluit, the territorial capital of Nunavut in Canada. A total of 21 SAR images from COSMO Sky-Med (CSK) were first analyzed using the freely connected network interferometric synthetic aperture radar (FCNInSAR) method to map spatial and temporal variations in ground surface subsidence in the study area. Subsequently, we built an ALT retrieval model by introducing the thaw settlement coefficient, which takes soil properties and saturation state into account. The subsidence measurements from InSAR were then integrated with VWC extracted from the SoilGrids database to estimate changes in ALT. For validation, we conducted a comparison between estimated ALTs and in situ measurements in the airport sector. The InSAR survey identifies several sites of ground deformation at Iqaluit, subsiding at rates exceeding 80 mm/year. The subsidence rate changes along the runway coincide with frost cracks and ice-wedge furrows. The obtained ALTs, ranging from 0 to 5 m, vary significantly in different sediments. Maximum ALTs are found for rock areas, while shallow ALTs are distributed in the till blanket (Tb), the intertidal (Mi) sediments, and the alluvial flood plain (Afp) sediment units. The intersection of taxiway and runway has an AL thicker than ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Deying Ma Mahdi Motagh Guoxiang Liu Rui Zhang Xiaowen Wang Bo Zhang Wei Xiang Bing Yu |
author_facet |
Deying Ma Mahdi Motagh Guoxiang Liu Rui Zhang Xiaowen Wang Bo Zhang Wei Xiang Bing Yu |
author_sort |
Deying Ma |
title |
Thaw Settlement Monitoring and Active Layer Thickness Retrieval Using Time Series COSMO-SkyMed Imagery in Iqaluit Airport |
title_short |
Thaw Settlement Monitoring and Active Layer Thickness Retrieval Using Time Series COSMO-SkyMed Imagery in Iqaluit Airport |
title_full |
Thaw Settlement Monitoring and Active Layer Thickness Retrieval Using Time Series COSMO-SkyMed Imagery in Iqaluit Airport |
title_fullStr |
Thaw Settlement Monitoring and Active Layer Thickness Retrieval Using Time Series COSMO-SkyMed Imagery in Iqaluit Airport |
title_full_unstemmed |
Thaw Settlement Monitoring and Active Layer Thickness Retrieval Using Time Series COSMO-SkyMed Imagery in Iqaluit Airport |
title_sort |
thaw settlement monitoring and active layer thickness retrieval using time series cosmo-skymed imagery in iqaluit airport |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14092156 |
op_coverage |
agris |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-68.553,-68.553,63.755,63.755) |
geographic |
Nunavut Canada Iqaluit Airport |
geographic_facet |
Nunavut Canada Iqaluit Airport |
genre |
Active layer thickness Ice Iqaluit Nunavut permafrost wedge* |
genre_facet |
Active layer thickness Ice Iqaluit Nunavut permafrost wedge* |
op_source |
Remote Sensing; Volume 14; Issue 9; Pages: 2156 |
op_relation |
Remote Sensing in Geology, Geomorphology and Hydrology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs14092156 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14092156 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
2156 |
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1774714721497251840 |