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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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2072-4292/15/13/3310/ 2023-08-20T03:59:06+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 agris 2023-06-28 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15133310 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Remote Sensing in Geology, Geomorphology and Hydrology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs15133310 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Remote Sensing; Volume 15; Issue 13; Pages: 3310 InSAR permafrost active layer Arctic infrastructure ice content Text 2023 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15133310 2023-08-01T10:39:28Z 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 cm. Areas following a subsiding trend of up to 2.6 cm/yr 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. Text Active layer thickness Arctic Greenland Ice Ilulissat permafrost MDPI Open Access Publishing Arctic Greenland Ilulissat ENVELOPE(-51.099,-51.099,69.220,69.220) Remote Sensing 15 13 3310 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
InSAR permafrost active layer Arctic infrastructure ice content |
spellingShingle |
InSAR permafrost active layer Arctic infrastructure ice content 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 |
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 cm. Areas following a subsiding trend of up to 2.6 cm/yr 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 |
Text |
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 |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15133310 |
op_coverage |
agris |
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; Volume 15; Issue 13; Pages: 3310 |
op_relation |
Remote Sensing in Geology, Geomorphology and Hydrology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs15133310 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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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1774715151974400000 |