Using ground-penetrating radar, topography and classification of vegetation to model the sediment and active layer thickness in a periglacial lake catchment, western Greenland

The geometries of a catchment constitute the basis for distributed physically based numerical modeling of different geoscientific disciplines. In this paper results from ground-penetrating radar (GPR) measurements, in terms of a 3-D model of total sediment thickness and active layer thickness in a p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Earth System Science Data
Main Authors: Petrone, Johannes, Sohlenius, Gustav, Johansson, Emma, Lindborg, Tobias, Näslund, Jens-Ove, Strömgren, Mårten, Brydsten, Lars
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap 2016
Subjects:
Physical Geography
Naturgeografi
Greenland
Online Access:http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-152161
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-8-663-2016
Description
Summary:The geometries of a catchment constitute the basis for distributed physically based numerical modeling of different geoscientific disciplines. In this paper results from ground-penetrating radar (GPR) measurements, in terms of a 3-D model of total sediment thickness and active layer thickness in a periglacial catchment in western Greenland, are presented. Using the topography, the thickness and distribution of sediments are calculated. Vegetation classification and GPR measurements are used to scale active layer thickness from local measurements to catchment-scale models. Annual maximum active layer thickness varies from 0.3m in wetlands to 2.0m in barren areas and areas of exposed bedrock. Maximum sediment thickness is estimated to be 12.3m in the major valleys of the catchment. A method to correlate surface vegetation with active layer thickness is also presented. By using relatively simple methods, such as probing and vegetation classification, it is possible to upscale local point measurements to catchment-scale models, in areas where the upper subsurface is relatively homogeneous. The resulting spatial model of active layer thickness can be used in combination with the sediment model as a geometrical input to further studies of subsurface mass transport and hydrological flow paths in the periglacial catchment through numerical modeling. The data set is available for all users via the PANGAEA database, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.845258.

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