Satellite Microwave remote sensing of contrasting surface water inundation changes within the Arctic-Boreal Region

Surface water inundation in the Arctic–Boreal region is dynamic and strongly influences land-atmosphere water, energy and carbon (CO2, CH4) fluxes, and potential feedbacks to climate change. Here we report on recent (2003–2010) surface inundation patterns across the Arctic–Boreal region (≥ 50°N) and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Remote Sensing of Environment
Main Authors: Watts, J. D., Kimball, John S, Jones, Lucas A., Schroeder, Ronny, McDonald, Kyle C.
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: ScholarWorks at University of Montana 2012
Subjects:
AMSR
Arctic
climate change
Inundation
Landsat
MODIS
Permafrost
Climate change
permafrost
Online Access:https://scholarworks.umt.edu/ntsg_pubs/253
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2012.09.003
Description
Summary:Surface water inundation in the Arctic–Boreal region is dynamic and strongly influences land-atmosphere water, energy and carbon (CO2, CH4) fluxes, and potential feedbacks to climate change. Here we report on recent (2003–2010) surface inundation patterns across the Arctic–Boreal region (≥ 50°N) and within major permafrost (PF) zones detected using satellite passive microwave remote sensing retrievals of daily fractional open water (Fw) cover from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E). The AMSR-E Fw (25-km resolution) maps reflect strong microwave sensitivity to sub-grid scale open water variability and compare favorably (0.71 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.84) with alternative, static Fw maps derived from finer scale (30-m to 250-m resolution) Landsat, MODIS and SRTM radar (MOD44W) data. The AMSR-E retrievals show dynamic seasonal and annual variability in surface inundation that is unresolved in the static Fw maps. The AMSR-E Fw record also corresponds strongly (0.71 ≤ R ≤ 0.87) with regional wet/dry cycles inferred from basin discharge records. An AMSR-E algorithm sensitivity analysis shows a conservative estimate of Fw retrieval uncertainty (RMSE) within ± 4.1% for effective resolution of regional inundation patterns and seasonal to annual variability. A regional trend analysis of the 8-year AMSR-E record shows no significant Arctic–Boreal region wide Fw trend for the period, and instead reveals contrasting inundation changes within different PF zones. Widespread Fw wetting is detected within continuous (92% of grid cells with significant trend; p < 0.1) and discontinuous (82%) PF zones, while sporadic/isolated PF areas show widespread (71%) Fw drying trends. These results are consistent with previous studies showing evidence of contrasting regional inundation patterns linked to PF degradation and associated changes to surface hydrology under recent climate warming.

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