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InSAR Detection and Field Evidence for Thermokarst after a Tundra Wildfire, Using ALOS-PALSAR

Journal Article · · Remote Sensing
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8030218· OSTI ID:1258631
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [4];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK (United States). International Arctic Research Center
  2. National Inst. for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba (Japan)
  3. Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (China). Earth System Science Programme
  4. The Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan, Tsukuba (Japan)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Thermokarst is the process of ground subsidence caused by either the thawing of ice-rich permafrost or the melting of massive ground ice. The consequences of permafrost degradation associated with thermokarst for surface ecology, landscape evolution, and hydrological processes have been of great scientific interest and social concern. Part of a tundra patch affected by wildfire in northern Alaska (27.5 km2) was investigated here, using remote sensing and in situ surveys to quantify and understand permafrost thaw dynamics after surface disturbances. A two-pass differential InSAR technique using L-band ALOS-PALSAR has been shown capable of capturing thermokarst subsidence triggered by a tundra fire at a spatial resolution of tens of meters, with supporting evidence from field data and optical satellite images. We have introduced a calibration procedure, comparing burned and unburned areas for InSAR subsidence signals, to remove the noise due to seasonal surface movement. In the first year after the fire, an average subsidence rate of 6.2 cm/year (vertical) was measured. Subsidence in the burned area continued over the following two years, with decreased rates. The mean rate of subsidence observed in our interferograms (from 24 July 2008 to 14 September 2010) was 3.3 cm/year, a value comparable to that estimated from field surveys at two plots on average (2.2 cm/year) for the six years after the fire. These results suggest that this InSAR-measured ground subsidence is caused by the development of thermokarst, a thawing process supported by surface change observations from high-resolution optical images and in situ ground level surveys.
Research Organization:
International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA; Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
International Arctic Research Center (IARC); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23); University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, (United States)
OSTI ID:
1258631
Journal Information:
Remote Sensing, Journal Name: Remote Sensing Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 8; ISSN 2072-4292
Publisher:
MDPICopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (5)

Vertical Velocities, Glacial Isostatic Adjustment, and Earth Structure of Northern and Western Alaska Based on Repeat GPS Measurements journal August 2019
Inference of the impact of wildfire on permafrost and active layer thickness in a discontinuous permafrost region using the remotely sensed active layer thickness (ReSALT) algorithm journal March 2019
An overview of ABoVE airborne campaign data acquisitions and science opportunities journal July 2019
Modeling Wildfire-Induced Permafrost Deformation in an Alaskan Boreal Forest Using InSAR Observations journal March 2018
Thermokarst Development Detected from High-Definition Topographic Data in Central Yakutia journal October 2018

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ALOS
Anaktuvuk
InSAR
L-band
PALSAR
fire
subsidence
thermokarst
tundra