Climate Signatures on Lake And Wetland Size Distributions in Arctic Deltas

Vulis, Lawrence; Tejedor, Alejandro; Zaliapin, Ilya; Rowland, Joel C.; Foufoula‐Georgiou, Efi

doi:10.1029/2021GL094437

Title: Climate Signatures on Lake And Wetland Size Distributions in Arctic Deltas

Journal Article · 19 October 2021 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094437 · OSTI ID:1826853

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Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of California Irvine Irvine CA USA
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of California Irvine Irvine CA USA, Department of Science and Engineering Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates
Department of Mathematics and Statistics University of Nevada Reno Reno NV USA
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos NM USA
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of California Irvine Irvine CA USA, Department of Earth System Science University of California Irvine Irvine CA USA

Abstract Understanding how thermokarst lakes on arctic river deltas will respond to rapid warming is critical for projecting how carbon storage and fluxes will change in those vulnerable environments. Yet, this understanding is currently limited partly due to the complexity of disentangling significant interannual variability from the longer‐term surface water signatures on the landscape, using the short summertime window of optical spaceborne observations. Here, we rigorously separate perennial lakes from ephemeral wetlands on 12 arctic deltas and report distinct size distributions and climate trends for the two waterbodies. Namely, we find a lognormal distribution for lakes and a power‐law distribution for wetlands, consistent with a simple proportionate growth model and inundated topography, respectively. Furthermore, while no trend with temperature is found for wetlands, a statistically significant decreasing trend of mean lake size with warmer temperatures is found, attributed to colder deltas having deeper and thicker permafrost preserving larger lakes.

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Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

OSTI ID:: 1826853

Journal Information:: Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 20 Vol. 48; ISSN 0094-8276

Publisher:: American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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