A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data
Permafrost is a key element of the terrestrial cryosphere which makes mapping and monitoring of its state variables an imperative task. We present a modeling scheme based on remotely sensed land surface temperatures and reanalysis products from which mean annual ground temperatures (MAGT) can be der...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2015-06-01
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| Series: | The Cryosphere |
| Online Access: | http://www.the-cryosphere.net/9/1303/2015/tc-9-1303-2015.pdf |
| _version_ | 1819061084858875904 |
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| author | S. Westermann T. I. Østby K. Gisnås T. V. Schuler B. Etzelmüller |
| author_facet | S. Westermann T. I. Østby K. Gisnås T. V. Schuler B. Etzelmüller |
| author_sort | S. Westermann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Permafrost is a key element of the terrestrial cryosphere which makes mapping
and monitoring of its state variables an imperative task. We present a
modeling scheme based on remotely sensed land surface temperatures and
reanalysis products from which mean annual ground temperatures (MAGT) can be
derived at a spatial resolution of 1 km at continental scales. The approach
explicitly accounts for the uncertainty due to unknown input parameters and
their spatial variability at subgrid scale by delivering a range of MAGTs for
each grid cell. This is achieved by a simple equilibrium model with only few
input parameters which for each grid cell allows scanning the range of
possible results by running many realizations with different parameters. The
approach is applied to the unglacierized land areas in the North Atlantic
region, an area of more than 5 million km<sup>2</sup> ranging from the Ural
Mountains in the east to the Canadian Archipelago in the west. A comparison
to in situ temperature measurements in 143 boreholes suggests a model
accuracy better than 2.5 °C, with 139 considered boreholes within
this margin. The statistical approach with a large number of realizations
facilitates estimating the probability of permafrost occurrence within a grid
cell so that each grid cell can be classified as continuous, discontinuous
and sporadic permafrost. At its southern margin in Scandinavia and Russia,
the transition zone between permafrost and permafrost-free areas extends over
several hundred km width with gradually decreasing permafrost probabilities.
The study exemplifies the unexploited potential of remotely sensed data sets
in permafrost mapping if they are employed in multi-sensor multi-source data
fusion approaches. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T14:37:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-40260bf37686474597834c8304d509a5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1994-0416 1994-0424 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T14:37:16Z |
| publishDate | 2015-06-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Cryosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-40260bf37686474597834c8304d509a52022-12-21T19:00:17ZengCopernicus PublicationsThe Cryosphere1994-04161994-04242015-06-01931303131910.5194/tc-9-1303-2015A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis dataS. Westermann0T. I. Østby1K. Gisnås2T. V. Schuler3B. Etzelmüller4Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1047, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Geosciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1047, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Geosciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1047, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Geosciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1047, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Geosciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1047, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, NorwayPermafrost is a key element of the terrestrial cryosphere which makes mapping and monitoring of its state variables an imperative task. We present a modeling scheme based on remotely sensed land surface temperatures and reanalysis products from which mean annual ground temperatures (MAGT) can be derived at a spatial resolution of 1 km at continental scales. The approach explicitly accounts for the uncertainty due to unknown input parameters and their spatial variability at subgrid scale by delivering a range of MAGTs for each grid cell. This is achieved by a simple equilibrium model with only few input parameters which for each grid cell allows scanning the range of possible results by running many realizations with different parameters. The approach is applied to the unglacierized land areas in the North Atlantic region, an area of more than 5 million km<sup>2</sup> ranging from the Ural Mountains in the east to the Canadian Archipelago in the west. A comparison to in situ temperature measurements in 143 boreholes suggests a model accuracy better than 2.5 °C, with 139 considered boreholes within this margin. The statistical approach with a large number of realizations facilitates estimating the probability of permafrost occurrence within a grid cell so that each grid cell can be classified as continuous, discontinuous and sporadic permafrost. At its southern margin in Scandinavia and Russia, the transition zone between permafrost and permafrost-free areas extends over several hundred km width with gradually decreasing permafrost probabilities. The study exemplifies the unexploited potential of remotely sensed data sets in permafrost mapping if they are employed in multi-sensor multi-source data fusion approaches.http://www.the-cryosphere.net/9/1303/2015/tc-9-1303-2015.pdf |
| spellingShingle | S. Westermann T. I. Østby K. Gisnås T. V. Schuler B. Etzelmüller A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data The Cryosphere |
| title | A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data |
| title_full | A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data |
| title_fullStr | A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data |
| title_full_unstemmed | A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data |
| title_short | A ground temperature map of the North Atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data |
| title_sort | ground temperature map of the north atlantic permafrost region based on remote sensing and reanalysis data |
| url | http://www.the-cryosphere.net/9/1303/2015/tc-9-1303-2015.pdf |
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