Radar Detection of Anomalous Dynamics of Perennial Heaving Mounds from the Example of the Yamal Mound/Crater in 2020

A Step-Wise Workflow for SAR Remote Sensing of Perennial Heaving Mound/Crater on the Yamal Peninsula, Western Siberia

“…Inside and outside the circular outline, there is an areal uplift along the LOS [17]. Overall, the results obtained according to the 9 February 2017-25 January 2018 and 25 January 2018-10 January 2019 pairs of images are consistent with the results of [6]. The values of deformations within the outlines corresponded to the background dynamics around it these years.…”

“…The assessment of changes in the radar backscattering amplitude for detecting PHM is described in detail in work [6]; however, we consider it necessary to provide an equation characterizing the ratio of the brightness of the radar image pixels corresponding to the front (for the radar) slope, β 0 s , and the horizontal surface, β 0 H [20]:…”

“…Studies of perennial heaving mounds (PHM) became relevant after the discovery of a huge gas-emission crater in the northern part of western Siberia in 2014 [1][2][3][4][5][6]. The "gas-emission crater" term is quite well-known; it has already been used in [1,[3][4][5].…”

“…However, the use of optical satellite images for the Arctic region study involves the selection of data for a cloudless period during the polar day. From this point of view, data of satellite radars with synthetic aperture (synthetic aperture radar-SAR) [6][7][8][9] are more effective for regular monitoring, since these radars are able to collect information regardless of any cloudiness and time of the polar day. So, for example, the authors of this study, earlier in [6], showed the possibility of detecting anomalous deformations of heaving mounds by analyzing changes in the PHM slopes.…”

“…The approach proposed in [6] allows us to quantify only changes in the slope angles of the surface of a heaving mound. The magnitude of deformations remains unknown; however, it is not less important, and it is possibly the main component for predicting the probable blowout of a mixture of gas, ice, and soil resulting in the formation of a crater.…”