Water Body Distributions Across Scales: A Remote Sensing Based Comparison of Three Arctic Tundra Wetlands

Muster, Sina; Heim, Birgit; Abnizova, Anna; Boike, Julia

doi:10.3390/rs5041498

Cited by 116 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 63 publications

(80 reference statements)

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“…In general, open-water surfaces show a high contrast to the surrounding land area in all utilized spectral bands, i.e., panchromatic, near-infrared, and X-band, since water absorbs most of the incoming radiation (Grosse et al, 2005;Muster et al, 2013). Ground surveys of waterbody surface area were available for only a few study sites.…”

Section: Classification Accuracy and Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

PeRL: a circum-Arctic Permafrost Region Pond and Lake database

Muster

Roth

Langer

et al. 2017

Earth Syst. Sci. Data

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Abstract. Ponds and lakes are abundant in Arctic permafrost lowlands. They play an important role in Arctic wetland ecosystems by regulating carbon, water, and energy fluxes and providing freshwater habitats. However, ponds, i.e., waterbodies with surface areas smaller than 1.0 × 10 4 m 2 , have not been inventoried on global and regional scales. The Permafrost Region Pond and Lake (PeRL) database presents the results of a circum-Arctic effort to map ponds and lakes from modern (2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013) high-resolution aerial and satellite imagery with a resolution of 5 m or better. The database also includes historical imagery from 1948 to 1965 with a resolution of 6 m or better. PeRL includes 69 maps covering a wide range of environmental conditions from tundra to boreal regions and from continuous to discontinuous permafrost zones. Waterbody maps are linked to regional permafrost landscape maps which provide information on permafrost extent, ground ice volume, geology, and lithology. This paper describes waterbody classification and accuracy, and presents statistics of waterbody distribution for each site. Maps of permafrost landscapes in Alaska, Canada, and Russia are used to extrapolate waterbody statistics from the site level to regional landscape units. PeRL presents pond and lake estimates for a total area of Published by Copernicus Publications. S. Muster et al.: A circum-Arctic PeRL1.4 × 10 6 km 2 across the Arctic, about 17 % of the Arctic lowland (< 300 m a.s.l.) land surface area. PeRL waterbodies with sizes of 1.0 × 10 6 m 2 down to 1.0 × 10 2 m 2 contributed up to 21 % to the total water fraction. Waterbody density ranged from 1.0 × 10 to 9.4 × 10 1 km −2 . Ponds are the dominant waterbody type by number in all landscapes representing 45-99 % of the total waterbody number. The implementation of PeRL size distributions in land surface models will greatly improve the investigation and projection of surface inundation and carbon fluxes in permafrost lowlands. Waterbody maps, study area boundaries, and maps of regional permafrost landscapes including detailed metadata are available at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.868349.

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Section: Classification Accuracy and Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

PeRL: a circum-Arctic Permafrost Region Pond and Lake database

Muster

Roth

Langer

et al. 2017

Earth Syst. Sci. Data

Self Cite

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“…The NLCC classification identified 15 land cover classes, 12 of which are present in the study area, with an accuracy of about 85% (Olthof et al, 2008). Ponds (i.e., water bodies with a surface area smaller than 10 4 m 2 ) were not resolved by the NLCC but make up 60% of the total water bodies by number and 22% by surface area (Muster, Heim, Abnizova, & Boike, 2013). The NLCC was therefore enhanced using a high-resolution water body classification for the PBP wetland area (Muster et al, 2013).…”

Section: Assessing Modis Lst-land Surface Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal sensitivity of MODIS land surface temperature anomalies indicates high potential for large-scale land cover change detection in Arctic permafrost landscapes

Muster

Langer

Abnizova

et al. 2015

Remote Sensing of Environment

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The accelerated warming of the Arctic climate may alter the local and regional surface energy balances, for which changing land surface temperatures (LSTs) are a key indicator. Modeling current and anticipated changes in the surface energy balance requires an understanding of the spatio-temporal interactions between LSTs and land cover, both of which can be monitored globally by measurements from space. This paper investigates the accuracy of the MODIS LST/Emissivity Daily L3 Global 1 km V005 product and its spatio-temporal sensitivity to land surface properties in a Canadian High Arctic permafrost landscape. The land cover ranged from fully vegetated wet sedge tundra to barren rock. MODIS LSTs were compared with in situ radiometer measurements from wet tundra areas collected over a 2-year period from July 2008 to July 2010 including both summer and winter conditions. The accuracy of the MODIS LSTs was −1.1°C with a root mean square error of 3.9°C over the entire observation period. Agreement was lowest during the freeze-back periods where MODIS LST showed a cold bias likely due to the overrepresentation of clear-sky conditions. A multi-year analysis of LST spatial anomalies, i.e., the difference between MODIS LSTs and the MODIS LST regional mean, revealed a robust spatiotemporal pattern. Highest variability in LST anomalies was found during freeze-up and thaw periods as well as for open water surface in early summer due to the presence or absence of snow or ice. The summer anomaly pattern was similar for all three years despite strong differences in precipitation, air temperature and net radiation. Summer periods with regional mean LSTs above 5.0°C showed the greatest spatial diversity with four distinct 2.0°C classes. Summer anomalies ranged from −4.5°C to 2.6°C with an average standard deviation of 1.8°C. Dry ridge areas heated up the most, while wetland areas and dry areas of sparsely vegetated bedrock with a high albedo remained coolest. The observed summer LST anomalies can be used as a baseline against which to evaluate both past and future changes in land surface properties that relate to the surface energy balance. Summer anomaly classes mainly reflected a combination of albedo and surface wetness. The potential to use this tool to monitor surface drying and wetting in the Arctic should therefore be further explored. A multi-sensor approach combining thermal satellite measurements with optical and radar imagery promises to be an effective tool for a dynamic, process-based ecosystem monitoring scheme.

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“…In addition to warming, shifts in the water balance in this region are expected to trigger profound changes in the permafrost carbon cycle (e.g., Chapin et al, 2005;Oberbauer et al, 2007). Hydrology can vary at small spatial scales and thus create fine-scale mosaics in surface conditions (Muster et al, 2012(Muster et al, , 2013. Even minor differences in mean water levels can impose strong effects on vegetation and microbial community structures or soil thermal regimes (Zona et al, 2011a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifted energy fluxes, increased Bowen ratios, and reduced thaw depths linked with drainage-induced changes in permafrost ecosystem structure

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Hydrologic conditions are a key factor in Arctic ecosystems, with strong influences on ecosystem structure and related effects on biogeophysical and biogeochemical processes. With systematic changes in water availability expected for large parts of the northern high-latitude region in the coming centuries, knowledge on shifts in ecosystem functionality triggered by altered water levels is crucial for reducing uncertainties in climate change predictions. Here, we present findings from paired ecosystem observations in northeast Siberia comprising a drained and a control site. At the drainage site, the water table has been artificially lowered by up to 30 cm in summer for more than a decade. This sustained primary disturbance in hydrologic conditions has triggered a suite of secondary shifts in ecosystem properties, including vegetation community structure, snow cover dynamics, and radiation budget, all of which influence the net effects of drainage. Reduced thermal conductivity in dry organic soils was identified as the dominating drainage effect on energy budget and soil thermal regime. Through this effect, reduced heat transfer into deeper soil layers leads to shallower thaw depths, initially leading to a stabilization of organic permafrost soils, while the long-term effects on permafrost temperature trends still need to be assessed. At the same time, more energy is transferred back into the atmosphere as sensible heat in the drained area, which may trigger a warming of the lower atmospheric surface layer.

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Water Body Distributions Across Scales: A Remote Sensing Based Comparison of Three Arctic Tundra Wetlands

Cited by 116 publications

References 63 publications

PeRL: a circum-Arctic Permafrost Region Pond and Lake database

PeRL: a circum-Arctic Permafrost Region Pond and Lake database

Spatio-temporal sensitivity of MODIS land surface temperature anomalies indicates high potential for large-scale land cover change detection in Arctic permafrost landscapes

Shifted energy fluxes, increased Bowen ratios, and reduced thaw depths linked with drainage-induced changes in permafrost ecosystem structure

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