The implications of permafrost thaw and land cover change on snow water equivalent accumulation, melt and runoff in discontinuous permafrost peatlands

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Connon ◽  
L. Chasmer ◽  
E. Haughton ◽  
M. Helbig ◽  
C. Hopkinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Snow Water Equivalent ◽  
Permafrost Thaw ◽  
Discontinuous Permafrost ◽  
Snow Water

scholarly journals Long-term climate-influenced land cover change in discontinuous permafrost peatland complexes

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 3301-3317
Author(s):  
Olivia Carpino ◽  
Kristine Haynes ◽  
Ryan Connon ◽  
James Craig ◽  
Élise Devoie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Permafrost Zone ◽  
Permafrost Thaw ◽  
The North ◽  
Plateau Wetland ◽  
Discontinuous Permafrost ◽  
Advanced Stages ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
Time Substitution

Abstract. The discontinuous permafrost zone is undergoing rapid transformation as a result of unprecedented permafrost thaw brought on by circumpolar climate warming. Rapid warming over recent decades has significantly decreased the area underlain by permafrost in peatland complexes. It has catalysed extensive landscape transitions in the Taiga Plains of northwestern Canada, transforming forest-dominated landscapes to those that are wetland dominated. However, the advanced stages of this landscape transition, and the hydrological and thermal mechanisms and feedbacks governing these environments, are unclear. This study explores the current trajectory of land cover change across a 300 000 km2 region of northwestern Canada's discontinuous permafrost zone by presenting a north–south space-for-time substitution that capitalizes on the region's 600 km latitudinal span. We combine extensive geomatics data across the Taiga Plains with ground-based hydrometeorological measurements collected in the Scotty Creek basin, Northwest Territories, Canada, which is located in the medial latitudes of the Taiga Plains and is undergoing rapid landscape change. These data are used to inform a new conceptual framework of landscape evolution that accounts for the observed patterns of permafrost thaw-induced land cover change and provides a basis for predicting future changes. Permafrost thaw-induced changes in hydrology promote partial drainage and drying of collapse scar wetlands, leading to areas of afforestation forming treed wetlands without underlying permafrost. Across the north–south latitudinal gradient spanning the Taiga Plains, relatively undisturbed forested plateau–wetland complexes dominate the region's higher latitudes, forest–wetland patchwork are most prevalent at the medial latitudes, and forested peatlands are increasingly present across lower latitudes. This trend reflects the progression of wetland transition occurring locally in the plateau–wetland complexes of the Scotty Creek basin and informs our understanding of the anticipated trajectory of change in the discontinuous permafrost zone.

scholarly journals A synthesis of three decades of hydrological research at Scotty Creek, NWT, Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 2015-2039 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Quinton ◽  
Aaron Berg ◽  
Michael Braverman ◽  
Olivia Carpino ◽  
Laura Chasmer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Physical Mechanisms ◽  
Permafrost Thaw ◽  
Discontinuous Permafrost ◽  
Modelling Studies ◽  
Hydrology And Water Resources ◽  
And Storage ◽  
Storage Processes

Abstract. Scotty Creek, Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada, has been the focus of hydrological research for nearly three decades. Over this period, field and modelling studies have generated new insights into the thermal and physical mechanisms governing the flux and storage of water in the wetland-dominated regions of discontinuous permafrost that characterises much of the Canadian and circumpolar subarctic. Research at Scotty Creek has coincided with a period of unprecedented climate warming, permafrost thaw, and resulting land cover transformations including the expansion of wetland areas and loss of forests. This paper (1) synthesises field and modelling studies at Scotty Creek, (2) highlights the key insights of these studies on the major water flux and storage processes operating within and between the major land cover types, and (3) provides insights into the rate and pattern of the permafrost-thaw-induced land cover change and how such changes will affect the hydrology and water resources of the study region.

scholarly journals Hydrometric measurements in peatland-dominated, discontinuous permafrost at Scotty Creek, Northwest Territories, Canada – Changing Cold Regions Network (CCRN) Special Observation and Analysis Period (SOAP)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine M. Haynes ◽  
Ryan F. Connon ◽  
William L. Quinton
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Data Repository ◽  
Permafrost Region ◽  
Permafrost Degradation ◽  
Cold Regions ◽  
Land Cover Types ◽  
Discontinuous Permafrost

Abstract. The discontinuous permafrost region of northwestern Canada is experiencing rapid warming resulting in dramatic land cover change from forested permafrost terrain to treeless wetlands. Extensive research has been conducted throughout this region to gain insight into how climate-induced land cover change will impact water resources and ecosystem function. This paper presents a hydrological and micrometeorological dataset collected in the Scotty Creek basin, Northwest Territories, Canada over the course of the Changing Cold Regions Network (CCRN) Special Observation and Analysis Period (SOAP) year of 1 October 2014 to 30 September 2015. Micrometeorological data collected from four stations located in land cover types representative of those comprising the Scotty Creek basin, including bog, channel fen, stable peat plateau and peat plateau undergoing rapid permafrost degradation and loss are presented. Monitored micrometeorological variables include incoming and outgoing shortwave and longwave radiation, air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, precipitation (rain and snow) and snow depth. Deep ground temperatures (~ 1 to 10 m below the ground surface) from a channel fen as well as disturbed sites common to the basin including a seismic line and winter road are presented. Water levels were also monitored in the representative land cover types over this period. This dataset is available from the Wilfrid Laurier University Library Research Data Repository (https://doi.org/10.5683/SP/OQDRJG) and can be used in coordination with other hydrological and micrometeorological datasets, including those from the CCRN, to examine spatio-temporal effects of meteorological conditions on local hydrological responses across cold regions.

scholarly journals Time-series analysis of passive-microwave-derived central North American snow water equivalent imagery

2002 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Derksen ◽  
A. Walker ◽  
E. LeDrew ◽  
B. Goodison
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
North American ◽  
Snow Water Equivalent ◽  
Winter Season ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Passive Microwave ◽  
Central Canada ◽  
Snow Water ◽  
Total Study Area

AbstractThe Meteorological Service of Canada has developed a series of operational snow water equivalent (SWE) retrieval algorithms for central Canada, based on the vertically polarized difference index for the 19 and 37 GHz channels of the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I). Separate algorithms derive SWE for open environments, deciduous, coniferous and sparse forest cover. A final SWE value represents the area-weighted average based on the proportional land cover within each pixel. In this study, 5 day averaged (pentad) passive-microwave-derived SWE imagery for the winter season (December–February) of 1994/95 is compared to in situ data from central Canada in order to assess algorithm performance. Investigation of regions with varying proportional land cover within the four algorithm classes shows that retrieved SWE remains within ±10–20mm of surface observations, independent of fractional within-pixel land cover. Following algorithm evaluation, ten winter seasons (1988/89 through 1997/98) of pentad central North American SWE imagery are subjected to a rotated principal-component analysis (PCA). Although there are no trends in total study-area SWE, the PCA results identify the interseasonal variability in the SWE accumulation and ablation centers of action through the SSM/I time series.

Topography and Land Cover Effects on Snow Water Equivalent Estimation Using AMSR-E and GLDAS Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1699-1715
Author(s):  
Hadi Ansari ◽  
Safar Marofi ◽  
Mohamad Mohamadi
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Snow Water Equivalent ◽  
Snow Water

scholarly journals A Synthesis of Three Decades of Eco-Hydrological Research at Scotty Creek, NWT, Canada

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Quinton ◽  
Aaron Berg ◽  
Michael Braverman ◽  
Olivia Carpino ◽  
Laura Chasmer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Physical Mechanisms ◽  
Permafrost Thaw ◽  
Discontinuous Permafrost ◽  
Modelling Studies ◽  
Hydrology And Water Resources ◽  
And Storage ◽  
Storage Processes

Abstract. Scotty Creek, Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada, has been the focus of eco-hydrological research for nearly three decades. Over this period, field and modelling studies have generated new insights into the thermal and physical mechanisms governing the flux and storage of water in the wetland-dominated regions of discontinuous permafrost that characterizes much of the Canadian and circum-polar subarctic. Research at Scotty Creek has coincided with a period of unprecedented climate warming, permafrost thaw, and resulting land cover transformations including the expansion of wetland areas and loss of forests. This paper synthesizes field and modelling studies at Scotty Creek, and highlights the key insights of these studies on the major water flux and storage processes operating within and between the major land cover types. This paper also provides insights into the rate and pattern of the permafrost thaw-induced land cover change, and how such changes will affect the hydrology and water resources of the study region.

scholarly journals 35 Years of Vegetation and Lake Dynamics in the Pechora Catchment, Russian European Arctic

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marinela-Adriana Cheţan ◽  
Andrei Dornik ◽  
Florina Ardelean ◽  
Goran Georgievski ◽  
Stefan Hagemann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Snow Water Equivalent ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Hot Spot ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Vegetation Greenness ◽  
Discontinuous Permafrost ◽  
Snow Water ◽  
Lake Dynamics

High-latitude regions are a hot spot of global warming, but the scarce availability of observations often limits the investigation of climate change impacts over these regions. However, the utilization of satellite-based remote sensing data offers new possibilities for such investigations. In the present study, vegetation greening, vegetation moisture and lake distribution derived from medium-resolution satellite imagery were analyzed over the Pechora catchment for the last 35 years. Here, we considered the entire Pechora catchment and the Pechora Delta region, located in the northern part of European Russia, and we investigated the vegetation and lake dynamics over different permafrost zones and across the two major biomes, taiga, and tundra. We also evaluated climate data records from meteorological stations and re-analysis data to find relations between these dynamics and climatic behavior. Considering the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI) in the summer, we found a general greening and moistening of the vegetation. While vegetation greenness follows the evolution of summer air temperature with a delay of one year, the vegetation moisture dynamics seems to better concur with annual total precipitation rather than summer precipitation, and also with annual snow water equivalent without lag. Both NDVI and NDMI show a much higher variability across discontinuous permafrost terrain compared to other types. Moreover, the analyses yielded an overall decrease in the area of permanent lakes and a noticeable increase in the area of seasonal lakes. While the first might be related to permafrost thawing, the latter seems to be connected to an increase of annual snow water equivalent. The general consistency between the indices of vegetation greenness and moisture based on satellite imagery and the climate data highlights the efficacy and reliability of combining Landsat satellite data, ERA-Interim reanalysis and meteorological data to monitor temporal dynamics of the land surface in Arctic areas.

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