Thermokarst lake monitoring on the Bykovsky Peninsula using high-resolution remote sensing data
Thermokarst lakes are characteristic and dynamic features of Arctic lowland landscapes indicating the rapid degradation of permafrost. Assessing their dynamics contributes to the understanding of driving processes of change, to the evaluation of impacts on landscape characteristics as well as to estimations on the permafrost-related carbon budget. Monitoring thermokarst lake changes on the Bykovsky Peninsula, consisting of ice-rich Yedoma deposits, using high-resolution remote sensing imagery from 1951 to 2016, revealed a long-term tendency towards lake drainage. By employing remote sensing approaches and geographical information system tools, approximately 17 % of the 1951 lake area was identified to be lost till 2016 due to coastal erosion or the development of drainage networks. In parallel, coastal erosion driven land loss amount to 2.3 % of the peninsula. Interconnections have been detected between coastal erosion and lake change, as well as lake change dependency on land elevation in a developed alas-yedoma thermokarst relief.
AWI Organizations > Geosciences > (deprecated) Junior Research Group: PETA-CARB