Spectral characterization of periglacial surfaces and geomorphological units in the Arctic Lena Delta using field spectrometry and remote sensing

doi:10.1016/j.rse.2009.02.009

Remote Sensing of Environment

Volume 113, Issue 6, 15 June 2009, Pages 1220-1235

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2009.02.009 Get rights and content

Abstract

Important environmental parameters in arctic periglacial landscapes (i.e. permafrost temperature, active-layer depth, soil moisture, precipitation, vegetation cover) will very likely change in a warming climate. The thawing of permafrost, especially, might cause massive landscape changes due to thermokarst and an enhanced release of greenhouse gasses from the large amounts of carbon stored in frozen deposits, resulting in positive climate-warming feedback. For the identification, mapping, and quantification of such changes on various scales up to the entire circum-Arctic, remote sensing and spatial data analysis are essential tools. In this study an extensive field-work dataset including spectral surface properties, vegetation, soils, and geomorphology was acquired in the largest Arctic delta formed by a single river, the Siberian Lena River Delta. A portable field spectrometer (ASD FieldSpec Pro FR®) was used for spectral surveys of terrain surfaces, and optical satellite data (Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+), CHRIS-Proba) were used for the characterization, manual mapping, and automatic classification of typical periglacial land-cover units in the Lena Delta. Qualitative data from soils, vegetation, soil moisture, and relief units were correlated with the field-spectral data and catalogued for a wide variety of surface types. The wide range of micro- and meso-scale variations of periglacial surface features in the delta results in distinctive spectral characteristics for different land-cover units. The three main delta terraces could also be spectrally separated and characterized. The present dataset provides a basis for further spectral data acquisitions in the Lena Delta and for comparisons with periglacial surfaces from other regions.

Section snippets

Introduction and background

Most climate simulations predict considerable climate warming, especially in the Arctic, over the next century (ACIA, 2005). Permafrost regions, which cover about 24% of the Northern Hemisphere land surface (Zhang et al., 1999), are considered highly sensitive to climate change (e.g. Nelson et al., 2002, Sazonova et al., 2004). In this context, the monitoring of arctic permafrost landscapes is an important challenge; we must understand the present in order to quantify future environmental

Study area

The Lena Delta is located at the Laptev Sea coast, NE Siberia (Fig. 2). The Lena Delta is the largest Arctic delta formed by a single river, and covers about 29,000 km². The delta is located in the zone of continuous permafrost with permafrost depths of 500–600 m (Grigoriev et al., 1996), and it is dominated by fluvial–deltaic and periglacial processes. The typical maximum active-layer depths range from 30 to 90 cm. Taliks (i.e. “multi-annually unfrozen ground occurring in a permafrost area”,

Field-spectral measurements

Extensive field data were collected in the central and western Lena Delta, NE Siberia, during the joint Russian–German expedition “Lena Delta 2005” in summer 2005 (Ulrich & Grosse, 2007). Field work included geomorphological mapping, description of surface properties including vegetation characteristics, pedological surveys, and collection of land-surface reflectance spectra. The field-reflectance spectra were measured in the spectral range 350–2500 nm with an ASD (Analytical Spectral Devices

Spectral properties of periglacial surfaces from field spectrometry

The individual measurement sites are characterized by a range of typical Arctic tundra vegetation communities: sedges, grasses, mosses, lichen, herbs, and low shrubs (Table 3). In most cases canopy height was less than 30–50 cm. Vegetation coverage ranged from 0–100%, strongly depending on geomorphological position and drainage conditions. Measured active-layer depths at the sites ranged from 25–100 cm, depending on vegetation type, local meso- and micro-relief, drainage conditions, and soil

Characterization of periglacial surface features by field spectrometry

The field spectra classes, based on spectral properties of periglacial surfaces, vary considerably between the Lena Delta terraces. The surface conditions of the terraces are determined by their geomorphological, hydrological, and pedological situation as well as the vegetation cover. The most important factors influencing the spectral signatures are the type and the state of the vegetation cover, which in turn are determined largely by these surface conditions and elucidated in the VIS and NIR

Conclusions

Field spectrometry allowed a spectral differentiation of integrated landscape-scale characteristics typically emerging in vegetation, water, and soils of periglacial lowlands. Differences of individual landscape units in the delta are predominantly caused by vegetation composition, vegetation vitality, and soil and surface moisture in various micro- to meso-scale landscape units like ice-wedge polygonal nets, thermokarst depressions, slopes, thermo-erosional valleys, or well-drained uplands.

Acknowledgements

Field work was carried out within the framework of the Russian–German expedition Lena 2005. We thank all colleagues involved in the logistical and scientific support. We would like to thank Birgit Heim for fruitful discussions on field spectrometry and multi- and hyperspectral remote-sensing applications. The continuing effort and support of the European Space Agency (ESA) and SIRA electro-optics Ltd. (UK) to provide the CHRIS-Proba data is gratefully acknowledged. We appreciate the detailed

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Spectral characterization of periglacial surfaces and geomorphological units in the Arctic Lena Delta using field spectrometry and remote sensing

Abstract

Section snippets

Introduction and background

Study area

Field-spectral measurements

Spectral properties of periglacial surfaces from field spectrometry

Characterization of periglacial surface features by field spectrometry

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

Remote Sensing of Environment

Remote Sensing of Environment

International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation

Remote Sensing of Environment

Remote Sensing of Environment

Remote Sensing of Environment

Physics and Chemistry of the Earth

Remote Sensing of Environment

Remote Sensing of Environment

Remote Sensing of Environment

Remote Sensing of Environment

Remote Sensing of Environment

Remote Sensing of Environment

Remote Sensing of Environment

Remote Sensing of Environment

Remote Sensing of Environment

Quaternary International

Remote Sensing of Environment

International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation

Remote Sensing of Environment

Remote Sensing of Environment

Quaternary Science Reviews

Arctic climate impact assessment

An overview of the Lena River Delta setting: Geology, tectonics, geomorphology and hydrology

Journal of Coastal Research

Climatology and summer energy and water balance of polygonal tundra in the Lena River Delta, Siberia

Journal of Geophysical Research

Mapping of periglacial geomorphology using kite/ballon aerial photography

Permafrost and Periglacial Processes

Circum-arctic map of permafrost and ground ice conditions

Image-based atmospheric corrections — Revised and improved

Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing

Spectroscopy of rocks and minerals, and principles of spectroscopy

Reflectance spectroscopy: Quantitative analysis techniques for remote sensing applications

Journal of Geophysical Research

Field spectrometry: Techniques and instrumentation

International Symposium on Spectral Sensing Research

Exploring the relationship between reflectance red edge and chlorophyll content in slash pine

Tree Physiology

Visible and near infrared reflectance characteristics of dry plant materials

International Journal Remote Sensing

Terrain parameters and remote sensing data in the analysis of permafrost distribution and periglacial processes: Principles and examples from Southern Norway

Permafrost and Periglacial Processes

New data on the Lena-Delta structure