Speaking: Sarah Cooley, University of Oregon
The Permafrost Discovery Gateway hosts a monthly webinar series on a Thursday at 09:00 Alaska time. The webinar aims to 1) connect the international science community interested in big data remote sensing of permafrost landscapes, and 2) provide the Permafrost Discovery Gateway development team with end-user stories (by the presenter and webinar participants), such as exploring tools the community needs to create and explore big data.
Abstract
Understanding the complex feedbacks between surface water and permafrost presence/distribution is vital towards constraining future changes in surface water and related impacts on ecosystems and carbon emissions. Despite the importance of Arctic water bodies, however, their seasonal and interannual dynamics remain largely unquantified, particularly at continental scales and for small (< 0.1 km2) water bodies. In this talk Sarah will present work seeking to better understand Arctic surface water variability and its relationship to permafrost thaw through leveraging three novel satellite technologies. First, using the high spatial and temporal resolution of Planet imagery, we can quantify surface water dynamics at high resolution (3-5 m) at near-daily time scales. By intersecting the resulting maps of surface water variability with permafrost presence, we can assess to what degree permafrost presence affects these patterns. Second, NASA’s ICESat-2 satellite laser altimeter now provides high resolution observations of surface water levels across the Arctic region. Through combining Planet-derived time series of water area with ICESat-2-derived water levels, we can quantify not just area variability but also water level and storage change. Finally, NASA’s SWOT satellite, which launched in December 2022, will soon provide even more temporally and spatially dense measurements of surface water level and area. By fusing these different observations together, this unique area, level and volume dataset will allow us to test multiple hypotheses related to permafrost/surface water feedbacks and will enable exciting new insight into Arctic surface water dynamics.