TY - JOUR A1 - Morgenstern, Anne A1 - Overduin, Pier Paul A1 - Günther, Frank A1 - Stettner, Samuel A1 - Ramage, Justine A1 - Schirrmeister, Lutz A1 - Grigoriev, Mikhail N. A1 - Grosse, Guido T1 - Thermo-erosional valleys in Siberian ice-rich permafrost JF - Permafrost and Periglacial Processes N2 - Thermal erosion is a major mechanism of permafrost degradation, resulting in characteristic landforms. We inventory thermo-erosional valleys in ice-rich coastal lowlands adjacent to the Siberian Laptev Sea based on remote sensing, Geographic Information System (GIS), and field investigations for a first regional assessment of their spatial distribution and characteristics. Three study areas with similar geological (Yedoma Ice Complex) but diverse geomorphological conditions vary in valley areal extent, incision depth, and branching geometry. The most extensive valley networks are incised deeply (up to 35 m) into the broad inclined lowland around Mamontov Klyk. The flat, low-lying plain forming the Buor Khaya Peninsula is more degraded by thermokarst and characterized by long valleys of lower depth with short tributaries. Small, isolated Yedoma Ice Complex remnants in the Lena River Delta predominantly exhibit shorter but deep valleys. Based on these hydrographical network and topography assessments, we discuss geomorphological and hydrological connections to erosion processes. Relative catchment size along with regional slope interact with other Holocene relief-forming processes such as thermokarst and neotectonics. Our findings suggest that thermo-erosional valleys are prominent, hitherto overlooked permafrost degradation landforms that add to impacts on biogeochemical cycling, sediment transport, and hydrology in the degrading Siberian Yedoma Ice Complex. KW - geomorphology KW - periglacial landscapes KW - permafrost degradation KW - thermal KW - erosion KW - valley distribution KW - Yedoma Ice Complex Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2087 SN - 1045-6740 SN - 1099-1530 VL - 32 IS - 1 SP - 59 EP - 75 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stettner, Samuel A1 - Lantuit, Hugues A1 - Heim, Birgit A1 - Eppler, Jayson A1 - Roth, Achim A1 - Bartsch, Annett A1 - Rabus, Bernhard T1 - TerraSAR-X time series fill a gap in spaceborne snowmelt monitoring of small arctic catchments BT - a case study on qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island), Canada JF - Remote sensing N2 - The timing of snowmelt is an important turning point in the seasonal cycle of small Arctic catchments. The TerraSAR-X (TSX) satellite mission is a synthetic aperture radar system (SAR) with high potential to measure the high spatiotemporal variability of snow cover extent (SCE) and fractional snow cover (FSC) on the small catchment scale. We investigate the performance of multi-polarized and multi-pass TSX X-Band SAR data in monitoring SCE and FSC in small Arctic tundra catchments of Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island) off the Yukon Coast in the Western Canadian Arctic. We applied a threshold based segmentation on ratio images between TSX images with wet snow and a dry snow reference, and tested the performance of two different thresholds. We quantitatively compared TSX- and Landsat 8-derived SCE maps using confusion matrices and analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics of snowmelt from 2015 to 2017 using TSX, Landsat 8 and in situ time lapse data. Our data showed that the quality of SCE maps from TSX X-Band data is strongly influenced by polarization and to a lesser degree by incidence angle. VH polarized TSX data performed best in deriving SCE when compared to Landsat 8. TSX derived SCE maps from VH polarization detected late lying snow patches that were not detected by Landsat 8. Results of a local assessment of TSX FSC against the in situ data showed that TSX FSC accurately captured the temporal dynamics of different snow melt regimes that were related to topographic characteristics of the studied catchments. Both in situ and TSX FSC showed a longer snowmelt period in a catchment with higher contributions of steep valleys and a shorter snowmelt period in a catchment with higher contributions of upland terrain. Landsat 8 had fundamental data gaps during the snowmelt period in all 3 years due to cloud cover. The results also revealed that by choosing a positive threshold of 1 dB, detection of ice layers due to diurnal temperature variations resulted in a more accurate estimation of snow cover than a negative threshold that detects wet snow alone. We find that TSX X-Band data in VH polarization performs at a comparable quality to Landsat 8 in deriving SCE maps when a positive threshold is used. We conclude that TSX data polarization can be used to accurately monitor snowmelt events at high temporal and spatial resolution, overcoming limitations of Landsat 8, which due to cloud related data gaps generally only indicated the onset and end of snowmelt. KW - Snow Cover Extent (SCE) KW - TerraSAR-X KW - Landsat KW - wet snow KW - small Arctic catchments KW - satellite time series Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10071155 SN - 2072-4292 VL - 10 IS - 7 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - THES A1 - Stettner, Samuel T1 - Exploring the seasonality of rapid Arctic changes from space T1 - Erkundung der Saisonalität schneller arktischer Veränderungen aus dem Weltraum BT - monitoring of permafrost disturbance, snow cover and vegetation in tundra environments with TerraSAR-X BT - Überwachung von Permafroststörungen, Schneebedeckung und Vegetation in Tundra-Umgebungen mit TerraSAR-X N2 - Arctic warming has implications for the functioning of terrestrial Arctic ecosystems, global climate and socioeconomic systems of northern communities. A research gap exists in high spatial resolution monitoring and understanding of the seasonality of permafrost degradation, spring snowmelt and vegetation phenology. This thesis explores the diversity and utility of dense TerraSAR-X (TSX) X-Band time series for monitoring ice-rich riverbank erosion, snowmelt, and phenology of Arctic vegetation at long-term study sites in the central Lena Delta, Russia and on Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island), Canada. In the thesis the following three research questions are addressed: • Is TSX time series capable of monitoring the dynamics of rapid permafrost degradation in ice-rich permafrost on an intra-seasonal scale and can these datasets in combination with climate data identify the climatic drivers of permafrost degradation? • Can multi-pass and multi-polarized TSX time series adequately monitor seasonal snow cover and snowmelt in small Arctic catchments and how does it perform compared to optical satellite data and field-based measurements? • Do TSX time series reflect the phenology of Arctic vegetation and how does the recorded signal compare to in-situ greenness data from RGB time-lapse camera data and vegetation height from field surveys? To answer the research questions three years of TSX backscatter data from 2013 to 2015 for the Lena Delta study site and from 2015 to 2017 for the Qikiqtaruk study site were used in quantitative and qualitative analysis complimentary with optical satellite data and in-situ time-lapse imagery. The dynamics of intra-seasonal ice-rich riverbank erosion in the central Lena Delta, Russia were quantified using TSX backscatter data at 2.4 m spatial resolution in HH polarization and validated with 0.5 m spatial resolution optical satellite data and field-based time-lapse camera data. Cliff top lines were automatically extracted from TSX intensity images using threshold-based segmentation and vectorization and combined in a geoinformation system with manually digitized cliff top lines from the optical satellite data and rates of erosion extracted from time-lapse cameras. The results suggest that the cliff top eroded at a constant rate throughout the entire erosional season. Linear mixed models confirmed that erosion was coupled with air temperature and precipitation at an annual scale, seasonal fluctuations did not influence 22-day erosion rates. The results highlight the potential of HH polarized X-Band backscatter data for high temporal resolution monitoring of rapid permafrost degradation. The distinct signature of wet snow in backscatter intensity images of TSX data was exploited to generate wet snow cover extent (SCE) maps on Qikiqtaruk at high temporal resolution. TSX SCE showed high similarity to Landsat 8-derived SCE when using cross-polarized VH data. Fractional snow cover (FSC) time series were extracted from TSX and optical SCE and compared to FSC estimations from in-situ time-lapse imagery. The TSX products showed strong agreement with the in-situ data and significantly improved the temporal resolution compared to the Landsat 8 time series. The final combined FSC time series revealed two topography-dependent snowmelt patterns that corresponded to in-situ measurements. Additionally TSX was able to detect snow patches longer in the season than Landsat 8, underlining the advantage of TSX for detection of old snow. The TSX-derived snow information provided valuable insights into snowmelt dynamics on Qikiqtaruk previously not available. The sensitivity of TSX to vegetation structure associated with phenological changes was explored on Qikiqtaruk. Backscatter and coherence time series were compared to greenness data extracted from in-situ digital time-lapse cameras and detailed vegetation parameters on 30 areas of interest. Supporting previous results, vegetation height corresponded to backscatter intensity in co-polarized HH/VV at an incidence angle of 31°. The dry, tall shrub dominated ecological class showed increasing backscatter with increasing greenness when using the cross polarized VH/HH channel at 32° incidence angle. This is likely driven by volume scattering of emerging and expanding leaves. Ecological classes with more prostrate vegetation and higher bare ground contributions showed decreasing backscatter trends over the growing season in the co-polarized VV/HH channels likely a result of surface drying instead of a vegetation structure signal. The results from shrub dominated areas are promising and provide a complementary data source for high temporal monitoring of vegetation phenology. Overall this thesis demonstrates that dense time series of TSX with optical remote sensing and in-situ time-lapse data are complementary and can be used to monitor rapid and seasonal processes in Arctic landscapes at high spatial and temporal resolution. N2 - Die Erwärmung der Arktis hat Auswirkungen auf die Stabilität und Funktion terrestrischer arktischer Ökosysteme, auf das globale Klima, sowie auf sozioökonomische Systeme nördlicher Gemeinden. Es besteht eine Forschungslücke bei der Überwachung der Saisonalität von Permafrostdegradation, Schneebedeckung und Vegetationsphänologie. Diese Dissertation untersucht den Nutzen von TerraSAR-X (TSX) X-Band Daten für die Überwachung eisreicher Ufererosion, Schneeschmelze, sowie Phänologie arktischer Vegetation im zentralen Lena Delta in Russland und auf Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island), Kanada. Die Dynamik intrasaisonaler eisreicher Ufererosion im zentralen Lena-Delta in Russland wurde mit TSX Rückstreuintensitätsbildern quantifiziert und mit optischen Satelliten-Daten und Feldmessungen validiert. Kliff Kanten wurden automatisch aus TSX-Intensitätsbildern extrahiert und in einem Geoinformationssystem mit manuell digitalisierten Kliff Kanten aus optischen Satellitendaten, sowie mit Erosionsraten aus Zeitrafferkameras zusammengeführt. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass sich die Kliff Kante während der gesamten Auftauzeit mit konstanter Geschwindigkeit zurückzog. Die Verwendung von linearen Mischmodellen bestätigte, dass die Erosion im jährlichen Maßstab mit der Lufttemperatur und dem Niederschlag gekoppelt war, saisonale Schwankungen beeinflussten die Erosionsrate nicht. Die Ergebnisse stützen die Verwendung von TSX zur Überwachung schneller Permafrostdegradation mit hoher zeitlicher Auflösung. Die eindeutige Signatur von nassem Schnee in TSX Rückstreuintensitätsbildern wurde genutzt, um Schneeverteilungskarten (SCE) auf Qikiqtaruk in hoher zeitlicher Auflösung zu erzeugen. Aus TSX abgeleitete SCE zeigten eine große Ähnlichkeit zu SCE aus Landsat 8 Daten. Zeitreihen von prozentualer Schneebedeckung (FSC) wurden aus TSX und optischen SCE extrahiert und mit FSC-Schätzungen aus in-situ Zeitrafferkamera Daten verglichen. Auch hier zeigte TSX eine starke Übereinstimmung mit den in-situ-Daten und verbesserte die zeitliche Auflösung im Vergleich zur Landsat 8 Zeitreihe erheblich. Aus einer finalen kombinierten FSC-Zeitreihe konnten zwei Muster von Schneeschmelzen in ausgewählten Einzugsgebieten abgeleitet werden, die sich mit den in-situ Messungen deckten. Zusätzlich konnte TSX später in der Saison Schnee länger erkennen als Landsat 8, was den Vorteil von TSX zur Erkennung von Altschnee unterstreicht. Die TSX-abgeleiteten Schnee-Informationen lieferten wertvolle Einblicke in die Schneeschmelz-Dynamik auf Qikiqtaruk, welche zuvor nicht verfügbar waren. Die Empfindlichkeit von TSX für Vegetationsstruktur, die mit phänologischen Veränderungen einhergeht, wurde auf Qikiqtaruk untersucht. Rückstreu- und Kohärenzzeitreihen wurden aus 30 Testgebieten extrahiert. Die Rückstreu- und Kohärenzsignale wurden mit Vitalitäts-Daten verglichen, die aus in-situ-Zeitrafferkamera Zeitreihen extrahiert wurden. Die Ergebnisse zeigten einen Zusammenhang zwischen Vegetationshöhe und der Rückstreuintensität in HH / VV polarisierten Daten bei einem Einfallswinkel von 31 °. Ferner zeigte die ökologische Klasse mit einer Kombination von hohen Sträuchern und trockenen Oberflächenbedingungen eine zunehmende Rückstreuung mit zunehmende Pflanzenvitalität, wenn der kreuzpolarisierte VH / HH-Kanal bei 32 ° Einfallswinkel verwendet wurde. Die Ergebnisse aus strauchdominierten Klassen sind vielversprechend und liefern eine ergänzende Datenquelle für zeitlich hochaufgelöste Beobachtung der Vegetationsphänologie. Insgesamt zeigt diese Arbeit, dass TSX X-Band-Daten schnelle und saisonale Prozesse in arktischen Landschaften mit hoher räumlicher und zeitlicher Auflösung überwachen können. KW - SAR KW - remote sensing KW - arctic KW - SAR KW - Fernerkundung KW - Arktis Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-425783 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolter, Juliane A1 - Lantuit, Hugues A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Stettner, Samuel A1 - Fritz, Michael T1 - Tundra vegetation stability versus lake-basin variability on the Yukon Coastal Plain (NW Canada) during the past three centuries JF - The Holocene : an interdisciplinary journal focusing on recent environmental change KW - pollen Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683617708441 SN - 0959-6836 SN - 1477-0911 VL - 27 SP - 1846 EP - 1858 PB - Sage Publ. CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Stettner, Samuel A1 - Lantuit, Hugues A1 - Heim, Birgit A1 - Eppler, Jayson A1 - Roth, Achim A1 - Bartsch, Annett A1 - Rabus, Bernhard T1 - TerraSAR-X time series fill a gap in spaceborne snowmelt monitoring of small Arctic catchments BT - a case study on Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island), Canada T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - The timing of snowmelt is an important turning point in the seasonal cycle of small Arctic catchments. The TerraSAR-X (TSX) satellite mission is a synthetic aperture radar system (SAR) with high potential to measure the high spatiotemporal variability of snow cover extent (SCE) and fractional snow cover (FSC) on the small catchment scale. We investigate the performance of multi-polarized and multi-pass TSX X-Band SAR data in monitoring SCE and FSC in small Arctic tundra catchments of Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island) off the Yukon Coast in the Western Canadian Arctic. We applied a threshold based segmentation on ratio images between TSX images with wet snow and a dry snow reference, and tested the performance of two different thresholds. We quantitatively compared TSX- and Landsat 8-derived SCE maps using confusion matrices and analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics of snowmelt from 2015 to 2017 using TSX, Landsat 8 and in situ time lapse data. Our data showed that the quality of SCE maps from TSX X-Band data is strongly influenced by polarization and to a lesser degree by incidence angle. VH polarized TSX data performed best in deriving SCE when compared to Landsat 8. TSX derived SCE maps from VH polarization detected late lying snow patches that were not detected by Landsat 8. Results of a local assessment of TSX FSC against the in situ data showed that TSX FSC accurately captured the temporal dynamics of different snow melt regimes that were related to topographic characteristics of the studied catchments. Both in situ and TSX FSC showed a longer snowmelt period in a catchment with higher contributions of steep valleys and a shorter snowmelt period in a catchment with higher contributions of upland terrain. Landsat 8 had fundamental data gaps during the snowmelt period in all 3 years due to cloud cover. The results also revealed that by choosing a positive threshold of 1 dB, detection of ice layers due to diurnal temperature variations resulted in a more accurate estimation of snow cover than a negative threshold that detects wet snow alone. We find that TSX X-Band data in VH polarization performs at a comparable quality to Landsat 8 in deriving SCE maps when a positive threshold is used. We conclude that TSX data polarization can be used to accurately monitor snowmelt events at high temporal and spatial resolution, overcoming limitations of Landsat 8, which due to cloud related data gaps generally only indicated the onset and end of snowmelt. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 689 KW - Snow Cover Extent (SCE) KW - TerraSAR-X KW - Landsat KW - wet snow KW - small Arctic catchments KW - satellite time series Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-426810 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 689 ER -