B33G-04
Using remote sensing and field based measurements to understand short term changes in a permafrost landscape
Wednesday, 16 December 2015: 14:25
2006 (Moscone West)
Ruth K Varner1, Patrick M Crill2, Martin Wik2, Carmody K McCalley3, Jessica Lynn DelGreco4, Anthony Garnello5, Scott R Saleska5, Nathan Torbick6, Sophia A Burke4, Andreas Persson7, Joel E Johnson8, Mark E Hines9, Changsheng Li10, Michael W Palace11, Christina Herrick4 and NERU Research Team, (1)University of New Hampshire, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS), Durham, NH, United States, (2)Stockholm University, Dept. of Geological Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden, (3)Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, United States, (4)University of New Hampshire Main Campus, Durham, NH, United States, (5)University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States, (6)Applied Geosolutions, LLC, Durham, NH, United States, (7)Lund University, Lund, Sweden, (8)University of New Hampshire, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Durham, NH, United States, (9)University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, United States, (10)University of New Hampshire, Earth Systems Research Center, Durham, NH, United States, (11)University of New Hampshire (UNH), Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS), Durham, NH, United States
Abstract:
Degradation of permafrost in high latitude ecosystems causes changes in surface moisture, vegetation and consequently carbon cycling. Many studies have reported that methane emissions from these ecosystems are increasing with permafrost thaw. Lakes and ponds in these landscapes are also large sources of methane with increased emissions correlated to rising temperatures and longer ice-free seasons. The temporal and spatial scale of disturbance from permafrost degradation varies depending on the transfer of heat and the hydrological connectivity of an ecosystem. The Stordalen Mire, located in sub-Arctic Sweden, is located along the discontinuous permafrost zone has been the focus of research to understand carbon cycling for many years. Previous work at this site has identified changes in vegetation and emissions of methane over decadal time scales. Our research has focused on short term changes in this ecosystem. Using a combination of field based measurements of methane emissions from a permafrost thaw gradient across the peatland that includes both thaw ponds and lakes and studies of vegetation species composition and percent cover and near and far remote sensing platforms to identify land surface characteristics, we were able to identify changes in the landscape surface and in methane emissions from peat and water surfaces at the Stordalen Mire over the period from 2012-2015.
