scholarly journals Vulnerability of the Permafrost Landscapes in the Eastern Chukotka Coastal Plains to Human Impact and Climate Change

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 445
Author(s):  
Alexey Maslakov ◽  
Larisa Zotova ◽  
Nina Komova ◽  
Mikhail Grishchenko ◽  
Dmitry Zamolodchikov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Impact ◽  
Hazard Index ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Marine Terrace ◽  
Coastal Plains ◽  
Remote Region ◽  
Polygon Area ◽  
Permafrost Regions

Permafrost landscapes are particularly susceptible to the observed climate change due to the presence of ice in the ground. This paper presents the results of the mapping and assessment of landscapes and their vulnerability to potential human impact and further climate change in the remote region of Eastern Chukotka. The combination of field studies and remote sensing data analysis allowed us to identify the distribution of landscapes within the study polygon, reveal the factors determining their stability, and classify them by vulnerability to the external impacts using a hazard index, H. In total, 33 landscapes characterized by unique combinations of vegetation cover, soil type, relief, and ground composition were detected within the 172 km2 study polygon. The most stable landscapes of the study polygon occupy 31.7% of the polygon area; they are the slopes and tops of mountains covered with stony-lichen tundra, alpine meadows, and the leveled summit areas of the fourth glacial-marine terrace. The most unstable areas cover 19.2% of the study area and are represented by depressions, drainage hollows, waterlogged areas, and places of caterpillar vehicle passage within the terraces and water-glacial plain. The methods of assessment and mapping of the landscape vulnerability presented in this study are quite flexible and can be adapted to other permafrost regions.

MONITORING THE DYNAMICS OF THERMOABRASION COASTS AT KHARASAVEY AREA, WESTERN YAMAL (KARA SEA)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitry Kuznetsov ◽  
Dmitry Kuznetsov ◽  
Anatoliy Kamalov ◽  
Anatoliy Kamalov ◽  
Nataliya Belova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Impact ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Kara Sea ◽  
Motor Vehicles ◽  
Yamal Peninsula ◽  
Western Coast ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Coastal Dynamics ◽  
The North ◽  
Ice Content

The dynamics of thermoabrasion coasts on loose sediments under permafrost conditions are highly variable due to several factors: length of the dynamic period of the year, mechanic composition of the frozen ground and its ice content, hydrometeorological conditions, and human impact. Multiannual monitoring of the coastal zone was carried out by Lab. Geoecology of the North (Moscow State University) at the 22 km long Kharasavey deposit site, Western Coast of Yamal Peninsula (Kara Sea). The methods include direct measurements and observations (repeated topographic survey of shore transects from 1981 to 2012) along with remote sensing data analysis (images from 1964 to 2011). This allowed producing detailed characteristics of coastal dynamics. At the site, thermoabrasion coasts occupy the most part, and accumulative coasts are present in the north. Data on natural relief forming factors and ground composition are included in the detailed geomorphologic map of the site. Shore retreat rate shows correlation to amounts of wind-wave energy and to specific wind directions. Human impact on the coast includes dredging at the port channel, mining of sand, driving motor vehicles, and deposition of construction debris. Relations between shore retreat rate and aforementioned factors were studied, including dependencies on ice content, and shore segmentation was carried out. This allows for coastal dynamics forecasts in the region.

scholarly journals Analysing the Impact of Climate Change on Hydrological Ecosystem Services in Laguna del Sauce (Uruguay) Using the SWAT Model and Remote Sensing Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 2014
Author(s):  
Celina Aznarez ◽  
Patricia Jimeno-Sáez ◽  
Adrián López-Ballesteros ◽  
Juan Pablo Pacheco ◽  
Javier Senent-Aparicio
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Erosion Control ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Extreme Precipitation Events ◽  
The Impact

Assessing how climate change will affect hydrological ecosystem services (HES) provision is necessary for long-term planning and requires local comprehensive climate information. In this study, we used SWAT to evaluate the impacts on four HES, natural hazard protection, erosion control regulation and water supply and flow regulation for the Laguna del Sauce catchment in Uruguay. We used downscaled CMIP-5 global climate models for Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5 projections. We calibrated and validated our SWAT model for the periods 2005–2009 and 2010–2013 based on remote sensed ET data. Monthly NSE and R2 values for calibration and validation were 0.74, 0.64 and 0.79, 0.84, respectively. Our results suggest that climate change will likely negatively affect the water resources of the Laguna del Sauce catchment, especially in the RCP 8.5 scenario. In all RCP scenarios, the catchment is likely to experience a wetting trend, higher temperatures, seasonality shifts and an increase in extreme precipitation events, particularly in frequency and magnitude. This will likely affect water quality provision through runoff and sediment yield inputs, reducing the erosion control HES and likely aggravating eutrophication. Although the amount of water will increase, changes to the hydrological cycle might jeopardize the stability of freshwater supplies and HES on which many people in the south-eastern region of Uruguay depend. Despite streamflow monitoring capacities need to be enhanced to reduce the uncertainty of model results, our findings provide valuable insights for water resources planning in the study area. Hence, water management and monitoring capacities need to be enhanced to reduce the potential negative climate change impacts on HES. The methodological approach presented here, based on satellite ET data can be replicated and adapted to any other place in the world since we employed open-access software and remote sensing data for all the phases of hydrological modelling and HES provision assessment.

scholarly journals Monitoring Changes to Arctic Vegetation and Glaciers at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Based on Time Series Remote Sensing

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 3845
Author(s):  
Guangbo Ren ◽  
Jianbu Wang ◽  
Yunfei Lu ◽  
Peiqiang Wu ◽  
Xiaoqing Lu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Time Series ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Vegetation Coverage ◽  
Coastal Regions ◽  
Average Annual Temperature

Climate change has profoundly affected global ecological security. The most vulnerable region on Earth is the high-latitude Arctic. Identifying the changes in vegetation coverage and glaciers in high-latitude Arctic coastal regions is important for understanding the process and impact of global climate change. Ny-Ålesund, the northern-most human settlement, is typical of these coastal regions and was used as a study site. Vegetation and glacier changes over the past 35 years were studied using time series remote sensing data from Landsat 5/7/8 acquired in 1985, 1989, 2000, 2011, 2015 and 2019. Site survey data in 2019, a digital elevation model from 2009 and meteorological data observed from 1985 to 2019 were also used. The vegetation in the Ny-Ålesund coastal zone showed a trend of declining and then increasing, with a breaking point in 2000. However, the area of vegetation with coverage greater than 30% increased over the whole study period, and the wetland moss area also increased, which may be caused by the accelerated melting of glaciers. Human activities were responsible for the decline in vegetation cover around Ny-Ålesund owing to the construction of the town and airport. Even in areas with vegetation coverage of only 13%, there were at least five species of high-latitude plants. The melting rate of five major glaciers in the study area accelerated, and approximately 82% of the reduction in glacier area occurred after 2000. The elevation of the lowest boundary of the five glaciers increased by 50–70 m. The increase in precipitation and the average annual temperature after 2000 explains the changes in both vegetation coverage and glaciers in the study period.

scholarly journals Applications of Satellite Remote Sensing to Water Governance and the Mitigation of Climate Change Effects

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilham Ali ◽  
Jay Famiglietti ◽  
Jonathan McLelland
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Management ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Water Stress ◽  
Satellite Remote Sensing ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Climate Change Effects ◽  
Water Issues

Water stress in both surface and groundwater supplies is an increasing environmental and sustainable management issue. According to the UN Environment Program, at current depletion rates almost half of the world's population will suffer severe water stress by 2030. This is further exacerbated by climate change effects which are altering the hydrologic cycle. Understanding climate change implications is critical to planning for water management scenarios as situations such as rising sea levels, increasing severity of storms, prolonged drought in many regions, ocean acidification, and flooding due to snowmelt and heavy precipitation continue. Today, major efforts towards equitable water management and governance are needed. This study adopts the broad, holistic lenses of sustainable development and water diplomacy, acknowledging both the complex and transboundary nature of water issues, to assess the benefits of a “science to policy” approach in water governance. Such negotiations and frameworks are predicated on the availability of timely and uniform data to bolster water management plans, which can be provided by earth-observing satellite missions. In recent decades, significant advances in satellite remote sensing technology have provided unprecedented data of the Earth’s water systems, including information on changes in groundwater storage, mass loss of snow caps, evaporation of surface water reservoirs, and variations in precipitation patterns. In this study, specific remote sensing missions are surveyed (i.e. NASA LANDSAT, GRACE, SMAP, CYGNSS, and SWOT) to understand the breadth of data available for water uses and the implications of these advances for water management. Results indicate historical precedent where remote sensing data and technologies have been successfully integrated to achieve more sustainable water management policy and law, such as in the passage of the California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014. In addition, many opportunities exist in current transboundary and interstate water conflicts (for example, the Nile Basin and the Tri-State Water Wars between Alabama, Georgia, and Florida) to integrate satellite-remote-sensed water data as a means of “joint-fact finding” and basis for further negotiations. The authors argue that expansion of access to satellite remote sensing data of water for the general public, stakeholders, and policy makers would have a significant impact on the development of science-oriented water governance measures and increase awareness of water issues by significant amounts. Barriers to entry exist in accessing many satellite datasets because of prerequisite knowledge and expertise in the domain. More user-friendly platforms need to be developed in order to maximize the utility of present satellite data. Furthermore, sustainable co-operations should be formed to employ satellite remote sensing data on a regional scale to preempt problems in water supply, quantity, and quality.

scholarly journals Tracking vegetation phenology across diverse North American biomes using PhenoCam imagery

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew D. Richardson ◽  
Koen Hufkens ◽  
Tom Milliman ◽  
Donald M. Aubrecht ◽  
Min Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Digital Camera ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Vegetation Phenology ◽  
Phenological Model ◽  
Vegetation Activity

Abstract Vegetation phenology controls the seasonality of many ecosystem processes, as well as numerous biosphere-atmosphere feedbacks. Phenology is also highly sensitive to climate change and variability. Here we present a series of datasets, together consisting of almost 750 years of observations, characterizing vegetation phenology in diverse ecosystems across North America. Our data are derived from conventional, visible-wavelength, automated digital camera imagery collected through the PhenoCam network. For each archived image, we extracted RGB (red, green, blue) colour channel information, with means and other statistics calculated across a region-of-interest (ROI) delineating a specific vegetation type. From the high-frequency (typically, 30 min) imagery, we derived time series characterizing vegetation colour, including “canopy greenness”, processed to 1- and 3-day intervals. For ecosystems with one or more annual cycles of vegetation activity, we provide estimates, with uncertainties, for the start of the “greenness rising” and end of the “greenness falling” stages. The database can be used for phenological model validation and development, evaluation of satellite remote sensing data products, benchmarking earth system models, and studies of climate change impacts on terrestrial ecosystems.

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