About
Permafrost is a phenomenon of the subsurface thermal state and is defined as ground at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years.
Permafrost underlies approximately one quarter of the terrestrial Northern Hemisphere. From borehole temperature data and active layer depth measurements we know that over the past three decades permafrost has been warming, and continues to warm across the circumpolar North. Changing permafrost interacts with ecosystems and climate on various spatial and temporal scales. Environmental changes accelerate the microbial breakdown of organic carbon and the release of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane which can accelerate climate change. Monitoring across scales is required in order to quantify the changes of variations in this ECV.
Permafrost cannot be directly detected from space, but many surface features of permafrost terrains and typical periglacial landforms are observable with a variety of EO sensors ranging from very high to medium resolution in various wavelengths. In addition, landscape dynamics associated with permafrost changes and geophysical variables relevant for characterising the state of permafrost, such as land surface temperature or snow-water equivalent, can be observed with space-based Earth Observation. Permafrost_CCI will provide for different epochs consistent global maps of the parameters permafrost temperature and active layer thickness based on Earth Observation records ingested into a permafrost model scheme.
Objective
The ultimate objective of Permafrost_CCI is to develop and deliver permafrost maps as ECV products primarily derived from satellite measurements. The required associated parameters by GCOS for the ECV Permafrost are “Depth of active layer (m)” and “Permafrost temperature (K)”. Algorithms have been identified which can provide these parameters ingesting a set of global satellite data products (Land Surface Temperature (LST), Snow Water Equivalent (SWE), and landcover) in a permafrost model scheme that computes the ground thermal regime. In Permafrost_CCI we will strongly rely on data products from recent, ongoing and future ESA projects (e.g. LST_CCI, Snow_CCI), which offer consistency over several satellite generations. Validation and evaluation efforts comprise comparison to in-situ measurements of subsurface properties (active layer depth,active layer and permafrost temperatures, organic layer thickness, liquid water content in the active layer and permafrost) and surface properties (vegetation cover, snow depth, surface and air temperatures) as well as rock glacier inventories, local permafrost maps and geophysical survey measurements.
About the project
Permafrost_CCI will use the transient permafrost model CryoGrid 2, which was developed at the University of Oslo and has recently been demonstrated for North Siberia. Remotely sensed data sets of Land Surface Temperature (LST), Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) and landcover will be ingested in a permafrost model that computes the ground thermal regime over time for the production of consistent permafrost maps and active layer thickness at several epochs. We envision a target spatial scale between 10 and 1km and a temporal resolution of 1 month, which meets the requirements of the climate modelling community. Ensemble runs will be performed in order to take the subgrid variability into account and facilitate computing a permafrost probability for each pixel. In addition, ensemble methods can provide a measure of uncertainty, which will be developed and implemented together with users. The performance of the transient algorithm crucially depends on the representation of the ground properties, in particular ice and organic contents. We will compile a new ground stratigraphy product which is tailored to also suit the requirements of the global climate modelling community, thereby addressing a major shortcoming of the permafrost representation in climate models. In addition, the utilisation of freeze/thaw datasets for estimation of permafrost extent and temperature will be considered for round robin activities and especially evaluation of uncertainties in the permafrost transition zone. This approach is purely based on satellite measurements, but with comparably low spatial resolution and accuracy.
Within Permafrost_CCI we develop a hierarchical fully automatic processing scheme for the Permafrost ECVs. We will develop a modular production system for depth of active layer and permafrost temperature. The modular design allows extension of the system to support additional/new input data sources. Due to the very large data volumes to be processed, the algorithms will be implemented in a modern way to support distributed processing on multi-core cluster systems and production of intermediate products and of selected spatial tiles. The developed processing system is sustainable in the sense that it can later be exploited outside CCI e.g. within the C3S services.
At least four user case studies will be selected to demonstrate the value and impact of CCI Permafrost products for different aspects of climate research. The user case studies will consider climate models and local scale information from in-situ data and high resolution land cover maps.
Special emphasis is placed on validation via international and national permafrost monitoring networks and in cooperation with the permafrost community enhancing confidence in the validity of the CCI+Permafrost new maps of potential permafrost extent. We are currently assembling and adapting ground data from the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost GTN-P (WMO/GCOS) managed by the International Permafrost Association IPA [https://gtnp.arcticportal.org]. The validation and evaluation efforts will also innovatively consider high-mountain permafrost regions, using in-situ observations of ground temperatures, changes in subsurface ice and unfrozen water content, and velocities of permafrost creep, provided by national data-services such as PERMOS in Switzerland (http://www.permos.ch). The PERMOS data and the ESA GlobPermafrost rock glacier inventory will support the validation of CCI+ Permafrost products in mountain areas, where the CCI+ Permafrost products contain the highest uncertainties. This optimized and standardized validation data set will be supplied within the CCI+ Climate Research Data Package (CRDP) and will thus be publicly available for validation also for the broader climate science community.
Data
Permafrost Climate Research Data Package on Ceda Archive and on the Climate Data Dashboard.
Permafrost version 4 dataset includes:
- Mean Annual Ground Temperature in permafrost areas for the Northern Hemisphere, v4.0, 1997-2021, 1km; 0m, 1m, 2m, 5m and 10 m depth (University Oslo); https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/20ec12f5d1f94e99aff2ed796264ee65;
- Permafrost extent for the Northern Hemisphere, v4.0, 1997-2021, 1km, fraction, annual (University Oslo);https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/93444bc1c4364a59869e004bf9bfd94a;
- Permafrost active layer thickness for the Northern Hemisphere, v4.0, 1997-2021 1 km, annual maximum thaw depth (University Oslo).https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/d34330ce3f604e368c06d76de1987ce5.
Citation of complete dataset:
Westermann, S.; Barboux, C.; Bartsch, A.; Delaloye, R.; Grosse, G.; Heim, B.; Hugelius, G.; Irrgang, A.; Kääb, A.M.; Matthes, H.; Nitze, I.; Pellet, C.; Seifert, F.M.; Strozzi, T.; Wegmüller, U.; Wieczorek, M.; Wiesmann, A. (2024): ESA Permafrost Climate Change Initiative (Permafrost_cci): Permafrost version 4 data products. NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis, date of citation. http://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/7479606004d9465bad949671501e5f21.
Alternative access via WebGIS visualization at https://maps.awi.de.
Additional Permafrost_cci records:
- Rock glacier inventories at WebMAPS (University Fribourg).
- Circumpolar landcover units v1.1, north of treeline, Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 at https://zenodo.org/records/11486149 (b.geos, SU and AWI).
- Days with potential alteration of ground temperature through rain on snow: mid-winter (Nov-Feb) snow thaw and refreeze, north of 65°N, MetopASCAT + SMOS at https://zenodo.org/record/7575927 (b.geos and FMI).
Heritage:
- Global permafrost properties (probability and mean annual ground temperature) based on equilibrium modelling (TTOP, 2000-2016) from GlobPermafrost (https://globpermafrost.info/products-and-data-access).
Key Documents
Team
The Permafrost Consortium is based on a close collaboration between the following partners:
- Gamma Remote Sensing and Consulting AG (GAMMA), Switzerland
- b.geos GmbH (B.GEOS), Austria
- Department of Geosciences of the University of Oslo (GUIO), Norway
- Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre of Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Germany
- Geography Unit of the Department of Geosciences of the University of Fribourg (UNIFR), Switzerland
- Department of Physical Geography and Bolin Centre of Climate Research of Stockholm University (SU), Sweden
- Geography Department, West University of Timișoara (WUT), Romania
- TERRASIGNA, Bucharest, Romania
- Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE), Tromsø, Norway
- University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Norway
- Enveo IT GmbH (ENVEO), Austria
- Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Finland
Publications
Click on the following links for publications relating to the Permafrost project.
2024
von Baeckmann, C., Bartsch, A., Bergstedt, H., Efimova, A., Widhalm, B., Ehrich, D., Kumpula, T., Sokolov, A., and Abdulmanova, S.: Land cover succession for recently drained lakes in permafrost on the Yamal Peninsula, Western Siberia, The Cryosphere, 18, 4703–4722, 2024. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4703-2024.
Schickhoff, M., de Vrese, P., Bartsch, A., Widhalm, B. and Brovkin, V.: Effects of land surface model resolution on fluxes and soil state in the Arctic, Environ. Res. Lett. 19 104032, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad6019.
Bartsch, A., Muri, X., Hetzenecker, M., Rautiainen, K., Bergstedt, H., Wuite, J., Nagler, T., and Nicolsky, D.: Benchmarking passive microwave satellite derived freeze/thaw datasets, EGUsphere [preprint], 2024. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2518.
Ishikawa, M., Westermann, S., Jambaljav, Y., Dashtseren, A., Hiyama, T., Endo, N., & Etzelmüller, B. (2024), Transient Modeling of Permafrost Distribution From 1986 to 2016 in Mongolia. Permafrost and Periglac Process, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2231.
Zwieback, S., Liu, L., Rouyet, L., Short, N. and Strozzi, T., Advances in InSAR Analysis of Permafrost Terrain. Permafrost and Periglac Process, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2248.
Kääb, A., Røste, J. Rock glaciers across the United States predominantly accelerate coincident with rise in air temperatures. Nat Commun 15, 7581, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52093-z.
Sasgen, I., Steinhoefel, G., Kasprzyk, C., Matthes, H., Westermann, S., Boike, J., Grosse, G.: Atmosphere circulation patterns synchronize pan-Arctic glacier melt and permafrost thaw, Commun Earth Environ, 5, 375, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01548-8.
Bartsch, A., Efimova, A., Widhalm, B., Muri, X., von Baeckmann, C., Bergstedt, H., Ermokhina, K., Hugelius, G., Heim, B., and Leibman, M.: Circumarctic land cover diversity considering wetness gradients, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2421–2481, 2024. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2421-2024.
Nitzbon, J., Schneider von Deimling, T., Aliyeva, M., Chadburn, S., Grosse, G., Laboor, S., Lee, H., Lohmann, G., Steinert, N., Stuenzi, S., Werner, M., Westermann, S., and Langer M.: No respite from permafrost-thaw impacts in the absence of a global tipping point, Nat. Clim. Chang, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02011-4.
Lenton, T.M., Abrams, J.F., Bartsch, A. et al.: Remotely sensing potential climate change tipping points across scales. Nature Communications, 15, 343, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44609-w.
2023
Westermann, S., Ingeman-Nielsen, T., Scheer, J., Aalstad, K., Aga, J., Chaudhary, N., Etzelmüller, B., Filhol, S., Kääb, A., Renette, C., Schmidt, L. S., Schuler, T. V., Zweigel, R. B., Martin, L., Morard, S., Ben-Asher, M., Angelopoulos, M., Boike, J., Groenke, B., Miesner, F., Nitzbon, J., Overduin, P., Stuenzi, S. M., and Langer, M.: The CryoGrid community model (version 1.0) – a multi-physics toolbox for climate-driven simulations in the terrestrial cryosphere, Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 2607–2647, 2023.. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-2607-2023.
Aga, J., Boike, J., Langer, M., Ingeman-Nielsen, T., and Westermann, S.: Simulating ice segregation and thaw consolidation in permafrost environments with the CryoGrid community model, The Cryosphere, 17, 4179–4206, 2023. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4179-2023.
Renette, C., Aalstad, K., Aga, J., Zweigel, R. B., Etzelmüller, B., Lilleøren, K. S., Isaksen, K., and Westermann, S.: Simulating the effect of subsurface drainage on the thermal regime and ground ice in blocky terrain in Norway, Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 33–50, 2023.. https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-33-2023.
Langer, M., von Deimling, T.S., Westermann, S., Rolph, R., Rutte, R., Antonova, S., Rachold, V., Schultz, M., Oehme A., Grosse G. Thawing permafrost poses environmental threat to thousands of sites with legacy industrial contamination. Nat Commun 14, 1721 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37276-4.
Lambiel, C., Strozzi, T., Paillex, N., Vivero, S. and Jones, N.: Inventory and kinematics of active and transitional rock glaciers in the Southern Alps of New Zealand from Sentinel-1 InSAR, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 55:1, 2183999, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2023.2183999.
Bartsch, A., Strozzi, T., and Nitze, I.: Permafrost Monitoring from Space, Surveys in Geophysics, 2023. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10712-023-09770-3.
Bartsch, A., Bergstedt, H., Pointner, G., Muri, X., Rautiainen, K., Leppänen, L., Joly, K., Sokolov, A., Orekhov, P., Ehrich, D., and Soininen, E. M.: Towards long-term records of rain-on-snow events across the Arctic from satellite data, The Cryosphere, 17, 889–915, 2023. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-889-2023.
2022
Lilleøren, K. S., Etzelmüller, B., Rouyet, L., Eiken, T., Slinde, G., and Hilbich, C.: Transitional rock glaciers at sea level in northern Norway, Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 975–996, 2022. https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-975-2022.
Bertone, A., Barboux, C., Bodin, X., Bolch, T., Brardinoni, F., Caduff, R., Christiansen, H. H., Darrow, M., Delaloye, R., Etzelmüller, B., Humlum, O., Lambiel, C., Lilleøren, K. S., Mair, V., Pellegrinon, G., Rouyet, L., Ruiz, L., and Strozzi, T (2022).: Incorporating InSAR kinematics into rock glacier inventories: insights from 11 regions worldwide , The Cryosphere, 16, 2769–2792, 2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2769-2022.
Miner, K., Turestky, M., Malina, E., Bartsch, A., Tamminen, J., McGuire, A.D., Fix, A., Sweeney, C., Elder, C.D., and Miller, C.E. (2022): Permafrost carbon emissions in a changing Arctic, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 3, 55–67. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00230-3.
2021
Rouyet, L., Lilleøren, K.S., Böhme, M., Vick, L.M., Delaloye, R., Etzelmüller, B., Lauknes, T.R., Larsen, Y., and Blikra, L.H. (2021): Regional Morpho-Kinematic Inventory of Slope Movements in Northern Norway, Front. Earth Sci. 9:6810881, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.681088.
Bartsch, A., Pointner, G., Nitze, I., Efimova, A., Jakober, D., Ley, S., Högström, E., Grosse, G., and Schweitzer, P. (2021): Expanding infrastructure and growing anthropogenic impacts along Arctic coasts, Environmental Research Letters, Volume 16, Number 11, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac3176.
Nitze, I, Heidler, K., Barth, S., and Grosse, G. (2021): Developing and testing a deep learning approach for mapping retrogressive thaw slumps. Remote Sensing, 13(21), 4294, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13214294.
A. Bartsch, G. Pointner, H. Bergstedt, B. Widhalm, A. Wendleder and A. Roth (2021) : Utility of Polarizations Available from Sentinel-1 for Tundra Mapping, IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium IGARSS, 2021, pp. 1452-1455, https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS47720.2021.9553993.
Rouyet, L., Liu, L., Strand, S.M., Christiansen, H.H., Lauknes, T.R., Larsen, Y. (2021): Seasonal InSAR Displacements Documenting the Active Layer Freeze and Thaw Progression in Central-Western Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Remote Sensing, 13(15), 2977, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13152977.
Martin, L. C. P., Nitzbon, J., Scheer, J., Aas, K.S., Eiken, T., Langer, M., Filhol, S., Etzelmüller, B. and Westermann, S. (2021), Lateral thermokarst patterns in permafrost peat plateaus in northern Norway, The Cryosphere, 15, 3423–3442, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3423-2021.
Obu, J. (2021): How much of the Earth’s surface is underlain by permafrost?, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 126, e2021JF006123, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JF006123.
Kääb, A., Strozzi, T., Bolch, T., Caduff, R., Trefall, H., Stoffel, M., and Kokarev, A. (2021): Inventory, motion and acceleration of rock glaciers in Ile Alatau and Kungöy Ala-Too, northern Tien Shan, since the 1950s, The Cryosphere, 15, 927–949, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-927-2021.
A. Veremeeva, I. Nitze, F. Günther, G. Grosse and E. Rivkina (2021) : Geomorphological and Climatic Drivers of Thermokarst Lake Area Increase Trend (1999–2018) in the Kolyma Lowland Yedoma Region, North-Eastern Siberia, Remote Sensing, 13(2), 178, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13020178.
2020
B.M. Jones, A.M. Irrgang, L.M. Farquharson, H. Lantuit, D. Whalen, S. Ogorodov, M. Grigoriev, C. Tweedie, A.E. Gibbs, M.C. Strzelecki, A. Baranskaya, N. Belova, A. Sinitsyn, A. Kroon, A. Maslakov, G. Vieira, G. Grosse, P. Overduin, I. Nitze, C. Maio, J. Overbeck, M. Bendixen, P. Zagórski and V.E. Romanovsky (2020) : Coastal Permafrost Erosion, NOAA Arctic Report Card, https://doi.org/10.25923/e47w-dw52.
Nitze, I., Cooley, S. W., Duguay, C. R., Jones, B. M., and Grosse, G. (2020): The catastrophic thermokarst lake drainage events of 2018 in northwestern Alaska: fast-forward into the future, The Cryosphere, 14, 4279–4297, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4279-2020.
Burke, E.J., Zhang, Y., Krinner, G. (2020): Evaluating permafrost physics in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) models and their sensitivity to climate change, The Cryosphere, 14, 3155–3174, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3155-2020.
Swingedouw, D., Speranza, C., Bartsch, A., Durand, G., Jamet, C., Beaugrand, G., Conversi, A. (2020): Early Warning from Space for a Few Key Tipping Points in Physical, Biological, and Social-Ecological Systems. Surveys in Geophysics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-020-09604-6
Lissak, C., Bartsch, A., De Michele, M. et al. Remote Sensing for Assessing Landslides and Associated Hazards. Surv Geophys (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-020-09609-1
Bartsch A, Ley S, Nitze I, Pointner G and Vieira G (2020), Feasibility Study for the Application of Synthetic Aperture Radar for Coastal Erosion Rate Quantification Across the Arctic. Front. Environ. Sci. 8:143. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2020.00143. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2020.00143/full
T. Popp, M.I. Hegglin, R. Hollmann, F. Ardhuin, A. Bartsch, A. Bastos, V. Bennett, J. Boutin, C. Brockmann, M. Buchwitz, E. Chuvieco, P. Ciais, W. Dorigo, D. Ghent, R. Jones, T. Lavergne, C.J. Merchant, B.Meyssignac, F. Paul, S. Quegan, S. Sathyendranath, T. Scanlon, M. Schröder, S.G.H. Simis, U. Willén (2020): Consistency of satellite climate data records for Earth system monitoring. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 1–68, doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0127.1.
Bergstedt, H., Bartsch, A., Duguay, C., Jones, B. (2020): Influence of surface water on coarse resolution C-band backscatter: Implications for freeze/thaw retrieval from scatterometer data. Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 247, 15 September 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.111911.
Bergstedt H., A. Bartsch, A. Neureiter, A. Höfler, B. Widhalm, N. Pepin and J. Hjort (2020): Deriving a Frozen Area Fraction From Metop ASCAT Backscatter Based on Sentinel-1, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, vol. 58, no. 9, pp. 6008-6019, https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2020.2967364.
Strozzi T., R.Caduff, N. Jones, C. Barboux, R, Delaloye, X. Bodin, A. Kääb, E. Mätzler, L. Schrott (2020): Monitoring Rock Glacier Kinematics with Synthetic Aperture Radar. Remote Sensing, 12(3), 559.
Obu J., S. Westermann, G. Vieira, A. Abramov, M.R. Balks, A. Bartsch, F. Hrbáček, A. Kääb, M. Ramos (2020): Pan-Antarctic map of near-surface permafrost temperatures at 1 km2 scale. The Cryosphere, 14, 497-519.
Bartsch A., B. Widhalm, M. Leibman, K. Ermokhina, T. Kumpula, A. Skarin, E.J. Wilcox, B.M. Jones, G. V. Frost, A. Höfler, G. Pointner (2020) Feasibility of tundra vegetation height retrieval from Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 237, 111515.
2019
Turetsky MR, Abbott BW, Jones MC, Walter Anthony K, Olefeldt D, Schuur EAG, Koven C, McGuire AD, Grosse G, Kuhry P, Hugelius G, Lawrence DM, Gibson C, Sannel ABK (2019): Permafrost collapse is accelerating carbon release. Nature, 569, 32-34. doi: 10.1038/d41586-019-01313-4.
L. Rouyet, T. R. Lauknes, H. H. Christiansen, S. M. Strand and Y. Larsen (2019): Seasonal dynamics of a permafrost landscape, Adventdalen, Svalbard, investigated by InSAR. Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 231, 15 September 2019, 111236.
J. Obu, S. Westermann, A. Bartsch, N. Berdnikov, H.H. Christiansen, A. Dashtseren, R. Delaloye, B. Elberling, B. Etzelmüller, A. Kholodov, A. Khomutov, A. Kääb, M.O. Leibman, A.G. Lewkowicz, S.K. Panda, V. Romanovsky, R.G. Way, A. Westergaard-Nielsen, T. Wu, J. Yamkhin, D. Zou (2019). Northern Hemisphere permafrost map based on TTOP modelling for 2000-2016 at 1 km2 scale. Earth-Science Reviews, Volume 193, Pages 299-316.
2017
A. Trofaier, S. Westermann & A. Bartsch (2017). Progress in space-borne studies of permafrost for climate science: Towards a multi-ECV approach. Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 203, Pages 55-70.
Links
IPA Action Group : Rock glacier inventories and kinematics
The IPA Action Group (2018-2022) intends to sustain the first steps toward the organization and the management of a network dedicated to rock glacier mapping (inventorying) and to promote the integration of permafrost creep rate (rock glacier kinematics) as a new associated parameter to Essential Climate Variable (ECV) Permafrost within the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) initiative supported by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), characterizing the evolution of mountain permafrost on the global scale.
The European Space Agency has launched the GlobPermafrost initiative (2016-2019) to develop, validate and implement information products to support the research communities and related international organisations like IPA and CliC in their work on understanding permafrost better by integration of Earth Observation data. The GlobPermafrost project is a follow up to the DUE Permafrost project. Further developments regarding permafrost modelling are made within the ESA CCI+ Permafrost project (2018-2021).
Workshops
1st Permafrost_cci User Workshop of Phase 2
Saturday 17 June 2023, 9-18 h: IPA Action Group "Rock glacier inventories and kinematics (RGIK)" Workshop III
Sunday 18 June 2023, 10-12 h & Tuesday 20 June 2023, 7.30-8.30 h: CCI+ Permafrost tutorial – data access and use
Background
Within the European Space Agency (ESA), the Climate Change Initiative (CCI) is a global monitoring program which aims to provide long-term satellite-based products to serve the climate modeling and climate user community. Permafrost has been selected as one of the Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) which were elaborated during Phase 1 of CCI+ (2018-2021) and continued during Phase 2 of CCI+ (2022-2025). The two main products associated to the ECV Permafrost, Ground temperature (GT) and Active Layer Thickness (ALT), were the primary documented variables during Permafrost_CCI Phase 1 (2018–2021). Following the 2022 GCOS (Global Climate Observing System) Implementation Plan, GT and ALT are complemented by a new ECV Permafrost product: Rock Glacier Velocity (RGV).
Objectives
A series of workshops were organized during the 6th European Conference on Permafrost (EUCOP 2023) in Puigcerdà (Spain). The two tutorials of Sunday 18 June 2023 between 10 and 12 h and of Tuesday 20 June 2023 between 7.30 and 8.30 h focused on the access and use of the data generated in Phase 1 of the project, i.e. Ground Temperature, Active Layer Thickness and Permafrost Extent. The workshop of Saturday 17 June 2023 between 9 and 18 was organized by the IPA Action Group "Rock glacier inventories and kinematics" (RGIK) to discuss the background, current status, challenges and future needs of Rock glacier inventories (RoGI) and Rock glacier velocity (RGV).
CCI+ Permafrost tutorial – data access and use
Agenda Sunday 18 June 2023
10.00 Introduction to the project and results
10.20 Tutorial on data access and visualization
10.50 Excericises by participants
12.00 End of meeting
Agenda Tuesday 20 June 2023
07.30 Introduction to the project and results
07.50 Tutorial on data access and visualization
08.20 Excericises by participants
08.30 End of meeting
List of presentations
ESA CCI+ Permafrost – data access and use
Workshop summary
A variety of options for Permafrost_cci datasets has been presented. This included data download as well as visualisation tools. As most of the target audience had an interest in specific regions, subsetting and location specific information retrieval was demonstrated for preselected regions as well as sites proposed by the participants. The introduction to the project and datasets also included some first higher level products (time series for annual averages) foreseen as data distribution and graphics. The options have been discussed and recommendations collected during each of the two sessions.
Workshop outcome and recommendations
Workshop participants suggested the production of regional specific higher level datasets. In addition, public access to the tutorial has been requested. Both can be achieved within the first iteration of Phase 2 of Permafrost_cci. However, a strategy for the distribution of the higher level datasets still needs to be developed.
Workshop III of the IPA Action Group "Rock glacier inventories and kinematics" (RGIK)
Agenda Saturday 17 June 2023
08.45-09.00 Welcome of participants
09.00-09.15 Workshop program and housekeeping
09.15-09.45 RGIK background, current status and future goals
09.45-10.00 Introduction to RoGI group discussion
10.00-10.30 Concrete outcomes of the RGIK Action Group since 2018
10.30-11.00 Coffee break
11.00-12.15 Group discussion
- Topic 1: Refinement and finalization of the RoGI guideline documents
- Topic 2: Implementation of the RoGI guidelines and exploitation of the data
12.15-12.15 Wrap-up RoGI discussion
12.30-14.00 Lunch break
14.00-14.30 Introduction to RGV group discussion
14.30-15.30 Group discussion
- Topic 1: Standard methodology to compute RGV from raw kinematic data
- Topic 2: RGV as climate change indicator and current knowledge gaps
15.30-16.00 Coffee break
16:00-16:15 Wrap-up RGV discussion
16:15-16:45 RGIK next steps, objectives, governance, Puigcerdà commitment
16:45-17:15 Plenum discussion RGIK next steps and Puigcerdà commitment
17:15-17:30 Workshop wrap-up, group picture, Puigcerdà commitment signature
List of presentations
The presentations are availbale here.
Workshop summary
The RGIK office organized the third workshop of the IPA Action Group as a side-event of EUCOP conference in Puigcerdá. The objectives were to gather the active members of the community, summarize the achievements of the IPA Action Group and outline the goal and the workplan for the coming years. Advertised to the entire network in Spring 2023 (209 people from 29 countries), the workshop gathered 35 people. The programme was divided in three parts: 1) a reminder and summary of the RGIK objectives, tasks and achievements (international guidelines, common tools and promotion of consistent rock glacier mapping and monitoring strategies); 2) group discussions regarding the challenges and knowledge gaps to generate standardized rock glacier inventories (RoGI) and rock glacier velocity (RGV) products; 3) discussion and decision regarding the future governance of the group.
Workshop outcome and recommendations
EUCOP6 marked the end of the support of the International Permafrost Association (IPA) to RGIK as an Action Group after two periods lasting from June 2018 to June 2023. In the framework of the workshop a short document named the Puigcerdà Commitment was prepared to define the objectives of the RGIK community and lay the foundation for the transition of the Action Group to a sustainable structure as an IPA Standing Committee. The final version of the Puigcerdà Commitment has been approved by 60 people (status: July 23th, 2023). During the Council Meeting of the IPA on 21 June 2023, the request and the commitment of the RGIK Action Group were presented and discussed. The IPA Council unanimously approved the initiative, asking to be ready to transition to a Standing Committee within a year and to enlarge the scope of RGIK to rock glaciers in general. In addition to the continuation of the works done until present, the transition to a Standing Committee requires the nomination of an Executive Committee and an Advisory Board, as well as the development and approval of the by-laws, to be achieved before the next International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP) in June 2024.
1st Permafrost_cci User Workshop
ESA's Permafrost CCI held its 1st User Workshop on 27 September 2021 as an online event.
Agenda
The final meeting Agenda is available for your information: CCI+_PERMA_WORKSHOP_AGENDA_v3.
Project presentations
Overview and Status of Permafrost_cci (Annett Bartsch, b.geos)
Using CCI+ Permafrost Data in model evaluation (Heidrun Matthes, AWI)
Combination of Permafrost_cci time series with Landsat trends (Ingmar Nitze, AWI)
GlobPermafrost heritage – overview and selected use examples (Annett Bartsch, b.geos)
Algorithm implementaion (Sebastian Westermann, GUIO)
Rock glacier kinematics (Tazio Strozzi, Gamma)
Background
In the frame of the European Space Agency (ESA) Climate Change Initiative (CCI) the permafrost_cci project developed and generated a novel 23 years long climate data record of annual northern hemisphere permafrost parameters using satellite data. The products were specified based on a requirement review at the start of the project (User requirements document) building on a series of surveys within the ESA DUE Permafrost and GlobPermafrost projects. The third version of the permafrost product consists of annual ground temperature at various depths (GRD), active layer thickness (ALT) and permafrost extent (PEX). The data were released to the user community through the ESA CCI Open Data Portal.
In order to characterise the evolution of mountain permafrost globally, an IPA Action Group was launched in 2018 to manage a service dedicated to rock glacier inventories and kinematics and to promote the integration of rock glacier kinematics as a new associated parameter to the ECV Permafrost. In this context, specific guidelines to integrate kinematic information within rock glacier inventories exploiting satellite SAR interferometry were developed within permafrost_CCI and applied to eleven regional inventories worldwide (see here under Preliminary results).
The workshop will bring together the permafrost_cci project team, the Climate Research Group associated with permafrost_cci, and users of permafrost_cci products working in various application fields related to climate monitoring and modelling.
Objectives of the workshop
- Review and consolidate the portfolio of permafrost_cci products
- Collect feedback on the usage of permafrost_cci products from various applications
- Discuss challenges related to the generation of permafrost CDRs (Climate Data Records)
- Review and consolidate requirements and specifications of permafrost products as guidelines for further developments
- Engage the permafrost research community to facilitate collaboration and networking
- Present and discuss results from climate research applications and process studies using permafrost CDRs
- Encourage usage of the permafrost_cci products for new applications
Expected outcomes of the workshop
- Assess the usability and performance of permafrost_cci products in various applications
- Identify of gaps and deficiencies of permafrost products specific to climate analysis needs
- Update and consolidate user requirements for the permafrost_cci products
- Provide recommendations for synergistic use and exploitation of permafrost products in the overall context of essential climate variables
Important dates
- Submission of presentation titles together with registration 10th of September
- Notification of acceptance of presentation and Agenda 16th of September
- Online registration deadline 24th of September
- First permafrost_cci user workshop (online) 27th of September, 14:00-18:00 CET
Scientific organizing committee
- Annett Bartsch (b.geos)
- Tazio Strozzi (Gamma)
- Sebastian Westermann (University Oslo)
- Guido Grosse (AWI)
- Reynald Delaloye (UNIFR)
- Frank Martin Seifert (ESA)
Further information
Annett Bartsch (annett.bartsch [at] bgeos.com) or Tazio Strozzi (strozzi [at] gamma-rs.ch)
Contacts
Use the following emails to contact the Permafrost_CCI team:
- Scientific Leader: Dr Annett Bartsch (B.GEOS) – annett.bartsch@bgeos.com
- Project Manager: Dr Tazio Strozzi (GAMMA) – strozzi@gamma-rs.ch
- ESA Technical Officer: Dr Frank Martin Seifert (ESA) – frank.martin.seifert@esa.int
