New publication on quantifying the carbon mobilization by abrupt permafrost thaw on the northern Taymyr Peninsula in Siberia
With climate change, Arctic hillslopes above ice-rich permafrost are vulnerable to enhanced carbon mobilization. In this work elevation change estimates generated from satellite observations reveal a substantial acceleration of carbon mobilization on the Taymyr Peninsula in Siberia between 2010 and 2021. The strong increase occurring in 2020 coincided with a severe Siberian heatwave and highlights that carbon mobilization can respond sharply and non-linearly to increasing temperatures.
At the core of this work are elevation models derived from TanDEM-X observations, a bistatic satellite radar system. The high spatial and vertical resolutions allow to generate accurate elevation model time-series which can be used to follow the strongest permafrost thaw (retrogressive thaw slumps, RTS) by using the induced volumetric change. This allows us to detect and map abrupt permafrost thaw and quantify its impact and contribution to the permafrost carbon feedback.
Bernhard, P., Zwieback, S., and Hajnsek, I.: Accelerated mobilization of organic carbon from retrogressive thaw slumps on the northern Taymyr Peninsula, The Cryosphere, 16, 2819–2835, external page https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2819-2022, 2022.