Frozen ground and snow cover monitoring in Livingston and Deception islands, Antarctica: preliminary results of the 2015-2019 PERMASNOW project

Since 2006, our research team has been establishing in the islands of Livingston and Deception, (South Shetland archipelago, Antarctica) several monitoring stations of the active layer thickness within the international network Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM), and the ground thermal regime for the Ground Terrestrial Network-Permafrost (GTN-P). Both networks were developed within the International Permafrost Association (IPA). In the GTN-P stations, in addition to the temperature of the air, soil, and terrain at different depths, the snow thickness is also monitored by snow poles. Since 2006, a delay in the disappearance of the snow layer has been observed, which could explain the variations we observed in the active layer thickness and permafrost temperatures. Therefore, in late 2015 our research group started the PERMASNOW project (2015-2019) to pay attention to the effect of snow cover on ground thermal This project had two different ways to study the snow cover. On the first hand, in early 2017 we deployed new instrumentation, including new time lapse cameras, snow poles with high number of sensors and a complete and complex set of instruments and sensors to configure a snow pack analyzer station providing 32 environmental and snow parameters. We used the data acquired along 2017 and 2018 years with the new instruments, together with the available from all our already existing sensors, to study in detail the snow cover. On the other hand, remote sensing data were used to try to map the snow cover, not only at our monitoring stations but the entire islands in order to map and study the snow cover distribution, as well as to start the way for future permafrost mapping in the entire islands. MODIS-derived surface temperatures and albedo products were used to detect the snow cover and to test the surface temperature. Since cloud presence limited the acquisition of valid observations of MODIS sensor, we also analyzed Terrasar X data to overcome this limitation. Remote sensing data validation required the acquirement of in situ ground-true data, consisting on data from our permanent instruments, as well as ad hoc measurements in the field (snow cover mapping, snow pits, albedo characterization, etc.). Although the project is finished, the data analysis is still ongoing. We present here the different research tasks we are developing as well as the most important results we already obtained about the snow cover. These results confirm how the snow cover duration has been changing in the last years, affecting the ground thermal behavior.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Frozen ground and snow cover monitoring in livingston and deception islands, antarctica: Preliminary results of the 2015-2019 permasnow project Monitorización de los suelos congelados y la cubierta de nieve en las islas livingston and deception, antártida: Resultados preliminares del proyecto permasnow

Since 2006, our research team has been establishing in the islands of Livingston and Deception, (South Shetland archipelago, Antarctica) several monitoring stations of the active layer thickness within the international network Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM), and the ground thermal regime for the Ground Terrestrial Network-Permafrost (GTN-P). Both networks were developed within the International Permafrost Association (IPA). In the GTN-P stations, in addition to the temperature of the air, soil, and terrain at different depths, the snow thickness is also monitored by snow poles. Since 2006, a delay in the disappearance of the snow layer has been observed, which could explain the variations we observed in the active layer thickness and permafrost temperatures. Therefore, in late 2015 our research group started the PERMASNOW project (2015-2019) to pay attention to the effect of snow cover on ground thermal This project had two different ways to study the snow cover. On the first hand, in early 2017 we deployed new instrumentation, including new time lapse cameras, snow poles with high number of sensors and a complete and complex set of instruments and sensors to configure a snow pack analyzer station providing 32 environmental and snow parameters. We used the data acquired along 2017 and 2018 years with the new instruments, together with the available from all our already existing sensors, to study in detail the snow cover. On the other hand, remote sensing data were used to try to map the snow cover, not only at our monitoring stations but the entire islands in order to map and study the snow cover distribution, as well as to start the way for future permafrost mapping in the entire islands. MODIS-derived surface temperatures and albedo products were used to detect the snow cover and to test the surface temperature. Since cloud presence limited the acquisition of valid observations of MODIS sensor, we also analyzed Terrasar X data to over-come this limitation. Remote sensing data validation required the acquirement of in situ ground-true data, consisting on data from our permanent instruments, as well as ad hoc measurements in the field (snow cover mapping, snow pits, albedo characterization, etc.). Although the project is finished, the data analysis is still ongoing. We present here the different research tasks we are developing as well as the most important results we already obtained about the snow cover. These results confirm how the snow cover duration has been changing in the last years, affecting the ground thermal behavior.With funding from the Spanish government through the "María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence" accreditation (MDM-2017-0737

Frozen ground and snow cover monitoring in Livingston and Deception islands, Antarctica: preliminary results of the 2015-2019 PERMASNOW project

Since 2006, our research team has been establishing in the islands of Livingston and Deception, (South Shetland archipelago, Antarctica) several monitoring stations of the active layer thickness within the international network Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM), and the ground thermal regime for the Ground Terrestrial Network-Permafrost (GTN-P). Both networks were developed within the International Permafrost Association (IPA). In the GTN-P stations, in addition to the temperature of the air, soil, and terrain at different depths, the snow thickness is also monitored by snow poles. Since 2006, a delay in the disappearance of the snow layer has been observed, which could explain the variations we observed in the active layer thickness and permafrost temperatures. Therefore, in late 2015 our research group started the PERMASNOW project (2015-2019) to pay attention to the effect of snow cover on ground thermal This project had two different ways to study the snow cover. On the first hand, in early 2017 we deployed new instrumentation, including new time lapse cameras, snow poles with high number of sensors and a complete and complex set of instruments and sensors to configure a snow pack analyzer station providing 32 environmental and snow parameters. We used the data acquired along 2017 and 2018 years with the new instruments, together with the available from all our already existing sensors, to study in detail the snow cover. On the other hand, remote sensing data were used to try to map the snow cover, not only at our monitoring stations but the entire islands in order to map and study the snow cover distribution, as well as to start the way for future permafrost mapping in the entire islands. MODIS-derived surface temperatures and albedo products were used to detect the snow cover and to test the surface temperature. Since cloud presence limited the acquisition of valid observations of MODIS sensor, we also analyzed Terrasar X data to overcome this limitation. Remote sensing data validation required the acquirement of in situ ground-true data, consisting on data from our permanent instruments, as well as ad hoc measurements in the field (snow cover mapping, snow pits, albedo characterization, etc.). Although the project is finished, the data analysis is still ongoing. We present here the different research tasks we are developing as well as the most important results we already obtained about the snow cover. These results confirm how the snow cover duration has been changing in the last years, affecting the ground thermal behavior.Desde el año 2006, nuestro equipo de investigación ha ido estableciendo, en las islas Livingston y Decepción, en el archipiélago de las Shetland del Sur, Antártida, varias estaciones de monitorización del espesor de la capa activa, dentro de la red internacional Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM), y del régimen térmico de los suelos para la red Ground Terrestrial Network-Permafrost (GTN-P). Ambas redes resultan de grupos de trabajo de la Asociación Internacional del Permafrost (IPA). En las estaciones GTN-P, además de la temperatura del aire, suelo, y terreno a distintas profundidades, se monitoriza, mediante termonivómetros, el espesor de la cubierta nival. Desde el año 2006 se ha ido observado un retraso en la desaparición de la capa de nieve, lo que podría explicar las variaciones que estábamos midiendo en el espesor y temperatura de la capa activa y el permafrost. Por ello, a finales de 2015 iniciamos el proyecto PERMASNOW (2015-2019) para estudiar el efecto de la capa de nieve en el régimen térmico del suelo. Este proyecto incluía dos vías para el estudio de la nieve. Por un lado, a principios de 2017 se desplegaron nuevos instrumentos en nuestras zonas de estudio, incluyendo cámaras fotográficas automáticas, termonivómetros con mayor número de sensores y un conjunto de sensores que configuran una estación para la observación de 3 variables atmosféricas y de la cubierta nival. Utilizamos los datos adquiridos a lo largo de los años 2017 y 2018 por estos nuevos instrumentos y sensores, junto con los de los demás instrumentos previamente existentes en nuestras estaciones GTN-P, para estudiar en detalle la cubierta de nieve. Por otro lado, se utilizó la teledetección para tratar de cartografiar dicha cubierta nival, no sólo en nuestras estaciones, sino también en la totalidad de estas islas con el fin conocer la distribución de la cubierta de nieve, y abrir así la vía a la futura cartografía de la distribución del permafrost en las mismas. Se utilizaron temperaturas superficiales y albedo derivadas del instrumento MODIS para detectar la cubierta de nieve y para analizar la temperatura superficial. Por otro lado, debido a la limitación de los sensores ópticos en esta región nubosa, también se utilizaron datos de radar Terrasar X. Para el análisis de datos de teledetección se tomaron datos in situ (verdad terreno) como cartografía de la capa nival, catas de nieve, mediciones de albedo, etc. Aunque el proyecto está terminado, el análisis de datos todavía está en curso. Aquí presentamos las diferentes tareas de investigación que estamos desarrollando, así como los resultados más importantes que ya hemos obtenido sobre la cubierta de nieve, que confirman cómo la duración de la cubierta de nieve ha ido cambiando en los últimos años, y está afectando al comportamiento térmico del suelo