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Seasonal Ground Surface Change Detected by Dinsar at Cape Bounty, Melville Island, Nunavut

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Seasonal Ground Surface Change Detected by Dinsar at Cape Bounty, Melville Island, Nunavut SEASONAL GROUND SURFACE CHANGE DETECTED BY DINSAR AT CAPE BOUNTY, MELVILLE ISLAND, NUNAVUT By Greg Stuart Robson A thesis submitted to the Department of Geography and Planning in conformity with the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada (May, 2020) Copyright © Greg Stuart Robson, 2020 Abstract Differential interferometry of synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR) analysis can be used to generate high- precision surface displacement maps in continuous permafrost environments, capturing isotropic surface subsidence and uplift associated with the seasonal freeze and thaw cycle. We generated seasonal displacement maps using DInSAR with ultrafine-beam Radarsat-2 images for summers 2013, 2015 and 2019 at Cape Bounty, Melville Island, and examined them in combination with a land cover classification, meteorological data, topographic data, optical satellite imagery, and in situ measures of soil moisture, soil temperature and active layer thickness. Displacement magnitudes (estimated uncertainty ± 1 cm) of up to 10 cm per 48-day DInSAR stack were detected, but the vast majority of change was far smaller (up to 4 cm). Significant surface displacement was found to be most extensive and of the greatest magnitude in select low-lying, wet, and sloping areas. We speculate that precipitation may be the most important control on the extent of seasonal frost heave, as 2019 showed higher levels of surface displacement than 2013. Despite both summers having similar thawing degree days, 2019 had double the cumulative rainfall by mid-August. Areas which showed significant displacement in multiple years were sparse but densely clustered in wet, low lying areas, on steep slopes or ridges, or close to the coast. Cumulative displacement across all three years was also examined: areas with large cumulative uplift were constrained to upland areas, and conversely areas showing large cumulative subsidence were constrained to low-lying areas; this may be due to contrasting ground ice concentrations and water availability associated with different sediment composition and frost susceptibility above and below the local marine limit (estimated at 70 m a.s.l.). DInSAR also captured the expansion of two medium-sized retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS), appearing to successfully map accumulation of slumped material at the foot of the RTS headwalls, and associated destabilization and subsidence upslope. ii Co-authorship The thesis consists of one manuscript: Chapter 2 “Seasonal ground surface change detected by DInSAR at Cape Bounty, Melville Island, Nunavut”, co-authored by G. S. Robson, P. Treitz, S. F. Lamoureux, K. Murnaghan, and B. Brisco. I was responsible for the writing of all chapters, production of figures, field data collection in summer 2019 and subsequent data analysis. P. Treitz and S. F. Lamoureux provided edits and comments on all chapters, provided support in the field, and offered guidance throughout all stages of project development, analysis, and writing. DInSAR processing was carried out primarily at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing in November 2019 with the support of K. Murnaghan, who also provided technical support throughout the remainder of the project. B. Brisco provided guidance and support for SAR processing and is a partner in the SOAR-E project (5492) which is associated with this research. iii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank Paul Treitz and Scott Lamoureux for their incredible mentorship and support over the course of the past two years to help me steer this project to completion - their expertise within the discipline was invaluable and their enthusiasm for Cape Bounty infectious. Thanks also for taking me on as a student in the first place which led to the opportunity to complete this degree at such a fantastic university, to travel and work in the Arctic, and to get trained in so many new skills. Thanks to the other grad students in LaRSEES for making the lab such an enjoyable environment to work in and for offering both technical and emotional support when things got a little hairy along the way. Our frequent trips to the Grad Club and to the various eateries of Kingston were excellent. Thanks also to the Cape Bounty team of summer 2019 for their support in fieldwork and for letting me be involved in their incredible projects, and to the pilots and PCSP staff in Resolute for getting us (and our gear) safely in and out of Cape Bounty. Massive thanks to Kevin Murnaghan at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing for taking so much time to show me in the ins-and-outs of DInSAR processing in Ottawa back in November and for all the technical support he provided since. Thanks also to Brian Brisco for welcoming me into the CCRS and sharing his SAR expertise with me. Financial support for this project was provided by the Polar Continental Shelf Program (PCSP), the SOAR-E initiative of the Canadian Space Agency, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). Finally, thanks to my family back in Bonnie Scotland for their support over the years, and also to the communities I have been lucky enough to be part of here at Queen’s University for making the past two years so interesting and entertaining. Cha Gheill! iv Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. ii Co-authorship ....................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................... v List of Figures ...................................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................ ix List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................. x Chapter 1: Introduction and background ............................................................................................... 1 1.1: The active layer and ground ice .................................................................................................. 1 1.2: Thermokarst, active layer detachments, and retrogressive thaw slumps .................................... 5 1.3: Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) ................................................................................................... 6 1.4: Differential interferometry of synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR) ............................................. 7 1.5: Motivation for research - the need to monitor and predict permafrost landscape change ........ 10 1.6: Research objectives ................................................................................................................... 12 References ........................................................................................................................................ 13 Chapter 2: Seasonal ground surface change detected by DInSAR at Cape Bounty, Melville Island, Nunavut ................................................................................................................................................ 23 2.1: Background & Objectives ......................................................................................................... 23 2.2: Study Site & Land Cover Classification ................................................................................... 26 2.3: Data & Methods ........................................................................................................................ 29 2.3.1: Optical Satellite Data ......................................................................................................... 29 2.3.2: Pond Detection via the Kauth-Thomas Method ................................................................ 30 2.3.3: Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) ................................................................................... 31 2.3.4: Active Layer Thickness and Soil Moisture Measurement ................................................. 32 v 2.3.5: Meteorological Data .......................................................................................................... 32 2.3.6: SAR Imagery & Meteorological Data ............................................................................... 33 2.3.7: DInSAR Processing ........................................................................................................... 34 2.3.8: Derivation of Multi-Year DInSAR Rasters ....................................................................... 36 2.4: Results and Discussion ............................................................................................................. 38 2.4.1: Meteorological and soil conditions .................................................................................... 38 2.4.2: Early vs Late Season Displacement (2019) ....................................................................... 39 2.4.3: Inter-annual Displacement Map Comparisons (2013, 2015, 2019) ..................................
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