Articles | Volume 18, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1773-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1773-2024
Research article
 | 
17 Apr 2024
Research article |  | 17 Apr 2024

InSAR-measured permafrost degradation of palsa peatlands in northern Sweden

Samuel Valman, Matthias B. Siewert, Doreen Boyd, Martha Ledger, David Gee, Betsabé de la Barreda-Bautista, Andrew Sowter, and Sofie Sjögersten

Related authors

Historical Droughts in British Colonial Belize (1771–1981)
Oriol Ambrogio Gali, Sarah Metcalfe, Elizabeth A. C. Rushton, Betsabe de la Barreda-Bautista, Georgina H. Endfield, Sofia Márdero, Franziska Schrodt, and Alec McLellan
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2708,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2708, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Climate of the Past (CP).
Short summary
Optical and radar Earth observation data for upscaling methane emissions linked to permafrost degradation in sub-Arctic peatlands in northern Sweden
Sofie Sjögersten, Martha Ledger, Matthias Siewert, Betsabé de la Barreda-Bautista, Andrew Sowter, David Gee, Giles Foody, and Doreen S. Boyd
Biogeosciences, 20, 4221–4239, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4221-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4221-2023, 2023
Short summary
A high spatial resolution soil carbon and nitrogen dataset for the northern permafrost region based on circumpolar land cover upscaling
Juri Palmtag, Jaroslav Obu, Peter Kuhry, Andreas Richter, Matthias B. Siewert, Niels Weiss, Sebastian Westermann, and Gustaf Hugelius
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 4095–4110, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4095-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4095-2022, 2022
Short summary
What determines peat swamp vegetation type in the Central Congo Basin?
Selena Georgiou, Edward T. A. Mitchard, Bart Crezee, Paul I. Palmer, Greta C. Dargie, Sofie Sjögersten, Corneille E. N. Ewango, Ovide B. Emba, Joseph T. Kanyama, Pierre Bola, Jean-Bosco N. Ndjango, Nicholas T. Girkin, Yannick E. Bocko, Suspense A. Ifo, and Simon L. Lewis
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-580,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-580, 2022
Preprint archived
Short summary
Identification of typical ecohydrological behaviours using InSAR allows landscape-scale mapping of peatland condition
Andrew V. Bradley, Roxane Andersen, Chris Marshall, Andrew Sowter, and David J. Large
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 261–277, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-261-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-261-2022, 2022
Short summary

Related subject area

Discipline: Frozen ground | Subject: Frozen Ground
Thermal state of permafrost in the Central Andes (27–34° S)
Cassandra E. M. Koenig, Christin Hilbich, Christian Hauck, Lukas U. Arenson, and Pablo Wainstein
The Cryosphere, 19, 2653–2676, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2653-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2653-2025, 2025
Short summary
High-resolution 4D electrical resistivity tomography and below-ground point sensor monitoring of High Arctic deglaciated sediments capture zero-curtain effects, freeze–thaw transitions, and mid-winter thawing
Mihai O. Cimpoiasu, Oliver Kuras, Harry Harrison, Paul B. Wilkinson, Philip Meldrum, Jonathan E. Chambers, Dane Liljestrand, Carlos Oroza, Steven K. Schmidt, Pacifica Sommers, Lara Vimercati, Trevor P. Irons, Zhou Lyu, Adam Solon, and James A. Bradley
The Cryosphere, 19, 401–421, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-401-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-401-2025, 2025
Short summary
Spectral induced polarization survey for the estimation of hydrogeological parameters in an active rock glacier
Clemens Moser, Umberto Morra di Cella, Christian Hauck, and Adrián Flores Orozco
The Cryosphere, 19, 143–171, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-143-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-143-2025, 2025
Short summary
Quantifying permafrost ground ice contents in the Tien Shan and Pamir (Central Asia): A Petrophysical Joint Inversion approach using the Geometric Mean model
Tamara Mathys, Muslim Azimshoev, Zhoodarbeshim Bektursunov, Christian Hauck, Christin Hilbich, Murataly Duishonakunov, Abdulhamid Kayumov, Nikolay Kassatkin, Vassily Kapitsa, Leo C. P. Martin, Coline Mollaret, Hofiz Navruzshoev, Eric Pohl, Tomas Saks, Intizor Silmonov, Timur Musaev, Ryskul Usubaliev, and Martin Hoelzle
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2795,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2795, 2024
Short summary
Effect of surficial geology mapping scale on modelled ground ice in Canadian Shield terrain
H. Brendan O'Neill, Stephen A. Wolfe, Caroline Duchesne, and Ryan J. H. Parker
The Cryosphere, 18, 2979–2990, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2979-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2979-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Åkerman, H. J. and Johansson, M.: Thawing permafrost and thicker active layers in sub-arctic Sweden, Permafrost Periglac., 19, 279–292, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.626, 2008. 
Alshammari, L., Large, D. J., Boyd, D. S., Sowter, A., Anderson, R., Andersen, R., and Marsh, S.: Long-Term Peatland Condition Assessment via Surface Motion Monitoring Using the ISBAS DInSAR Technique over the Flow Country, Scotland, Remote Sens., 10, 1103, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10071103, 2018. 
Alshammari, L., Boyd, D. S., Sowter, A., Marshall, C., Andersen, R., Gilbert, P., Marsh, S., and Large, D. J.: Use of Surface Motion Characteristics Determined by InSAR to Assess Peatland Condition, J. Geophys. Res., 125, e2018JG004953, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004953, 2020. 
Backe, S.: Kartering av Sveriges palsmyrar, Länsstyrelsen, oai:DiVA.org:naturvardsverket-2318, 2014. 
Ballantyne C. K.: Periglacial geomorphology, John Wiley and Son, ISBN 9781405100069, 2018. 
Download
Short summary
Climate warming is thawing permafrost that makes up palsa (frost mound) peatlands, risking ecosystem collapse and carbon release as methane. We measure this regional degradation using radar satellite technology to examine ground elevation changes and show how terrain roughness measurements can be used to estimate local permafrost damage. We find that over half of Sweden's largest palsa peatlands are degrading, with the worse impacts to the north linked to increased winter precipitation.
Share