USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES FOR THERMOKARST ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are being increasingly used in agriculture, forestry, land surveying, and many other domains. The advantages of UAVs include relatively low cost, fast data acquisition, and high quality of aerial imagery. UAVs have also proven useful in permafrost applications, for example, in estimating thermokarst activity which is an indicator of permafrost response to global climate change. Here we report the application of UAVs at the monitoring sites in Central Yakutia to assess thermokarst disturbances in ice-rich permafrost terrain. The monitoring sites (Churapcha, Yukechi and Tabaga) are located on a high lacustrine- alluvial plain underlain by the Ice Complex. 3 Preliminary results indicate that total thermokarst disturbance of the Ice Complex is, on average, 3.4 ± 0.7 m / 2 3 2 m in lake-covered thaw depressions formed in the 1940-1960s and 2.0±0.6 m /m in recent depressions initiated in the mid-1980s. We also analyzed thermokarst disturbances during warmer periods of the Holocene when the alases of Central Yakutia were formed. Cartographic databases of initial thermokarst with high-centered polygons at monitoring sites have been created. Repeated surveys in these areas will provide information on thermokarst rates.