| 1. |
- Bartsch, Annett, et al.
(författare)
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Can C-band synthetic aperture radar be used to estimate soil organic carbon storage in tundra?
- 2016
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Ingår i: Biogeosciences. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1726-4170 .- 1726-4189. ; 13:19, s. 5453-5470
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new approach for the estimation of soil organic carbon (SOC) pools north of the tree line has been developed based on synthetic aperture radar (SAR; ENVISAT Advanced SAR Global Monitoring mode) data. SOC values are directly determined from backscatter values instead of upscaling using land cover or soil classes. The multi-mode capability of SAR allows application across scales. It can be shown that measurements in C band under frozen conditions represent vegetation and surface structure properties which relate to soil properties, specifically SOC. It is estimated that at least 29 Pg C is stored in the upper 30 cm of soils north of the tree line. This is approximately 25% less than stocks derived from the soil-map-based Northern Circumpolar Soil Carbon Database (NCSCD). The total stored carbon is underestimated since the established empirical relationship is not valid for peatlands or strongly cryoturbated soils. The approach does, however, provide the first spatially consistent account of soil organic carbon across the Arctic. Furthermore, it could be shown that values obtained from 1 km resolution SAR correspond to accounts based on a high spatial resolution (2 m) land cover map over a study area of about 7 x 7 km in NE Siberia. The approach can be also potentially transferred to medium-resolution C-band SAR data such as ENVISAT ASAR Wide Swath with similar to 120m resolution but it is in general limited to regions without woody vegetation. Global Monitoring-mode-derived SOC increases with unfrozen period length. This indicates the importance of this parameter for modelling of the spatial distribution of soil organic carbon storage.
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| 2. |
- Faucherre, Samuel, et al.
(författare)
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Short and Long-Term Controls on Active Layer and Permafrost Carbon Turnover Across the Arctic
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 2169-8953 .- 2169-8961. ; 123:2, s. 372-390
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM) in permafrost terrain and the production of greenhouse gases is a key factor for understanding climate change-carbon feedbacks. Previous studies have shown that SOM decomposition is mostly controlled by soil temperature, soil moisture, and carbon-nitrogen ratio (C:N). However, focus has generally been on site-specific processes and little is known about variations in the controls on SOM decomposition across Arctic sites. For assessing SOM decomposition, we retrieved 241 samples from 101 soil profiles across three contrasting Arctic regions and incubated them in the laboratory under aerobic conditions. We assessed soil carbon losses (Closs) five times during a 1 year incubation. The incubated material consisted of near-surface active layer (ALNS), subsurface active layer (ALSS), peat, and permafrost samples. Samples were analyzed for carbon, nitrogen, water content, δ13C, δ15N, and dry bulk density (DBD). While no significant differences were observed between total ALSS and permafrost Closs over 1 year incubation (2.3 ± 2.4% and 2.5 ± 1.5% Closs, respectively), ALNS samples showed higher Closs (7.9 ± 4.2%). DBD was the best explanatory parameter for active layer Closs across sites. Additionally, results of permafrost samples show that C:N ratio can be used to characterize initial Closs between sites. This data set on the influence of abiotic parameter on microbial SOM decomposition can improve model simulations of Arctic soil CO2 production by providing representative mean values of CO2 production rates and identifying standard parameters or proxies for upscaling potential CO2 production from site to regional scales.
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| 3. |
- Siewert, Matthias Benjamin, 1985-
(författare)
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High-resolution mapping and spatial variability of soil organic carbon storage in permafrost environments
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Large amounts of carbon are stored in soils of the northern circumpolar permafrost region. High-resolution mapping of this soil organic carbon (SOC) is important to better understand and predict local to global scale carbon dynamics. In this thesis, studies from five different areas across the permafrost region indicate a pattern of generally higher SOC storage in Arctic tundra soils compared to forested sub-Arctic or Boreal taiga soils. However, much of the SOC stored in the top meter of tundra soils is permanently frozen, while the annually thawing active layer is deeper in taiga soils and more SOC may be available for turnover to ecosystem processes. The results show that significantly more carbon is stored in soils compared to vegetation, even in fully forested taiga ecosystems. This indicates that over longer timescales, the SOC potentially released from thawing permafrost cannot be offset by a greening of the Arctic. For all study areas, the SOC distribution is strongly influenced by the geomorphology, i.e. periglacial landforms and processes, at different spatial scales. These span from the cryoturbation of soil horizons, to the formation of palsas, peat plateaus and different generations of ice-wedges, to thermokarst creating kilometer scale macro environments. In study areas that have not been affected by Pleistocene glaciation, SOC distribution is highly influenced by the occurrence of ice-rich and relief-forming Yedoma deposits. This thesis investigates the use of thematic maps from highly resolved satellite imagery (<6.5 m resolution). These maps reveal important information on the local distribution and variability of SOC, but their creation requires advanced classification methods including an object-based approach, modern classifiers and data-fusion. The results of statistical analyses show a clear link of land cover and geomorphology with SOC storage. Peat-formation and cryoturbation are identified as two major mechanisms to accumulate SOC. As an alternative to thematic maps, this thesis demonstrates the advantages of digital soil mapping of SOC in permafrost areas using machine-learning methods, such as support vector machines, artificial neural networks and random forests. Overall, high-resolution satellite imagery and robust spatial prediction methods allow detailed maps of SOC. This thesis significantly increases the amount of soil pedons available for the individual study areas. Yet, this information is still the limiting factor to better understand the SOC distribution in permafrost environments at local and circumpolar scale. Soil pedon information for SOC quantification should at least distinguish the surface organic layer, the mineral subsoil in the active layer compared to the permafrost and further into organic rich cryoturbated and buried soil horizons.
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| 4. |
- Weiss, Niels, et al.
(författare)
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Thermokarst dynamics and soil organic matter characteristics controlling initial carbon release from permafrost soils in the Siberian Yedoma region
- 2016
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Ingår i: Sedimentary Geology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0037-0738 .- 1879-0968. ; 340, s. 38-48
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study relates soil organic matter (SOM) characteristics to initial soil incubation carbon release from upper permafrost samples in Yedoma region soils of northeastern Siberia, Russia. Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) content, carbon to nitrogen ratios (C:N), delta C-13 and delta N-15 values show clear trends that correspond with SOM age and degree of decomposition. Incubation results indicate that older and more decomposed soil material shows higher C respiration rates per unit incubated C than younger and less decomposed samples with higher C content. This is important as undecomposed material is often assumed to be more reactive upon thawing. Large stocks of SOM and their potential decomposability, in combination with complex landscape dynamics that include one or more events of Holocene thaw in most of the landscape, are of consequence for potential greenhouse gas release from permafrost soils in the Yedoma region.
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