Articles | Volume 11, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1441-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1441-2017
Research article
 | 
28 Jun 2017
Research article |  | 28 Jun 2017

Transient modeling of the ground thermal conditions using satellite data in the Lena River delta, Siberia

Sebastian Westermann, Maria Peter, Moritz Langer, Georg Schwamborn, Lutz Schirrmeister, Bernd Etzelmüller, and Julia Boike

Data sets

MODIS/Aqua Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 500m Grid V005, D. K. Hall, G. A. Riggs, and V. V. Salomonson http://nsidc.org/data/docs/daac/modis_v5/myd10a1_modis_aqua_snow_daily_global_500m_grid.gd.html

MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 500m Grid V005 D. K. Hall, G. A. Riggs, and V. V. Salomonson http://nsidc.org/data/docs/daac/modis_v5/mod10a1_modis_terra_snow_daily_global_500m_grid.gd.html

Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity Daily L3 Global 1 km Grid SIN, Version 5, NASA LP DAAC https://lpdaac.usgs.gov

GlobSnow Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) product GlobSnow http://www.globsnow.info/swe/archive_v2.0/

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Short summary
We demonstrate a remote-sensing-based scheme estimating the evolution of ground temperature and active layer thickness by means of a ground thermal model. A comparison to in situ observations from the Lena River delta in Siberia indicates that the model is generally capable of reproducing the annual temperature regime and seasonal thawing of the ground. The approach could hence be a first step towards remote detection of ground thermal conditions in permafrost areas.