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TEMPLINK

Modelling ground surface TEMPerature LINKed to remote sensing land surface temperature in mountain environments

Ground surface temperature (GST), measured at 5 cm into the ground, is a key parameter controlling all the subsurface biophysical processes at the complex land-atmosphere interaction. GST is important for multiple geosciences and agricultural applications, being essential for understanding the climate change impacts on various environments. Due to the high heterogeneity of land surfaces, it remains a challenge to monitor the GST small-scale variability over large areas. MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST) product provides the global daily temperature at the top of the surface cover at 1-km spatial resolution. However, the remote sensing LST cannot directly express the GST. This gap will address by exploiting the relationship between GST and LST, and developing a data-based model to derive the GST from MODIS LST. An innovative multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach will be used by combining (i) remote sensing, (ii) thermo-hydrological dynamics, and (iii) cutting-edge numerical modelling (GEOtop model and machine learning algorithms). The model will simplify and improve the spatiotemporal observations of the soil subsurface temperature with a significant socio-economic benefit for a broad set of end users (e.g. policy makers, farmers, scientists). The model will be developed at a local scale (Mazia Valley, Italian Alps) and applied at a regional scale (Qinghai-Tibet Plateau - QTP) to test its worldwide applicability. The host provides the research infrastructure (computational power), the necessary data (in-situ GST and MODIS LST), and expertise in numerical modelling for developing and validating the model.

Collected observation will contribute to the International Long Term Ecological Research (ILTER) and soil and near-surface temperature (SoilTemp) monitoring networks.

Project duration: September 2021 - September 2023
Project status:
Funding:
Provincial P.-L.P. 14. Seal of Excellence (Province BZ funding / Project)
Institutes: Institute for Alpine Environment, Institute for Earth Observation

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climate change & transformation

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Scientific Publications

Journal article2024

An observational network of ground surface temperature under different land-cover types on the northeastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Şerban RD, Jin H, Şerban M, Bertoldi G, Luo D, Wang Q, Ma Q, He R,

Giacomo Bertoldi

Ground surface temperature (GST), measured at approximately 5 cm in depth, is a key controlling parameter for subsurface biophysical processes at the land–atmosphere boundary. This work presents a valuable dataset of GST observations at various spatial scales in the Headwater Area of the Yellow River (HAYR), a representative area of high-plateau permafrost on the northeastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP). GST was measured every 3 h using 72 iButton temperature loggers (DS1922L) at 39 sites from 2019 to 2020. At each site, GST was recorded in two plots at distances from 2 to 16 m under similar and different land-cover conditions (steppe, meadow, swamp meadow, and bare ground). These sensors proved their reliability in harsh environments because there were only 165 biased measurements from a total of 210 816. A high significant correlation (>0.96, p<0.001) was observed between plots, with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.2 to 1.2 °C. The daily intra-plot differences in GST were mainly <2 °C for sites with similar land cover in both plots and >2 °C when GST of bare ground was compared to that of sites with vegetation. From autumn to spring, the differences in GST could increase to 4–5 °C for up to 15 d. The values of the frost number (FN) were quite similar between the plots with differences in FN <0.05 for most of the sites. This dataset complements the sparse observations of GST on the QTP and helps to identify the permafrost distribution and degradation at high resolution as well as to validate and calibrate the permafrost distribution models. The datasets are openly available in the National Tibetan Plateau/Third Pole Environment Data Center (https://doi.org/10.11888/Cryos.tpdc.272945, Şerban and Jin, 2022).

DOI Source

DOI: 10.5194/essd-16-1425-2024

Journal article2023

Changes in carbon stock in the Xing’an permafrost regions in Northeast China from the late 1980s to 2020

Wang H, Jin H, Li X, Zhou L, Qi Y, Huang C, He R, Zhang J,

The degradation of Xing’an permafrost affects the stability of carbon pool and carbon emissions of the hemiboreal ecosystem in Northeast China. Due to the lack of long-term monitoring and detailed research, changes in carbon stock in terrestrial ecosystems in the Xing’an permafrost regions in Northeast China remain little known. In this study, we conducted more accurate simulations for the aboveground biomass (AGB), belowground biomass (BGB), dead organic carbon (DOC), and soil organic carbon (SOC) in the top 0–30 cm in permafrost regions in Northeast China using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model. The model was applied using multi-period land use/land cover (LULC) and carbon density data from the late 1980s, 2000, 2010, and 2020. In Northeast China, the permafrost extent shrank rapidly by 108,600 km² from 365,300 km² in the 1980s to 256,700 km² in the 2010s. The total carbon stock in permafrost regions in Northeast China was estimated at 4293.04 Tg C in the 1980s and at 4049.56 Tg C in the 2010s. Based on the permafrost extent of the 1980s, it was estimated that from the late 1980s to 2020, the LULC transformation resulted in the reduction of carbon stock by 33.53 Tg C, while the carbon fixation of vegetation growth increased by 1205.18 Tg C, i.e. a net carbon accumulation of 1149.15 Tg C. However, this estimate of the increasing carbon pool still awaits more systematic studies on the carbon budgets at larger soil depths of the top 2–3 m soils. This estimate can provide a timely preliminary estimate of the carbon pool as the baseline in the permafrost region of Northeast China for national and regional initiatives of carbon neutralization.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.1080/15481603.2023.2217578

Journal article2023

Changes in hydrological processes in the headwater area of Yellow River, China during 1956–2019 under the influences of climate change, permafrost thaw and dam

Ma Q, Jin H, Wu Q, Yurova A, Liang S, Serban RD, Lan Y

Discharge characteristics are crucial for detecting changes in hydrological processes. Recently, the river hydrology) in the Headwater Area of the Yellow River (HAYR) has exhibited erratic regimes (e.g., monotonously declining/low/high hydrograph, even with normal precipitation) under the effects of climate change, permafrost thaw and changes in dam operation. This study integrates hydroclimatic variables (air temperature, precipitation, and potential evapotranspiration) with anthropogenic dam operation and permafrost degradation impact data to systematically examine the mechanisms of these hydrological process changes during 1956–2019. The results show the following: 1) compared with the pre-dammed gauged flow, dam construction (January 1998–January 2000) and removal of dam (September 2018–August 2019) induced monotonously low (−17.2 m³ s⁻¹; −61%) and high (+54.6 m³ s⁻¹; +138%) hydrographs, respectively; 2) hydroclimatic variables mainly controlled the summer–autumn hydrological processes in the HAYR; 3) the monotonous decline of the hydrograph of Yellow River in the HAYR in some hydrological years (e.g., 1977, 1979, 1990 and 1995) was closely related with unusually high atmospheric demands of evaporation and low-intense rainfall during summer–autumn seasons; and 4) the lengthening of subsurface hydrological pathways and residence time, permafrost degradation reduced the recession coefficient (−0.002 per year) of winter flow and altered the hydrological regimes of seasonal rivers, which resulted in flattened hydrographs that reduced and delayed the peak flow (of 0.05 mm per year and 1.65 d per year, respectively) as well as boosted the winter baseflow (0.01 mm per year). This study can provide updated and systematic understanding of changing hydrological processes in typical alpine catchments on northeastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China under a warming climate.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.1016/j.accre.2023.03.006

Journal article2023

Evaluation of ground surface deformation in discontinuous permafrost regions along the China-Russia Crude Oil Pipelines in Northeast China using InSAR and ground surveys

Wang W, Jin X, Jin H, Li X, Wang X, He R, Li Y, Li X,

Adequately and timely measuring and evaluating the ground surface deformation (GSD) are keys to the prudent mitigation of frost hazards of foundation soils and thus to the safe and cost-effective operation of oil pipelines in permafrost regions. Thus, it is crucial to accurately evaluate the GSD along the route of China-Russia Crude Oil Pipelines (CRCOPs) for a better understanding of frequent and substantial (differential) frost heave and thaw settlement of pipeline foundation soils in permafrost regions. In this study, GSDs along the CRCOPs from Xiufeng town to Jinsong town, northern Heilongjiang Province were monitored in discontinuous permafrost regions in the northern Da Xing'anling Mountains, Northeast China. The Sentinel-1B images from 2017 to 2021 and the Small Baseline Subset Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SBAS-InSAR) technology were used in combination with the Geographical Detector (GeoDetector) for identifying the drivers for GSDs and with ground survey data for validation analysis of GSD at chosen sites (e.g., MDX304 and others). InSAR results show that most of the annual GSD rates along the CRCOPs range from −10 to 0 mm/a, with larger deformation rates in Ta’he, Cuigang, and Jinsong. GeoDetector analysis shows that latitude and soil types are the most important contributors to GSDs along the CRCOPs, and; GSDs are closely related to elevation, ground temperature at the depth of 1 m (GT_1m), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), annual precipitation (AP), and slope aspects. Analyses of ground and oil-flow temperatures and survey results of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) show that permafrost along CRCOPs has been degrading and thawing, resulting in thaw settlement, consolidation, and deformation of pipeline foundation soils and underlying/lateral permafrost layers and subsequently, the ground surface subsidence. This study provides key deformation data for the assessment and mitigation of frost hazards along the CRCOPs.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.1016/j.enggeo.2023.107227

All Publications

An observational network of ground surface temperature under different land-cover types on the northeastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau
Şerban RD, Jin H, Şerban M, Bertoldi G, Luo D, Wang Q, Ma Q, He R, Jin X, Li X, Tang J, Wang H (2024)
Journal article
Earth System Science Data

More information: https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/16/1425/2024/essd-1 ...

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1425-2024

Monitoring ground surface deformation of ice-wedge polygon areas in Saskylakh, NW Yakutia, using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and Google Earth Engine (GEE)
Wang W, Jin H, Zhang Z, Zhelezniak M, Spektor V, Șerban RD, Li A, Tumskoy V, Jin X, Yang S, Zhang S, Li X, Șerban M, Wu Q, Wen Y (2023)
Journal article
Remote Sensing

More information: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/5/1335

https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15051335

Impacts of National Highway G214 on Vegetation in the Source Area of Yellow and Yangtze Rivers on the Southern Qinghai Plateau, West China
Jin X, Tang J, Luo, Wang Q, He R, Serban RD, Li Y, Serban M, Li X, Wang H, Li X, Wang W, Wu Q, Jin H (2023)
Journal article
Remote Sensing

More information: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/6/1547

https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15061547

Our partners

State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soils Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and ...

School of Civil Engineering and Permafrost Institute, Northeast Forestry University

Project Team

Giacomo Bertoldi

Julia Seeber

Claudia Notarnicola

Mariapina Castelli

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Journal article2023

Evaluation of ground surface deformation in discontinuous permafrost regions along the China-Russia Crude Oil Pipelines in Northeast China using InSAR and ground surveys

Wang W, Jin X, Jin H, Li X, Wang X, He R, Li Y, Li X,

DOI Source

DOI: 10.1016/j.enggeo.2023.107227

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