Seasonal Thawing Local Changes Indicators for UAV-Based Cryolithozone Mapping

Abstract

Remote sensing methods make it possible to evaluate the reaction of the cryolithozone and tundra landscapes in hard-to-reach Arctic areas based on the indicators of modern climate changes. In 2016–2019, numerous organic frost boils were discovered on the peatland surfaces of drained lakes in the southern tundra of the Pur-Taz interfluve in the northern part of West Siberia and studied. It is established that the formation of frost boils caused by organic mass injections occurs in the summertime and that they indicate local deepening of seasonal thawing. Frost boils emerging at peatlands in summertime was identified after analysis of UAV survey in 2019. Local deepening of seasonal thaw layer on polygonal peatlands is evidence of permafrost reaction to global warming.