Change of snow cover and its implications on arctic permafrost by using gravimtetric satellite data

该项目的目的是检测变化的积雪特征对北极十年期间永久冻土退化的影响。焦点在于活动层。因此，应使用重力卫星数据。为了确定雪的成分，将使用来自水文模型和其他卫星的进一步数据。多年冻土的分布和活动层厚度的发展主要受气温和积雪特征的影响。多年冻土和积雪之间的相互作用是复杂的，因为积雪厚度和始终如一的积雪覆盖起着重要的作用。由于气候变化，多年冻土正在退化，活动层厚度在增加，活动层厚度的增加是造成冻土退化的主要原因。直接从遥感数据中很难确定活跃层，并以积雪作为指标。利用重力卫星资料，结合积雪覆盖范围和积雪密度资料，可以对积雪厚度的变化做出大尺度的假设。与关于有源层厚度的数据一起，可以评估这两个变量的相关性。

The aim of this project is to detect the influence of changing snow cover characteristics on permafrost degradation in the Arctic over a ten year period. The focus lies on the active layer. Therefore, gravimetric satellite data should be applied. To determine the snow component, further data from hydrological models and from other satellites will be used. Permafrost distribution and the development of the active layer thickness are primary forced by air temperatures and snow cover characteristics. Interactions between permafrost and snow cover are complex, because snow thickness and on- and offset of a consistent snow cover play an important role. Due to climate change, permafrost is degrading and the active layer thickness is increasing, the degradation is primary forced by the increasing active layer thickness. Directly from remote sensing data, the active layer is difficult to determine, and snow cover is used as an indicator. By using gravimetric satellite data together with data of the snow cover extent and snow density, large scale assumptions of the changing of snow thickness can be made. Together with data on the thickness of the active layer, dependencies of both variables can be assessed.