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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2025-3788</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Accelerated lowland thermokarst development revealed by UAS photogrammetric surveys in the Stordalen mire, Abisko, Sweden</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Thomas</surname>
<given-names>Maxime</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3661-8203</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Moenaert</surname>
<given-names>Thomas</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Radoux</surname>
<given-names>Julien</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Delhez</surname>
<given-names>Baptiste</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1421-9743</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>du Bois d'Aische</surname>
<given-names>Eléonore</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Villani</surname>
<given-names>Maëlle</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2434-9552</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Hirst</surname>
<given-names>Catherine</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Lundin</surname>
<given-names>Erik</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Jonard</surname>
<given-names>François</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8562-2073</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Lambot</surname>
<given-names>Sébastien</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Van Oost</surname>
<given-names>Kristof</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Vanacker</surname>
<given-names>Veerle</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8237-3446</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Siewert</surname>
<given-names>Matthias B.</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2890-8873</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Mörth</surname>
<given-names>Carl-Magnus</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Palace</surname>
<given-names>Michael W.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff7">
<sup>7</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Varner</surname>
<given-names>Ruth K.</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3571-6629</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff7">
<sup>7</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Sullivan</surname>
<given-names>Franklin B.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff8">
<sup>8</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Herrick</surname>
<given-names>Christina</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8384-9450</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff8">
<sup>8</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Opfergelt</surname>
<given-names>Sophie</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1773-4823</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Abisko Scientific Research Station, Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, Abisko, Sweden</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Earth Observation and Ecosystem Modelling Laboratory, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff5">
<label>5</label>
<addr-line>Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff6">
<label>6</label>
<addr-line>Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff7">
<label>7</label>
<addr-line>Department of Earth Sciences and Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham,  NH USA</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff8">
<label>8</label>
<addr-line>Earth Systems Research Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham,  NH USA</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>15</day>
<month>08</month>
<year>2025</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2025</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>40</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2025 Maxime Thomas et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2025</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-3788/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-3788/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-3788/egusphere-2025-3788.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-3788/egusphere-2025-3788.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>The estimation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from permafrost soils is challenging, as organic matter propensity to decompose depends on factors such as soil pH, temperature, and redox conditions. Over lowland permafrost soils, these conditions are directly related to the microtopography and evolve with physical degradation, i.e., lowland thermokarst development (i.e., a local collapse of the land surface due to ice-rich permafrost thaw). A dynamic quantification of thermokarst development &amp;ndash; still poorly constrained &amp;ndash; is therefore a critical prerequisite for predictive models of permafrost carbon balance in these areas. This requires high-resolution mapping, as lowland thermokarst development induces fine-scale spatial variability (~50 &amp;ndash; 100 cm). Here we provide such a quantification, updated for the Stordalen mire in Abisko, Sweden for the Stordalen mire, Abisko, Sweden (68&amp;deg;21&apos;20&quot;N 19&amp;deg;02&apos;38&quot;E), which displays a gradient from well-drained stable palsas to inundated fens, which have undergone ground subsidence. We produced RGB orthomosaics and digital elevation models from very high resolution (10 cm) unoccupied aircraft system (UAS) photogrammetry as well as a spatially continuous map of soil electrical conductivity (EC) based on electromagnetic induction (EMI) measurements. We classified the land cover following the degradation gradient and derived palsa loss rates. Our findings confirm that topography is an essential parameter for determining the evolution of palsa degradation, enhancing the overall accuracy of the classification from 41 % to 77 %, with the addition of slope allowing the detection of the early stages of degradation. We show a clear acceleration of degradation for the period 2019 &amp;ndash; 2021, with a decrease in palsa area of 0.9 &amp;ndash; 1.1 %&amp;middot;a&lt;sup&gt;‑1 &lt;/sup&gt;(% reduction per year relative to the entire mire) compared to previous estimates of ~0.2 %&amp;middot;a&lt;sup&gt;‑1&lt;/sup&gt; (1970 &amp;ndash; 2000) and ~0.04 %&amp;middot;a&lt;sup&gt;‑1&lt;/sup&gt; (2000 &amp;ndash; 2014). EMI data show that this degradation leads to an increase in soil moisture, which in turn likely decreases organic carbon geochemical stability and potentially increases methane emissions. With a palsa loss of 0.9 &amp;ndash; 1.1 %&amp;middot;a&lt;sup&gt;‑1&lt;/sup&gt;, we estimate accordingly that surface degradation at Stordalen might lead to a pool of 12 metric tons of organic carbon exposed annually for the topsoil (23 cm depth), of which ~25 % is mineral-interacting organic carbon. Likewise, average annual emissions would increase from ~ 7.1 g‑C&amp;middot;m&lt;sup&gt;‑2&lt;/sup&gt;&amp;middot;a&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; in 2019 to ~ 7.3 g‑C&amp;middot;m&lt;sup&gt;‑2&lt;/sup&gt;&amp;middot;a&lt;sup&gt;‑1&lt;/sup&gt; in 2021 for the entire mire, i.e., an increase of ~1.3 %&amp;middot;a&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;. As topography changes due to lowland thermokarst are fine-scaled and thus not possible to detect from satellite images, circumpolar up-scaling assessments are challenging. By extending the monitoring we have conducted as part of this study to other lowland areas, it would be possible to assess the spatial variability of palsa degradation/thermokarst formation rates and thus improve estimates of net ecosystem carbon dynamics.</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="40"/></counts>
<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>H2020 European Research Council</funding-source>
<award-id>714617</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs2">
<funding-source>Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS</funding-source>
<award-id>FC69480</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs3">
<funding-source>University of New Hampshire</funding-source>
<award-id>Northern Ecosystems Research for Undergraduates program (NERU; National Science Foundation REU site EAR-1063037)</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs4">
<funding-source>National Science Foundation</funding-source>
<award-id>MacroSystems Biology grant (NSF EF #1241037)</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs5">
<funding-source>National Aeronautics and Space Administration</funding-source>
<award-id>NASA Interdisciplinary Science grant (NASA #NNX17AK10G)</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs6">
<funding-source>U.S. Department of Energy</funding-source>
<award-id>DE-SC0016440</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs7">
<funding-source>Division of Biological Infrastructure</funding-source>
<award-id>DBI-2022070</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
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<back>
</back>
</article>