Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 1 Marek Ewertowski Andrzej Kijowski Marcin Słowik Wydział Nauk Geograficznych i Geologicznych Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 2 Introductions Permanently frozen ground (Permafrost) – 24% of the area of northern hemisphere (French 2007) Intensive transformations related to climate changes It is necessary to investigate of the direction and intensity of these transformations Investigation of both modern and Pleistocene permafrost

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 3 Main objective to propose a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features with the use of remote sensing, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), GPR soundings and sedimentological analysis

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 4 Methods for analysis of frost wedge features (1) Sedimentological analysis within outcrops e.g. Dylik 1966; Goździk 1970, 1973, 1986, 1995, Harry i Goździk 1988; French i Goździk 1988, Kasprzak 1993, 2003 (Kasprzak, 2003)

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 5 Methods for analysis of frost wedge features (2) Remote Sensing – analysis of aerial photographs e.g. Svenson 1976, 1988; Walters 1978, 1994; Bogdański i Kijowski 1985; Johnson 1990; Kozarski 1995b; Clayton et al. 2001; Ghysels i Heyse 2006

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 6 Methods for analysis of frost wedge features (3) Ground Penetrating Radar soundings e.g. Munroe et al. 2007; Woodward i Burke 2007; Doolittle i Nelson 2009 (Munroe et al. 2007)

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 7 Case Study - Wielkopolska Past permafrost within the Last Glacial Maximum extent (Kozarski 1993, 1995a, 1995b; Kasprzak 2003) A few hundred of aerial photographs Polygonal structures

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 8 Results of the RS analysis Different patterns of structures o Type A – regular polygons with 4 to 8 edges. From a few to a dozen meters in diameter o Typ B – irregular polygons with irregular edges. Ussually within slope terrain. o Typ C - other, non-polygonal structures.

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 9

10 III. GPR soundings Antenna 100 Mhz i 250 Mhz (25 m i 8 m maximum depth of sounding) Data processing - ReflexW5.0 RTK GPS - location of the cross-lines

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 11 Bytkowo site - antenna 250 MHz

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 12 Bytkowo site MHz antenna

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 13 Bytkowo – sedimentological analysis frost-wedge pseudomorphs with primary mineral infilling (sand wedge cast)

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 14 Kiekrz site –structures visible on aerial photographs (Kijowski et al. 2010) Typ C – other, non-polygonal structures

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 15 Kiekrz site – GPR soundings (Kijowski et al. 2010)

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 16 Remote Sensing – to easily distinguish linear or regular features within the soil cover. This analysis within the GIS framework can be used relatively easily for large and remote areas. 2D image GIS analysis – spatial distribution and topology analysis GPR soundings – vertical dimension of features. 3D image Sedimentological analysis – origin of selected features. Invasive method. Results only for small areas. Proposed workflow (1)

Remote sensing as a non- invasive method for study of the past permafrost features. Wielkopolska, Poland case study 17 Conclusions RS and GPR allow the non-invasive analysis of permafrost features, but they need to be verified through direct sedimentological analysis To study the distribution of permafrost features RS gives the best results. In lowland settings the best time for photographs is the season with minimal vegetation cover. Features founded in Bytkowo can be interpreted as relict sand wedges, whereas those in Kiekrz are of unclear origin.