The Effect of Postfire Temperature Anomalies on Seasonal Soil Thawing in the Permafrost Zone of Central Siberia Evaluated Using Remote Data

Abstract

This article contains data on the dynamics of thermal fields in postfire areas obtained using remote satellite imagery. It is found that postfire areas of the permafrost zone have a background thermal field in the range of 10.780–11.280 μm, which is caused by changes in the parameters of the stand, the ground cover, and the litter. The average surface temperature of postfire areas in larch forests is characterized by increasing up to ΔT = 7.2 ± 1.3°С relative to the control values in summer, which is 20–40% higher than the temperature of the control undisturbed areas. Temperature anomalies last for more than 10 years under conditions of the natural restoration of the ground cover. It is found that the rate of recovery of temperature anomalies is 2.5 times lower than the dynamics of the NDVI vegetative index. It is numerically evaluated that temperature anomalies on the soil surface could lead to an increase in the thawing depth of the soil layer by up to 20% more than the average statistical rate.