Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
197,761 studies31 sourcesUpdated 30 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0AGU Advances

Frequency‐Domain Airborne Electromagnetic Imaging of Permafrost Reveals Heterogeneity and Drivers of Permafrost Change in the Discontinuous Permafrost Zone of Northwestern Canada

  • Keytash Moshtaghian1
  • Alexandre Chiasson2,3
  • Alejandro Alvarez2
  • Marco Antonio Couto4,5
  • Lindsey J. Heagy4
  • Médéric Lorry2
  • Martyn Unsworth1
  • Joseph Young2,6
  • Steven V. Kokelj3
  • Ashley C. A. Rudy3
  • Sharon L. Smith7
  • Duane G. Froese2
7 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Physics University of Alberta Edmonton AB Canada
  2. 2Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences University of Alberta Edmonton AB Canada
  3. 3NWT Geological Survey Government of Northwest Territories Yellowknife NT Canada
  4. 4Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
  5. 5Department of Environmental and Applied Geology Institute of Geosciences University of São Paulo São Paulo Brazil
  6. 6Cold Regions Research Centre Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo ON Canada
  7. 7Geological Survey of Canada Natural Resources Canada Ottawa ON Canada
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Northern permafrost landscapes are undergoing rapid warming and thaw, yet the three‐dimensional subsurface structure that governs thaw vulnerability and landscape response remains poorly resolved by conventional ground temperature monitoring and satellite remote sensing. Frequency‐domain airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys can resolve permafrost structure rapidly at regional scales across complex terrain. Here, we present three representative survey lines from 1,340 line‐km of AEM data collected in the central Mackenzie Valley, Northwest Territories. Rather than relying on fixed resistivity thresholds, we develop a gradient‐based method to identify permafrost depth and transition‐zone thickness from vertical resistivity gradients, enabling consistent mapping across warm (>−2°C) discontinuous permafrost. Interpretations are evaluated using a co‐located electrical resistivity tomography profile and borehole temperature measurements in the context of regional surficial geology mapping. The AEM survey images resistivity to depths of ∼100 m along a linear infrastructure corridor and reveals permafrost thicknesses ranging from absent beneath sufficiently large, deep, or persistent waterbodies to ∼35 m in undisturbed uplands. Results demonstrate pronounced lateral heterogeneity controlled by geology, hydrology, slope position, vegetation cover, and disturbance history. Areas affected by wildfire in the past three decades exhibit persistently reduced shallow resistivity, broadened permafrost‐base transition zones, and locally thinner permafrost, whereas talik networks, including through‐going taliks that fully disrupt permafrost continuity, are resolved beneath sufficiently large, deep, or persistent waterbodies. These findings quantify the subsurface legacy of disturbance and highlight spatial variability and vulnerability within the discontinuous permafrost zone, with implications for infrastructure stability, groundwater connectivity, and future thaw trajectories.

Versions

Related

  1. Thermal-state transition pathways and spatial differentiation of permafrost in Northeast China
    Jiaman Sun, Wei Shan, Ying Guo +1
    Scientific ReportsPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textClimate scienceCrossref
  2. Abrupt stream acidification and metal mobilization from permafrost degradation
    Elliott K. Skierszkan, Andras Janos Szeitz, Matthew B.J. Lindsay +1
    SciencePeer-reviewedLicence not statedFull text9 citedClimate scienceOpenAlex
  3. Methane bursts during spring thaw in the permafrost region of Northeast China
    Haiwen Xia, Ying Guo, Wei Shan +2
    Scientific ReportsPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textClimate scienceCrossref
  4. The lagged and cumulative effects of permafrost and seasonally frozen soil on water use efficiency in the Qilian Mountains, Northwest China
    Lili Li, Yu Guo, Yao Zhang +6
    iSciencePeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Hydrology & soilsCell PressCrossref
  5. Abrupt permafrost thaw overwhelms vegetation-driven erosion reduction in sediment export on the Tibetan Plateau
    Jiapei Ma, Genxu Wang, Chunlin Song +8
    Communications Earth & EnvironmentPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textClimate scienceCrossref

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{moshtaghian2026frequencydomain,
  title = {{Frequency‐Domain Airborne Electromagnetic Imaging of Permafrost Reveals Heterogeneity and Drivers of Permafrost Change in the Discontinuous Permafrost Zone of Northwestern Canada}},
  author = {Keytash Moshtaghian and Alexandre Chiasson and Alejandro Alvarez and Marco Antonio Couto and Lindsey J. Heagy and Médéric Lorry and Martyn Unsworth and Joseph Young and Steven V. Kokelj and Ashley C. A. Rudy and Sharon L. Smith and Duane G. Froese},
  journal = {AGU Advances},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1029/2026av002398},
  url = {https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2026AV002398},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Frequency‐Domain Airborne Electromagnetic Imaging of Permafrost Reveals Heterogeneity and Drivers of Permafrost Change in the Discontinuous Permafrost Zone of Northwestern Canada
AU  - Keytash Moshtaghian
AU  - Alexandre Chiasson
AU  - Alejandro Alvarez
AU  - Marco Antonio Couto
AU  - Lindsey J. Heagy
AU  - Médéric Lorry
AU  - Martyn Unsworth
AU  - Joseph Young
AU  - Steven V. Kokelj
AU  - Ashley C. A. Rudy
AU  - Sharon L. Smith
AU  - Duane G. Froese
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/17
JO  - AGU Advances
DO  - 10.1029/2026av002398
UR  - https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2026AV002398
AB  - Northern permafrost landscapes are undergoing rapid warming and thaw, yet the three‐dimensional subsurface structure that governs thaw vulnerability and landscape response remains poorly resolved by conventional ground temperature monitoring and satellite remote sensing. Frequency‐domain airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys can resolve permafrost structure rapidly at regional scales across complex terrain. Here, we present three representative survey lines from 1,340 line‐km of AEM data collected in the central Mackenzie Valley, Northwest Territories. Rather than relying on fixed resistivity thresholds, we develop a gradient‐based method to identify permafrost depth and transition‐zone thickness from vertical resistivity gradients, enabling consistent mapping across warm (>−2°C) discontinuous permafrost. Interpretations are evaluated using a co‐located electrical resistivity tomography profile and borehole temperature measurements in the context of regional surficial geology mapping. The AEM survey images resistivity to depths of ∼100 m along a linear infrastructure corridor and reveals permafrost thicknesses ranging from absent beneath sufficiently large, deep, or persistent waterbodies to ∼35 m in undisturbed uplands. Results demonstrate pronounced lateral heterogeneity controlled by geology, hydrology, slope position, vegetation cover, and disturbance history. Areas affected by wildfire in the past three decades exhibit persistently reduced shallow resistivity, broadened permafrost‐base transition zones, and locally thinner permafrost, whereas talik networks, including through‐going taliks that fully disrupt permafrost continuity, are resolved beneath sufficiently large, deep, or persistent waterbodies. These findings quantify the subsurface legacy of disturbance and highlight spatial variability and vulnerability within the discontinuous permafrost zone, with implications for infrastructure stability, groundwater connectivity, and future thaw trajectories.
SN  - 2576-604X
SN  - 2576-604X
ER  -