68th Canadian Geotechnical Conference and 7th Canadian Permafrost Conference

DETECTION AND INVENTORYING OF SLOPE MOVEMENTS IN THE BROOKS RANGE, ALASKA USING DINSAR: A TEST STUDY

Session: GIS and Remote Sensing in Cold Regions / SIG et télédétection en régions nordiques

Brianna Rick, University of Fribourg (Switzerland)
Reynald Delaloye, University of Fribourg (Switzerland)
Chloé Barboux, University of Fribourg (Switzerland)
Tazio Strozzi, Gamma Remote Sensing (Switzerland)

This study investigates the potential of inventorying slope movements in a continuous permafrost and mountainous Arctic environment, namely along the Dalton Highway corridor in the Brooks Range, Alaska, applying a satellite-based radar interferometric (DInSAR) approach developed for use in the Swiss Alps. The exploration of the DInSAR dataset was conducted in two stages: a) systematic analysis of two approximately 50 km2 sub-regions, and b) identification of specific features over the entire region. Using archived ERS and ALOS SAR data, as well as recent TerraSAR data, 77 high reliability movements were detected in the sub-regions. The main mass wasting categories identified were lobes (frozen debris lobes (FDL) or rock glaciers), landslides, solifluction slopes, and areas of heave/subsidence, with velocities ranging in magnitude order from cm/year to cm/day. Twenty FDLs have so far been identified using DInSAR, 75% of which were detected at a velocity rate of cm/day.