NDVI as an indicator of cryogenic processes and technogenesis dynamics on the Сhukotka peninsula

The current climate change in the Arctic has a significant impact on permafrost situation of the region, which, in its turn, determines the growth conditions of aboveground vegetation cover. The work is devoted to identifying spatial patterns in environmental conditions of tundra vegetation growth, topography, surface deposits and permafrost conditions for a study area within the Chukotka Peninsula. The results of field survey, supplemented by the analysis of long-term trends of the NDVI vegetation index and correlated with long-term monitoring data on the active layer thickness and projective cover of vegetation, made it possible to reveal the current evolution of the vegetation cover as a result of climate change and anthropogenic impact. A spatial sequence of plant communities was lined up, reflecting the range of NDVI values within the study area. A weak (up to 0,3 for 20 years) but stable increase in NDVI values was revealed for the entire study area. Within plains the increase in vegetation growth intensity over the past 20 years is generally confined to the topographic depressions formed both under the influence of natural conditions and the anthropogenic impact. In the long-term the latter could become a driver of bioproductivity, since it increases the roughness of the surface. The results show that under climate warming in the Arctic the dynamics of permafrost conditions in the cryolithic zone is the leading factor determining the change in the growing conditions of tundra vegetation in the Chukotka Peninsula.

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