Permafrost Coastal Systems Network – PerCS-Net

The Permafrost Coastal Systems Network (PerCS-Net) will fill fundamental knowledge gaps associated with transforming permafrost coasts in the Arctic by linking over ten existing national and international networks. This international network of networks will develop protocols for quantifying and synthesizing information on the impacts occurring in coastal permafrost systems and promote synergy across networks to foster the next generation of researchers charged with identifying potential solutions to a rapidly changing Arctic System.

Eroding coastal permafrost bluffs, Drew Point, Alaska.

Permafrost coastal setting, Drew Point, Alaska

Coring permafrost in a thermo-erosional gully at Drew Point, Alaska. — Coring permafrost in a thermo-erosional gully.

Ice wedge polygonal terrain in a permafrost coastal delta.

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Map of Arctic coastal type, permafrost distribution and sea-ice extent.

New Pan-Arctic Synthesis Paper Published in Nature Reviews

More than 10 PerCS-Net members collaborated on a recent review paper that was published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment in January 2022 highlighting the drivers, dynamics and impacts of changing Arctic coasts. The article is one of a collection of papers on Permafrost in a warming world published in January that examine the physical, biogeochemical, and ecosystem changes related to permafrost thaw and the associated impacts.

Arctic Coastal Dynamics circum-Arctic GIS database

New European Space Agency Project Focused on Earth Observations for Permafrost-Dominated Arctic Coasts

Earth Observation for Permafrost dominated Arctic Coasts (EO4PAC) is a new effort funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) Polar Science Cluster to develop the next generation of the Arctic Coastal Dynamics database, a geospatial product on Arctic coastal erosion initially released in 2012. The focus of the two-year project is on complementation of in situ records with satellite data across the entire Arctic.

UAA Arctic Domain Awareness Center (ADAC)

Environmental Change Risk Index for Arctic Facilities and Infrastructure in Coastal Alaska

A grant from the US Coast Guard will fund development of an Arctic Facilities and Infrastructure Environmental Change Risk Index for permafrost coastal and riverine landscapes of the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in Alaska. The research will focus on conducting a coastal facilities and infrastructure engineering risk analysis along western and northern Alaska.

Call for Papers for New Special Issue!

Submission deadline: 30 November 2021 – Call for papers focused on “Multi-Scale Analysis for Detecting the Processes, Causes, and Impacts of Permafrost Change and of

Fig 2 - Permafrost Coastal Erosion - Arctic Report Card 2020

Permafrost Coasts Featured in NOAA’s 2020 Arctic Report Card

Observations on permafrost coasts were included in NOAA’s 2020 Arctic Report Card for the first time in the 15 year history of the annual publication.

Coastal and Offshore Permafrost Rapid Response Assessment screenshot

Coastal and Offshore Permafrost Rapid Response Assessment

We are excited to announce the release of a comprehensive education and outreach resource aimed at raising awareness about the importance of coastal and offshore

Recent Member Publications

Bartsch, A., Pointner, G., Nitze, I., Efimova, A., Jakober, D., Ley, S., Högström, E., Grosse, G. and Schweitzer, P., 2021. Expanding infrastructure and growing anthropogenic impacts along Arctic coasts. Environmental Research Letters, 16(11), p.115013.

Bertin, C., Matsuoka, A., Mangin, A., Babin, M. and Le Fouest, V., Merging satellite and in situ data to assess the flux of terrestrial dissolved organic carbon from the Mackenzie River to the coastal Beaufort Sea. Front. Earth Sci., p.66.

Irrgang, A.M., Bendixen, M., Farquharson, L.M., Baranskaya, A.V., Erikson, L.H., Gibbs, A.E., Ogorodov, S.A., Overduin, P.P., Lantuit, H., Grigoriev, M.N. and Jones, B.M., 2022. Drivers, dynamics and impacts of changing Arctic coasts. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 3(1), pp.39-54.

Islam, M.A., Lubbad, R., Amiri, S.A.G., Isaev, V., Shevchuk, Y., Uvarova, A.V., Afzal, M.S. and Kumar, A., 2021. Modelling the seasonal variations of soil temperatures in the Arctic coasts. Polar Science, 30, p.100732.

Jarosz, K., Zagórski, P., Moskalik, M., Lim, M., Rodzik, J. and Mędrek, K., 2022. A New Paraglacial Typology of High Arctic Coastal Systems: Application to Recherchefjorden, Svalbard. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 112(1), pp.184-205.

Leibman, M., Kizyakov, A., Zhdanova, Y., Sonyushkin, A. and Zimin, M., 2021. Coastal Retreat Due to Thermodenudation on the Yugorsky Peninsula, Russia during the Last Decade, Update since 2001–2010. Remote Sensing, 13(20), p.4042.

MacLeod, R.F. and Dallimore, S.R., 2021. Assessment of Storm Surge History as Recorded by Driftwood in the Mackenzie Delta and Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, Arctic Canada. Frontiers in Earth Science, 9, p.1171.

Malakhova, V.V. and Eliseev, A.V., 2022. Subsea permafrost and associated methane hydrates: how long will they survive in the future? Earth System Dynamics Discussions, pp.1-27.

Mann, P.J., Strauss, J., Palmtag, J., Dowdy, K., Ogneva, O., Fuchs, M., Bedington, M., Torres, R., Polimene, L., Overduin, P. and Mollenhauer, G., 2022. Degrading permafrost river catchments and their impact on Arctic Ocean nearshore processes. Ambio, 51(2), pp.439-455.

Wang, J., Li, D., Cao, W., Lou, X., Shi, A. and Zhang, H., 2022. Remote Sensing Analysis of Erosion in Arctic Coastal Areas of Alaska and Eastern Siberia. Remote Sensing, 14(3), p.589.

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The Permafrost Coastal Systems Network was featured in a recent issue of Research Outreach.

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