Impact of a freezing topsoil on determining the Arctic tundra surface deformation using InSAR

In this paper, we study the effect of the layered structure of the active topsoil of the Arctic tundra during freezing on the error of determining surface deformation. A simple Bragg scattering model was used for surface scattering modeling. The simulation was performed in the L-band for future radar missions SMAP and ALOS-2. The soil permittivity is calculated using the temperature-dependent generalized refractive mixing dielectric model for the organic rich soil sample collected in North Slope, Alaska (68°38´N, 149°35´W). This model predicts the complex dielectric constant of moist soil both thawed and frozen at temperatures from -30°C to +25°C and moistures from 0 to 0.94 g/g. It is shown that the error of determining soil surface deformation, induced by processes of freezing of the permafrost active layer, does not exceed 1.5 cm.