PerSys - Mountain Permafrost MNP

The best visual expression of mountain permafrost is represented by rockglaciers. Rockglaciers are lavastream-like mixtures of permanently frozen debris that creep downslope under gravity. Through their thermal conditions and ice content rockglaciers are sensitive to climatic changes, showing changes in their deformation or motion rates. Changes in rockglacier motion thus indicate changes in mountain permafrost conditions in general. The Mountain Permafrost product of the ESA DUE GlobPermafrost project maps rockglacier deformation and changes in motion rates in the mountain permafrost regions using repeat optical data and SAR interferometry.