Monitoring Boeckella lake, Antarctica Peninsula, from 1986 to 2023, using remote sensing

Abstract

The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) has experienced rapid warming in recent years, which has caused permafrost degradation. In the north of AP, in Hope Bay, Boeckella Lake has experienced rapid and sudden drainage events in recent decades driven by thermokarst processes. This research aims to quantify the intra- and interannual lake area variability of Boeckella Lake, AP, using Remote Sensing products from 1986-2023. Landsat, Quickbird, and Sentinel 2 images were used between 1986 and 2023, applying the NDWI to identify the water body. The lake evolution is divided into three time periods according to abrupt changes in area. The first period (1986-2003) marks the first loss of the lake volume on January 4, 2001. The second period (2003-2010) shows other successive losses in volume in 2005, 2007 and 2008. In 2010 the dam broke, and the dike was no longer rebuilt. In the last period (2010-2023) there is multi lacustrine system, with smaller and transient wetlands. Its minimum area in this period was 28578 m² in 2020, a loss of 30% of the area compared to 1988. The area of Boeckella Lake has changed over the years and the Landsat, QuickBird, and Sentinel 2 images combined with the NDWI technique have been able to demonstrate variation.