Airborne electromagnetic imaging of permafrost for hydrologic and infrastructure studies

Permafrost is found throughout northern latitudes, and hasfar reaching implications for natural and man-made environments including hydrologic processes, landscape dynamics, ecosystems, and infrastructure. While maps of near-surface permafrost characteristics are available, relatively little is known about permafrost distributions at depth over large areas. Here, we summarize several frequency domain airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys acquired within interior Alaska from 2006 –2016 that were collected to improveunderstanding ofpermafrost and geological controls on hydrologic processes and infrastructure. Results of the AEM surveys are supported by both hydrogeophysical numerical models and ground-based geophysical observations.