ИСТИНА

New permafrost feature - a gas-emission crater in central part of Yamal Peninsula was in focus of this investigation. Characteristics of the relief within the area of crater formation were obtained based on the analysis of remote sensing data, including very high resolution stereo-pair data as well as field observations. Landsat 8 and SPOT 5 satellite images for various time spans were interpreted to determine the time of crater formation. Time interval of the crater formation was defined as late fall 2013. To determine the relief morphology of the study area before and after the crater formation, digital elevation models (DEM) were derived from two stereo-pairs of WorldView-1 satellite images with the crater. Images and DEM of 2013 documented the existence of the bulge with base diameter 45-58 m and a height of about 5-6 m in the place of the crater. An analysis of multi-temporal DEM allowed calculating the volume of the crater inside and the parapet formed around it. The volume of discharged material is almost 6 times the volume of material in the parapet. The difference is due to a significant amount of ice that according to the results of field observations is exposed in the walls of the crater. The rate of the crater diameter increase due to thawing of its ice walls was determined as well as the rate of its filling with water over the summer period.