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Data from: Detecting altimetric changes in Arctic landscapes using historical aerial imagery-derived digital elevation models (hDEMs): Case study of the Black Mountain Alluvial Fan Complex, Canada

Menio, Emma1; Theiss, Hank1; Cothren, Jackson1

Published Jan 31, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mw6m90691

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Jan 31, 2026 version files 257.43 MB

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Abstract

In the rapidly changing Arctic, reconstructing landscapes over the last 50 years is essential to understanding impacts due to climate-induced geomorphic change. While region-wide warming became measurable in the 1980s, spatially extensive high-latitude elevation datasets extend temporally back to the 2000s. Historical aerial imagery archives provide datasets of high-resolution imagery from the mid- to late- 1900s with stereo-capability that can be harnessed to create historical digital elevation models, or hDEMs. Reconstructing a surface from the past is challenging due to a lack of ground control from that era to constrain it in space, especially at high latitudes. The main purpose of this study was to determine if an hDEM could be used to detect altimetric change in an area of poor ground control. We developed an hDEM from historical aerial imagery over the Black Mountain alluvial fan complex in NT, Canada, and used satellite imagery-derived ground control points to constrain the model in space. The resulting hDEM, when compared with the ArcticDEM, yields a vertical RMSE of 5.19 m. We were able to isolate approximately 30 m to 40 m of altimetric change from a landslide (c. 2013 - 2016) in the Black Mountain Fan catchment, supporting the supervised use of hDEMs for change detection studies.