scholarly journals Combining UAV and Landsat data to assess glacier changes on the central Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Yuang Xue ◽  
Zhefan Jing ◽  
Shichang Kang ◽  
Xiaobo He ◽  
Chenyu Li
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Landsat Data ◽  
Mountain Glacier ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Central Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Glacier Changes ◽  
Elevation Changes

Abstract In recent years, researchers have focused on the applications of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) in environmental remote sensing tasks. However, studies on glacier monitoring using UAV technology are relatively scarce, especially for high mountain glacier monitoring. To explore the feasibility of UAV technology for high mountain glaciers, four UAV surveys were deployed on two glaciers of the central Tibetan Plateau. Based on the images retrieved by UAV in 2017 and 2019, orthomosaics and digital elevation models were produced to quantify the length, area and elevation changes in the ablation zone of these two glaciers at different times. Additionally, we utilized several Landsat scenes to derive glacier changes over the last 30 years and combined these with the UAV data to assess the advantages and disadvantages of UAV technology in mountain glacier monitoring.

scholarly journals Recent Accelerating Glacier Mass Loss of the Geladandong Mountain, Inner Tibetan Plateau, Estimated from ZiYuan-3 and TanDEM-X Measurements

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Liu ◽  
Liming Jiang ◽  
Zhimin Zhang ◽  
Hansheng Wang ◽  
Xiaoli Ding
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Mass Loss ◽  
Mass Change ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Climate Variations ◽  
Mass Balances ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Glacier Changes ◽  
Melt Water

The headwaters of many Asian rivers are at mountain glaciers of the Tibetan Plateau. Glacier melt-water is a non-negligible contributor of river runoff, especially for a drought year. However, the observation of mass glacier changes was scarce in recent years. Here, we estimated the recent glacier mass change of the Geladandong mountain, by differencing the digital elevation models (DEMs) produced from ZiYuan-3 images and TanDEM-X data. Moreover, we compared the SRTM-C DEM with TanDEM-X DEMs to retrieve glacier mass balances since 2000. The annual mass loss rates of −0.11 ± 0.03 and −0.47 ± 0.09 m w.e. yr−1 were derived in 2000–2012 and 2012−2018, respectively. This result revealed an accelerating rate of negative glacier mass changes during recent years, which is mainly caused by the significant increase of mass loss over non-surge glaciers, rather than surge-type glaciers, which held a slight increase of mass loss. In addition, we found a pronounced discrepancy of glacier mass change between non-surge and surge-type glaciers during 2012−2018, and suggested that this difference may be caused by the heterogeneous responses of surge-type glaciers to climate variations, because of the different timing and type of surge events.

scholarly journals Glacier elevation and mass changes over the central Karakoram region estimated from TanDEM-X and SRTM/X-SAR digital elevation models

2016 ◽  
Vol 57 (71) ◽  
pp. 273-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Rankl ◽  
Matthias Braun
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
Digital Elevation Models ◽  
Mass Balances ◽  
Freshwater Resources ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Glacier Changes ◽  
Kinematic Waves ◽  
Elevation Changes ◽  
River Communities

AbstractSnow cover and glaciers in the Karakoram region are important freshwater resources for many down-river communities as they provide water for irrigation and hydropower. A better understanding of current glacier changes is hence an important informational baseline. We present glacier elevation changes in the central Karakoram region using TanDEM-X and SRTM/X-SAR DEM differences between 2000 and 2012. We calculated elevation differences for glaciers with advancing and stable termini or surge-type glaciers separately using an inventory from a previous study. Glaciers with stable and advancing termini since the 1970s showed nearly balanced elevation changes of -0.09 ±0.12 m a-1 on average or mass budgets of -0.01 ±0.02Gt a-1 (using a density of 850 kg m-3). Our findings are in accordance with previous studies indicating stable or only slightly negative glacier mass balances during recent years in the Karakoram. The high-resolution elevation changes revealed distinct patterns of mass relocation at glacier surfaces during active surge cycles. The formation of kinematic waves at quiescent surge-type glaciers could be observed and points towards future active surge behaviour. Our study reveals the potential of the TanDEM-X mission to estimate geodetic glacier mass balances, but also points to still existing uncertainties induced by the geodetic method.

Acricotopus indet. morphotype incurvatus: Description and genetics of a new Orthocladiinae (Diptera: Chironomidae) larval morphotype from the Tibetan Plateau

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4656 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-544
Author(s):  
ANDREAS LAUG ◽  
LADISLAV HAMERLÍK ◽  
STEN ANSLAN ◽  
STEFAN ENGELS ◽  
FALKO TURNER ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Mitochondrial Coi ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
Central Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Peculiar Form ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Coi Sequences ◽  
Complex Formations

High mountain ranges such as the Tibetan Plateau with an average altitude above 4500 m are topographically complex formations. Elevational gradients, physiographic diversity and climatic heterogeneity have led to highly biodiverse ecosystems in these regions. Mountain ranges can be seen as cradles of evolution and harbour, due to their unique characteristics, a high number of highly adapted species. At the same time these areas are hard to access and therefore taxonomic information is limited. Here we describe a new Acricotopus (Diptera: Chironomidae: Orthocladiinae) larval morphotype occurring in lakes and ponds of differing salinity and water depths located on the Southern and Central Tibetan Plateau. The description is based on larvae and their genetics (ribosomal 18S, 28S and mitochondrial COI sequences) collected from a shallow pond in close proximity to the large saline lake Selin Co. Larvae of Acricotopus indet. morphotype incurvatus are characterized by a mentum with a cluster of lateral teeth, partially folded inwards, a mandible with a toothed lobe in addition to four inner teeth and a sclerotized plate positioned behind the mentum. Up to now, these morphological features have only been found in early instars of other Acricotopus species. The proposed morphotype name is inspired by the peculiar form of the mentum. 

scholarly journals Mountain glaciers of southeast Siberia: current state and changes since the Little Ice Age

2014 ◽  
Vol 55 (66) ◽  
pp. 167-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.Yu. Osipov ◽  
O.P. Osipova
Keyword(s):  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Glacier Inventory ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Current State ◽  
Field Investigations ◽  
Glacier Changes

AbstractContemporary glaciers of southeast Siberia are located on three high-mountain ridges (east Sayan, Baikalsky and Kodar). In this study, we present an updated glacier inventory based on high- to middle-resolution satellite imagery and field investigations. The inventory includes 51 glaciers with a total area of - 15 km2. Areas of individual glaciers vary from 0.06 to 1.33 km2, lengths from 130 to 2010 m and elevations from 1796 to 3490 m. The recent ice maximum extents (Little Ice Age) have been delineated from terminal moraines. On average, debris-free surface area shrunk by 59% between 1850 and 2006/11 (0.37% a–1), by 44% between 1850 and 2001/02 (0.29% a–1) and by 27% between 2001/02 and 2006/11 (3.39% a–1). The Kodar glaciers have experienced the largest area shrinkage, while the area loss on Baikalsky ridge was more moderate. Glacier changes are mainly related to regional summer temperature increase (by 1.7-2.6C from 1970 to 2010). There are some differences in glacier response due to different spatial patterns of snow accumulation, local topography (e.g. glacier elevation, slope) and geological activity. The studied glaciers (especially of Kodar ridge) are the most sensitive in Siberia to climate change since the late 20th century.

scholarly journals REMOTELY-SENSED GLACIER CHANGE ESTIMATION: A CASE STUDY AT LINDBLAD COVE, ANTARCTIC PENINSULA

2016 ◽  
Vol III-8 ◽  
pp. 71-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. D. Fieber ◽  
J. P. Mills ◽  
P. E. Miller ◽  
A. J. Fox
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Mass Gain ◽  
Glacier Change ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Glacier Changes ◽  
Stereo Imagery ◽  
Elevation Changes ◽  
Robust Least Squares

This study builds on existing literature of glacier change estimation in polar regions and is a continuation of efforts aimed at unlocking the information encapsulated in archival aerial photography of Antarctic Peninsula glaciers. Historical aerial imagery acquired in 1957 over three marine-terminating glaciers at Lindblad Cove on the West Coast of Trinity Peninsula is processed to extract digital elevation models (DEMs) which are subsequently compared to DEMs generated from present day (2014) WorldView-2 satellite stereo-imagery. The new WorldView-2 images offer unprecedented sub-metre resolution of the Antarctic Peninsula and are explored here to facilitate improved registration and higher accuracy analysis of glacier changes. Unlike many studies, which focus on glacier fronts or only restricted regions of glaciers, this paper presents a complete coverage of elevation changes across the glacier surfaces for two of the studied glaciers. The study utilises a robust least squares matching technique to ensure precise registration of the archival and modern DEMs, which is applied due to lack of existing ground control in this remote region. This case study reveals that, while many glaciers in polar regions are reported as experiencing significant mass loss, some glaciers are stable or even demonstrate mass gain. All three glaciers reported here demonstrated overall mean increases in surface elevation, indicative of positive mass balance ranging from 0.6 to 5.8 metre water equivalent between 1957 and 2014.

scholarly journals Examining geodetic glacier mass balance in the eastern Pamir transition zone

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (260) ◽  
pp. 927-937
Author(s):  
Mingyang Lv ◽  
Duncan J. Quincey ◽  
Huadong Guo ◽  
Owen King ◽  
Guang Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Statistical Difference ◽  
Mass Gain ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Negative Mass ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Elevation Changes ◽  
Individual Scale

AbstractGlaciers in the eastern Pamir have reportedly been gaining mass during recent decades, even though glaciers in most other regions in High Mountain Asia have been in recession. Questions still remain about whether the trend is strengthening or weakening, and how far the positive balances extend into the eastern Pamir. To address these gaps, we use three different digital elevation models to reconstruct glacier surface elevation changes over two periods (2000–09 and 2000–15/16). We characterize the eastern Pamir as a zone of transition from positive to negative mass balance with the boundary lying at the northern end of Kongur Tagh, and find that glaciers situated at higher elevations are those with the most positive balances. Most (67% of 55) glaciers displayed a net mass gain since the 21st century. This led to an increasing regional geodetic glacier mass balance from −0.06 ± 0.16 m w.e. a−1 in 2000–09 to 0.06 ± 0.04 m w.e. a−1 in 2000–15/16. Surge-type glaciers, which are prevalent in the eastern Pamir, showed fluctuations in mass balance on an individual scale during and after surges, but no statistical difference compared to non-surge-type glaciers when aggregated across the region.

Occurrence and characteristics of ice-debris landforms in Poiqu basin (central Himalaya)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Bolch ◽  
Philipp Rastner ◽  
Jan Bouke Pronk ◽  
Atanu Bhattacharya ◽  
Lin Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Elevation ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Central Himalaya ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Debris Transport ◽  
Elevation Changes ◽  
Movement Field ◽  
Rock Glaciers ◽  
Southern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Satellite Radar

<p>Rock glaciers and other ice-debris landforms (I-DLs) are an important part of the debris-transport system in high mountains and their internal ice could provide a relevant contribution to water supply especially in dry regions. Recent research has shown that I-DLs are abundant in High Mountain Asia, but knowledge about their occurrence and characteristics is still limited.</p><p>We are therefore investigating I-DLs in the Poiqu basin (~28°17´N, 85°58´E) – central Himalaya/southern Tibetan Plateau using remote sensing aided by field observations. We use very high-resolution stereo Pleiades data from the contemporary period and stereo Corona and Hexagon data from the 1970s to generate digital elevation models, applied satellite radar interferometry based on ALOS-1 PALSAR and Sentinel-1 SAR data and feature tracking using Sentinel-2 and the Pleiades data. Generated DEMs allowed us to create a hillshade to support identification, to derive their topographical parameters and to investigate surface elevation changes. I-DLs were identified and classified based on their characteristic shape, their surface structure and surface movement. Field observationssupported the identification of the landforms.</p><p>We found abundant occurrence of rock glaciers (with typical characteristics like lobate-shaped forms, ridges and furrows as well as steep fronts) but also significant movements of both former lateral moraines and debris-slopes in permafrost area. Preliminary results revealed the occurrence of more than 350 rock glaciers covering an area of about 21 km<sup>2</sup>. About 150 of them are active. The largest rock glacier has an area of 0.5 km<sup>2</sup> and three have an area of more than 0.3 km<sup>2</sup>. The rock glaciers are located between ~3715 m and ~5850 m with a mean altitude of ~5075 m a.s.l.. The mean slope of all rock glaciers is close to 17.5° (min. 6.8°, max. 37.6°). Most of the rock glaciers face towards the Northeast (19%) and West (18.5%). Surface elevation changes between the 1970s and 2018 show no significant changes but indicate slight elevation gain at the front of active rock glaciers caused by their downward movements.</p><p>Work will be continued to generate an inventory of all I-DLs in the study area including information about their activity and surface elevation changes.</p>

scholarly journals LO STATO ATTUALE DEI GHIACCIAI ITALIANI E LA LORO RECENTE EVOLUZIONE

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Smiraglia ◽  
Guglielmina Adele Diolaiuti
Keyword(s):  
High Mountain ◽  
Glacier Area ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Mountain Glacier ◽  
Glacier Inventory ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Proglacial Lakes ◽  
The World ◽  
Mountain Landscapes ◽  
Recent Project

Mountain glaciers represent an important hydrological and touristic resource, and their recent evolution provides a dramatic evidence of climate change for the general public. Glacier inventories, quantifying glacier characteristics and evolution, are an important tool to describe and manage high mountain glacier environments and Italy has developed a long tradition in this sector. Our country was the first to provide itself with a glacier inventory, compiled by Comitato Glaciologico Italiano and CNR, showing a glacier surface of 530 km2. A recent project, coordinated by Università Statale di Milano with the support of private bodies and the cooperation of Comitato EvK2CNR and Comitato Glaciologico Italiano, led to the development of the new Italian Glacier Inventory, a national atlas produced from the analysis of color orthophotos at high resolution acquired between 2005 and 2011. The New Italian Glacier Inventory lists 903 glaciers, covering an area of 370 km2. The largest part of glacier area is located in Val d’Aosta (36.15% of the total), followed by Lombardia and South Tyrol. 84% of glaciers (considering the number of glaciers) have an area lower than 0.5 km2 and jointly account for 21% of the total glacier surface. Glaciers larger than 1 Km2 make up 9.4% of the total number, but cover 67.8% of the total glacier area. The comparison between data from the New Italian Glacier Inventory and the CGI-CNR inventory (1959-1962) shows a 30% reduction in glacier area in Italy; considering instead the World Glacier Inventory or WGI, published at the end of the ‘80s, which reported 1381 glaciers and an area of 609 km2, glacier loss sums up to 478 glaciers and an area of 239 km2 (-39%). This shrinkage has led to rapid and significant changes to high mountain landscapes, notably glacier fragmentation, an increase in deglaciated areas, the formation of proglacial lakes and the development of pioneer vegetation.

scholarly journals Orientation dependent glacial changes at the Tibetan Plateau derived from 2003–2009 ICESat laser altimetry

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 2425-2463 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. H. Phan ◽  
R. C. Lindenbergh ◽  
M. Menenti
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Average Rate ◽  
Surface Characteristics ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Laser Altimetry ◽  
Glacier Changes ◽  
Elevation Changes ◽  
Water Mass Balance

Abstract. Monitoring glacier changes is essential for estimating the water mass balance of the Tibetan Plateau. Recent research indicated that glaciers at individual regions on the Tibetan Plateau and surroundings are shrinking and thinning during the last decades. Studies considering large regions often ignored however impact of locally varying weather conditions and terrain characteristics on glacial evolution, due to orographic precipitation and variation in solar radiation. Our hypothesis is therefore that adjacent glaciers of opposite orientation change in a different way. In this study, we exploit ICESat laser altimetry data in combination with the SRTM DEM and the GLIMS glacier mask to estimate glacial vertical change trends between 2003 and 2009 on the whole Tibetan Plateau. Considering acquisition conditions of ICESat measurements and terrain surface characteristics, annual glacial elevation trends were estimated for 15 different settings. In the final setting, we only include ICESat elevations acquired over terrain that has a slope of below 20° and a roughness at the footprint scale of below 15 m. Within this setting, 90 glacial areas could be distinguished. The results show that most of observed glacial areas on the Tibetan Plateau are thinning, except for notably glaciers in the Northwest. In general, glacial elevations on the whole Tibetan Plateau decreased at an average rate of −0.17 ± 0.47 m per year (m a−1) between 2003 and 2009, but note that the size, distribution, and representativeness of the observed glacial areas are not taken into account. Moreover, the results show that glacial elevation changes indeed strongly depend on the relative position in a mountain range.

scholarly journals REMOTELY-SENSED GLACIER CHANGE ESTIMATION: A CASE STUDY AT LINDBLAD COVE, ANTARCTIC PENINSULA

2016 ◽  
Vol III-8 ◽  
pp. 71-78
Author(s):  
K. D. Fieber ◽  
J. P. Mills ◽  
P. E. Miller ◽  
A. J. Fox
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Mass Gain ◽  
Glacier Change ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Glacier Changes ◽  
Stereo Imagery ◽  
Elevation Changes ◽  
Robust Least Squares

This study builds on existing literature of glacier change estimation in polar regions and is a continuation of efforts aimed at unlocking the information encapsulated in archival aerial photography of Antarctic Peninsula glaciers. Historical aerial imagery acquired in 1957 over three marine-terminating glaciers at Lindblad Cove on the West Coast of Trinity Peninsula is processed to extract digital elevation models (DEMs) which are subsequently compared to DEMs generated from present day (2014) WorldView-2 satellite stereo-imagery. The new WorldView-2 images offer unprecedented sub-metre resolution of the Antarctic Peninsula and are explored here to facilitate improved registration and higher accuracy analysis of glacier changes. Unlike many studies, which focus on glacier fronts or only restricted regions of glaciers, this paper presents a complete coverage of elevation changes across the glacier surfaces for two of the studied glaciers. The study utilises a robust least squares matching technique to ensure precise registration of the archival and modern DEMs, which is applied due to lack of existing ground control in this remote region. This case study reveals that, while many glaciers in polar regions are reported as experiencing significant mass loss, some glaciers are stable or even demonstrate mass gain. All three glaciers reported here demonstrated overall mean increases in surface elevation, indicative of positive mass balance ranging from 0.6 to 5.8 metre water equivalent between 1957 and 2014.

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