An Automated Feature Tracking Based Algorithm for Estimation of Ice Flow and Glacier Surface Velocity Using Resourcesat-2A Data for Himalayan Terrain

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yatharath Bhateja ◽  
Indranil Misra ◽  
Debajyoti Dhar ◽  
Tushar Shukla ◽  
Sampa Roy
Keyword(s):  
Feature Tracking ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Ice Flow

scholarly journals ERS SAR feature-tracking measurement of outlet glacier velocities on a regional scale in East Greenland

2003 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 129-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Luckman ◽  
Tavi Murray ◽  
Hester Jiskoot ◽  
Hamish Pritchard ◽  
Tazio Strozzi
Keyword(s):  
Feature Tracking ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Outlet Glacier ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
Ice Surface ◽  
Fast Ice ◽  
Regional Basis ◽  
Ice Velocity

AbstractFeature tracking, or patch intensity cross-correlation, is used to derive two-dimensional ice-surface velocity fields from 1day and 35 day repeat-pass European Remote-sensing Satellite (ERS) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data covering a 500 km by 500 km area of central East Greenland. Over regions of fast ice flow, 35 day tracking yields only a slightly lower density of velocity measurements than 1day tracking, and both are broadly in agreement about the spatial pattern of ice velocity except at the glacier termini where tidal effects may dominate. This study suggests that SAR feature tracking may be used to routinely monitor ice-discharge velocities on a regional basis and thereby inform studies of regional mass balance.

scholarly journals Modelling mass balance using photogrammetric and geophysical data: a pilot study at Griesgletscher, Swiss Alps

1999 ◽  
Vol 45 (151) ◽  
pp. 575-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Kääb ◽  
Martin Funk
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Surface Strain ◽  
Swiss Alps ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Applied Model ◽  
Ice Velocity

AbstractThe kinematic boundary condition al the glacier surface can be used to give glacier mass balance at a point as a function of changes in the surface elevation, and of the horizontal and vertical velocities. Vertical velocity can in turn be estimated from basal slope, basal ice velocity and surface strain. In a pilot study on the tongue of Griesgletscher, Swiss Alps, the applicability of the relation for modelling area-wide ice flow and mass-balance distribution is tested. The key input of the calculations, i.e. the area-wide surface velocity field, is obtained using a newly developed photogrammetric technique. Ice thickness is derived from radar-echo soundings. Error estimates and comparisons with stake measurements show an average accuracy of approximately ±0.3 ma-1for the calculated vertical ice velocity at the surface and ±0.7 ma-1for the calculated mass balance. Due to photogrammetric restrictions and model-inherent sensitivities the applied model appeared to be most suitable for determining area-wide mass balance and ice flow on flat-lying ablation areas, but is so far not very well suited for steep ablation areas and most parts of accumulation areas. Nevertheless, the study on Griesgletscher opens a new and promising perspective for the monitoring of spatial and temporal glacier mass-balance variations.

scholarly journals Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Supra-Glacial Ponds and Ice Cliffs on Verde Glacier, Chile

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Loriaux ◽  
Lucas Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Feature Tracking ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Southern Chile ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Common Features ◽  
Covered Area ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
High Resolution Satellite Imagery

Known for their important role in locally enhancing surface melt, supraglacial ponds and ice cliffs are common features on debris-covered glaciers. We use high resolution satellite imagery to describe pond-cliff systems and surface velocity on Verde debris-covered glacier, Monte Tronador, and Southern Chile. Ponds and ice cliffs represent up to 0.4 and 2.7% of the glacier debris-covered area, respectively. Through the analyzed period and the available data, we found a seasonality in the number of detected ponds, with larger number of ponds at the beginning of the ablation season and less at the end of it. Using feature tracking, we determined glacier surface velocity, finding values up to 55 m/yr on the upper part of the debris-covered area, and decreasing almost to stagnation in the terminus. We found that larger ponds develop in glacier zones of low velocity, while zones of high velocity only contain smaller features. Meanwhile, ice cliffs appeared to be less controlled by surface velocity and gradient. Persistent ice cliffs were detected between 2009 and 2019 and backwasting up to 24 m/yr was measured, highlighting significant local glacier wastage.

scholarly journals Modelling mass balance using photogrammetric and geophysical data: a pilot study at Griesgletscher, Swiss Alps

1999 ◽  
Vol 45 (151) ◽  
pp. 575-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Kääb ◽  
Martin Funk
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Surface Strain ◽  
Swiss Alps ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Applied Model ◽  
Ice Velocity

AbstractThe kinematic boundary condition al the glacier surface can be used to give glacier mass balance at a point as a function of changes in the surface elevation, and of the horizontal and vertical velocities. Vertical velocity can in turn be estimated from basal slope, basal ice velocity and surface strain. In a pilot study on the tongue of Griesgletscher, Swiss Alps, the applicability of the relation for modelling area-wide ice flow and mass-balance distribution is tested. The key input of the calculations, i.e. the area-wide surface velocity field, is obtained using a newly developed photogrammetric technique. Ice thickness is derived from radar-echo soundings. Error estimates and comparisons with stake measurements show an average accuracy of approximately ±0.3 ma-1 for the calculated vertical ice velocity at the surface and ±0.7 ma-1 for the calculated mass balance. Due to photogrammetric restrictions and model-inherent sensitivities the applied model appeared to be most suitable for determining area-wide mass balance and ice flow on flat-lying ablation areas, but is so far not very well suited for steep ablation areas and most parts of accumulation areas. Nevertheless, the study on Griesgletscher opens a new and promising perspective for the monitoring of spatial and temporal glacier mass-balance variations.

Proglacial Lakes Elevate Glacier Surface Velocities in the Himalayan Region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Bouke Pronk ◽  
Tobias Bolch ◽  
Owen King ◽  
Bert Wouters ◽  
Douglas Benn
Keyword(s):  
Flow Line ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Mass Losses ◽  
Himalayan Glaciers ◽  
Large Heterogeneity ◽  
Glacier Flow ◽  
The Ganges ◽  
Sentinel 2

<p>Meltwater from Himalayan glaciers sustains the flow of rivers such as the Ganges and Brahmaputra on which over half a billion people depend for day-to-day needs. Upstream areas are likely to be affected substantially by climate change, and changes in the magnitude and timing of meltwater supply are likely to occur in coming decades. About 10 % of the Himalayan glacier population terminates into pro-glacial lakes and such lake-terminating glaciers are known to be capable of accelerating total mass losses. However, relatively little is known about the mechanisms driving exacerbated ice loss from lake-terminating glaciers in the Himalaya. Here we examine a 2017-2019 glacier surface velocity dataset, derived from Sentinel 2 imagery, covering most of the Central and Eastern Himalayan glaciers larger than 3 km<sup>2</sup>. We find that centre flow line velocities of lake-terminating glaciers are more than double those of land-terminating glaciers (18.8 vs 8.24 m yr<sup>-1</sup>) and show substantially more heterogeneity around glacier termini. We attribute this large heterogeneity to the varying influence of lakes on glacier dynamics, resulting in differential rates of dynamic thinning, which effects about half of the clean-ice lake-terminating glacier population. Also, numerical ice-flow model experiments suggest that changes at the frontal boundary condition can play a key role in accelerating the glacier flow at the front. With continued warming new lake development is likely to happen and will further accelerate future ice mass losses, a scenario not currently considered in regional projections. </p>

scholarly journals Proglacial Lakes Elevate Glacier Surface Velocities in the Himalayan Region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Bouke Pronk ◽  
Tobias Bolch ◽  
Owen King ◽  
Bert Wouters ◽  
Douglas I. Benn
Keyword(s):  
Flow Line ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Himalayan Glaciers ◽  
Large Heterogeneity ◽  
Glacier Flow ◽  
The Ganges ◽  
Sentinel 2

Abstract. Meltwater from Himalayan glaciers sustains the flow of rivers such as the Ganges and Brahmaputra on which over half a billion people depend for day-to-day needs. Upstream areas are likely to be affected substantially by climate change, and changes in the magnitude and timing of meltwater supply are likely to occur in coming decades. About 10 % of the Himalayan glacier population terminates into pro-glacial lakes and such lake-terminating glaciers are known to exhibit higher than average total mass losses. However, relatively little is known about the mechanisms driving exacerbated ice loss from lake-terminating glaciers in the Himalaya. Here we examine a composite (2017–2019) glacier surface velocity dataset, derived from Sentinel 2 imagery, covering Central and Eastern Himalayan glaciers larger than 3 km2. We find that centre flow line velocities of lake-terminating glaciers are more than double those of land-terminating glaciers (18.8 vs 8.24 m yr−1) and show substantially more heterogeneity around glacier termini. We attribute this large heterogeneity to the varying influence of lakes on glacier dynamics, resulting in differential rates of dynamic thinning, which effects about half of the clean-ice lake-terminating glacier population. Numerical ice-flow model experiments show that changes at the frontal boundary condition are likely to play a key role in accelerating the glacier flow at the front, with variations in basal friction only being of modest importance. The expansion of current glacial lakes, and the formation of new meltwater bodies will influence the dynamics of an increasing number of Himalayan glaciers in the future; a scenario not currently considered in regional ice loss projections.

scholarly journals The Causes of Debris-Covered Glacier Thinning: Evidence for the Importance of Ice Dynamics From Kennicott Glacier, Alaska

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leif S. Anderson ◽  
William H. Armstrong ◽  
Robert S. Anderson ◽  
Dirk Scherler ◽  
Eric Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Thickness Change ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Compressive Flow ◽  
Wide Range

The cause of debris-covered glacier thinning remains controversial. One hypothesis asserts that melt hotspots (ice cliffs, ponds, or thin debris) increase thinning, while the other posits that declining ice flow leads to dynamic thinning under thick debris. Alaska’s Kennicott Glacier is ideal for testing these hypotheses, as ice cliffs within the debris-covered tongue are abundant and surface velocities decline rapidly downglacier. To explore the cause of patterns in melt hotspots, ice flow, and thinning, we consider their evolution over several decades. We compile a wide range of ice dynamical and mass balance datasets which we cross-correlate and analyze in a step-by-step fashion. We show that an undulating bed that deepens upglacier controls ice flow in the lower 8.5 km of Kennicott Glacier. The imposed velocity pattern strongly affects debris thickness, which in turn leads to annual melt rates that decline towards the terminus. Ice cliff abundance correlates highly with the rate of surface compression, while pond occurrence is strongly negatively correlated with driving stress. A new positive feedback is identified between ice cliffs, streams and surface topography that leads to chaotic topography. As the glacier thinned between 1991 and 2015, surface melt in the study area decreased, despite generally rising air temperatures. Four additional feedbacks relating glacier thinning to melt changes are evident: the debris feedback (negative), the ice cliff feedback (negative), the pond feedback (positive), and the relief feedback (positive). The debris and ice cliff feedbacks, which are tied to the change in surface velocity in time, likely reduced melt rates in time. We show this using a new method to invert for debris thickness change and englacial debris content (∼0.017% by volume) while also revealing that declining speeds and compressive flow led to debris thickening. The expansion of debris on the glacier surface follows changes in flow direction. Ultimately, glacier thinning upvalley from the continuously debris-covered portion of Kennicott Glacier, caused by mass balance changes, led to the reduction of flow into the study area. This caused ice emergence rates to decline rapidly leading to the occurrence of maximum, glacier-wide thinning under thick, insulating debris.

scholarly journals Spatiotemporal variability of surface velocities of monsoon temperate glaciers in the Kangri Karpo Mountains, southeastern Tibetan Plateau

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Kunpeng Wu ◽  
Shiyin Liu ◽  
Junli Xu ◽  
Yu Zhu ◽  
Qiao Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Feature Tracking ◽  
Phase Correlation ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Spatiotemporal Variability ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Landsat Images ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Southeastern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The Past

Abstract Influenced by the Indian monsoon, the Kangri Karpo Mountains (KKM) of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau is the most humid part of the plateau, and one of the most important regions with numerous monsoon temperate glaciers. Glacier mass balance estimates have been strongly negative in the KKM over recent decades, but the spatiotemporal characteristics of surface velocity are poorly understood. Using phase-correlation feature tracking on Landsat images, this study estimates spatiotemporal variabilities of monsoon temperate glaciers for the period of 1988–2019. Results show that a significant slowdown was observed below an elevation of 4900 m, while an accelerated ice flow was found at an elevation of 4900–5800 m over the past 30 years. The trend of slowdown was −0.1 m a−1 dec−1 during 1988–2000, and then it increased to −0.5 m a−1 dec−1 during 2001–2019.

scholarly journals Contrasting surface velocities between lake- and land-terminating glaciers in the Himalayan region

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 5577-5599
Author(s):  
Jan Bouke Pronk ◽  
Tobias Bolch ◽  
Owen King ◽  
Bert Wouters ◽  
Douglas I. Benn
Keyword(s):  
Flow Line ◽  
Force Balance ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Himalayan Glaciers ◽  
Large Heterogeneity ◽  
Glacier Flow ◽  
The Ganges ◽  
Sentinel 2

Abstract. Meltwater from Himalayan glaciers sustains the flow of rivers such as the Ganges and Brahmaputra on which over half a billion people depend for day-to-day needs. Upstream areas are likely to be affected substantially by climate change, and changes in the magnitude and timing of meltwater supply are expected to occur in coming decades. About 10 % of the Himalayan glacier population terminates into proglacial lakes, and such lake-terminating glaciers are known to exhibit higher-than-average total mass losses. However, relatively little is known about the mechanisms driving exacerbated ice loss from lake-terminating glaciers in the Himalaya. Here we examine a composite (2017–2019) glacier surface velocity dataset, derived from Sentinel 2 imagery, covering central and eastern Himalayan glaciers larger than 3 km2. We find that centre flow line velocities of lake-terminating glaciers (N = 70; umedian: 18.83 m yr−1; IQR – interquartile range – uncertainty estimate: 18.55–19.06 m yr−1) are on average more than double those of land-terminating glaciers (N = 249; umedian: 8.24 m yr−1; IQR uncertainty estimate: 8.17–8.35 m yr−1) and show substantially more heterogeneity than land-terminating glaciers around glacier termini. We attribute this large heterogeneity to the varying influence of lakes on glacier dynamics, resulting in differential rates of dynamic thinning, which causes about half of the lake-terminating glacier population to accelerate towards the glacier termini. Numerical ice-flow model experiments show that changes in the force balance at the glacier termini are likely to play a key role in accelerating the glacier flow at the front, with variations in basal friction only being of modest importance. The expansion of current glacial lakes and the formation of new meltwater bodies will influence the dynamics of an increasing number of Himalayan glaciers in the future, and these factors should be carefully considered in regional projections.

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