Estimation the Dongkemadi Glacier Thickness Change by ALOS/PALSAR

Abstract

This paper presents a novel method to monitor the thickness changes of mountain glacier based on the deformation extracted by differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR) interferograms measurements of the glacier's surface. To estimate changes in surface elevation through time, we make use of differential phase and get the deformation of the glacier surface in the line of sight (LOS). The method exploits the one component of displacement along the LOS of radar beam for deriving the glacier thickness changes and uses these components to calculate thickness changes within glacier polygons. Using this method, we can monitor the thickness changes in cm-level accuracy. In order to demonstrate this method a practical example, the monitoring thickness changes of the Dongkemadi Glacier in Tibet Plateau of China, is given. The performance of this method is validated by GPS survey data. The result obtained with one DInSAR pair covering the Dongkemadi Glacier in the cold season.