Extraction of glacier outlines and water-eroded stripes using high-resolution SAR imagery

Abstract

ABSTRACTGlaciers and ice sheets are sensitive indicators of climate change. The changes of outlines and texture features on the glacier surface are useful indicators of glacier change monitoring. The sensitivity of synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which is independent of weather and solar illumination, provides an efficient approach for glacier monitoring and the development of high-resolution SAR makes it possible to study glaciers in more detail. In this article, the decision-tree classification method, the Canny operator, and the phase congruency method are applied and compared to extract glacier outlines and water-eroded stripes using X-band high-resolution SAR imagery of the Dongkemadi glacier area in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, collected by the TerraSAR satellites. The experimental results are presented to illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of the phase congruency method as compared to other methods used for the extraction of linear features (outline and stripes) on glaciers. The phase congruency method, which is independent of image illumination and magnification, is used for the first time in glacier outline and stripe extraction. It is shown that, when combined with high-resolution SAR imagery, this method has the potential to provide valuable support for glacier mapping and change monitoring in the future.