Glacier surface motion pattern in the Eastern part of West Kunlun Shan estimation using pixel-tracking with PALSAR imagery

Abstract

Mountain glacier is considered as one of the most sensitive natural indicators of climate change. Glacier surface motion distribution in West Kunlun Shan (WKS) has been attracting considerable attention and represents a fundamental glacier parameter for better understanding glacier dynamics, ice mass balance, and even for the climate change. This paper would present the accurate ice motion observation of mountain glacier in eastern part of WKS by the refined pixel-tracking method with phased array type L-band synthetic aperture radar images acquired on December 13, 2008 and January 28, 2009. The standard deviation values in nonglacial area before/after topographic effect compensation are 0.61 and 0.43 m, respectively, during 46-day temporal interval. In addition, the terrain almost is a determining factor of ice velocity distribution in study area because the elevation of topography is generally shown to be positive correlated with glacier surface velocity along the central line. Furthermore, with estimated detailed glacier surface movement distribution pattern, we found that the continental glaciers were actively moving with spatially variable ice motion, while the icecaps maintain the stable status without apparent motion on most part of surface. Therefore, the refined SAR-based pixel-tracking method, including topographic effect compensation operation, provides a useful and robust tool to map and measure the glacier motion in mountain area with complex terrain.