Abstract
Glacier movement is closely related to changes in climatic, hydrological, and geological factors. However, detecting glacier surface flow velocity with conventional ground surveys is challenging. Remote sensing techniques, especially synthetic aperture radar (SAR), provide regular observations covering larger-scale glacier regions. Glacier surface flow velocity in the West Kunlun Mountains using modified offset-tracking techniques based on ALOS/PALSAR images is estimated. Three maps of glacier flow velocity for the period 2007 to 2010 are derived from procedures of offset detection using cross correlation in the Fourier domain and global offset elimination of thin plate smooth splines. Our results indicate that, on average, winter glacier motion on the North Slope is 1 cm/day faster than on the South Slope—a result which corresponds well with the local topography. The performance of our method as regards the reliability of extracted displacements and the robustness of this algorithm are discussed. The SAR-based offset tracking is proven to be reliable and robust, making it possible to investigate comprehensive glacier movement and its response mechanism to environmental change.
Highlights
Glacier change is an important indicator of global climate change, especially for mountain glaciers, which are highly sensitive to variations in temperature and precipitation.[1,2,3,4] Because most glaciers are located in sparsely populated locations far away from major human activities, the relationship and response mechanism between glacier movement and environmental change can be more relied upon in the study of global change issues without human influence
Based on ALOS PALSAR imaging theory, the range resolution on the ground is about 7.5 to 8.3 m∕pixel compared to 3.5 m∕pixel in azimuth, so that the range component carries more weight in the calculation of the velocity
In order to reduce the error caused by the quality of the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, we eliminated the offset components along the azimuth, which were several times larger than the ones along the range direction
Summary
Glacier change is an important indicator of global climate change, especially for mountain glaciers, which are highly sensitive to variations in temperature and precipitation.[1,2,3,4] Because most glaciers are located in sparsely populated locations far away from major human activities, the relationship and response mechanism between glacier movement and environmental change can be more relied upon in the study of global change issues without human influence. The climate change occurring at present is shifting the geomorphodynamic equilibrium of glaciers and intensifying glacier-related natural disasters, such as landslides, flood, and permafrost creep.[5,6] it is crucial to detect and monitor glacier movement in many areas. Only 1% of the world’s existing temperate glaciers have been monitored, mostly by ground measurements, which often provide information only once or twice a year at a few points.[7]
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