Yearly Elevation Change and Surface Velocity Revealed from Two UAV Surveys at Baishui River Glacier No. 1, Yulong Snow Mountain

Abstract

Glaciers play an important role in understanding the climate, water resources, and surrounding natural change. Baishui River Glacier No. 1, a temperate glacier in the monsoon-influenced Southeastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, has experienced significant ablation due to regional warming during the past few decades. However, little is known about the yearly changes in Baishui River Glacier No. 1. To investigate how Baishui River Glacier No. 1 has changed in recent years, digital orthophoto maps and digital elevation models were obtained from an unmanned aerial vehicle on 20 October 2018 and 22 July 2021, covering 84% and 47% of the total area, respectively. The results of the Baishui River Glacier No. 1 changes were obtained by differencing the digital elevation models, manual tracking, and terminus-retreat calculation methods. Our results showed that the surveyed area had a mean elevation change of −4.26 m during 2018 and 2021, and the lower area lost more ice than other areas. The terminus of Baishui River Glacier No. 1 has retreated by 16.35 m/a on average, exhibiting spatial variation with latitude. Moreover, we initially found that there was a high correlation between surface velocity and elevation gradient in this high-speed glacier. The surface velocity of Baishui River Glacier No. 1 was derived with the manual feature tracking method and ranged from 10.48 to 32.00 m/a, which is slightly smaller than the seasonal average. However, the snow coverage and ice melting of the two epochs led to the underestimation of our elevation change and velocity results, which need further investigation.