Applications of remote sensing, GIS and GPS in glaciology: a review

Abstract

Remote sensing has served as an efficient method of gathering data about glaciers since its emergence. The recent advent of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) has created an effective means by which the acquired data are analysed for the effective monitoring and mapping of temporal dynamics of glaciers. A large number of researchers have taken advantage of remote sensing, GIS and GPS in their studies of glaciers. These applications are comprehensively reviewed in this paper. This review shows that glacial features identifiable from aerial photographs and satellite imagery include spatial extent, transient snowline, equilibrium line elevation, accumulation and ablation zones, and differentiation of ice/snow. Digital image processing (e.g., image enhancement, spectral ratioing and automatic classification) improves the ease and accuracy of mapping these parameters. The traditional visible light/infrared remote sensing of two-dimensional glacier distribution has been extended to three-dimensional volume estimation and dynamic monitoring using radar imagery and GPS. Longitudinal variations in glacial extent have been detected from multitemporal images in GIS. However, the detected variations have neither been explored nor modelled from environmental and topographic variables. GPS has been utilized independent of remote sensing and GIS to determine glacier ice velocity and to obtain information about glacier surfaces. Therefore, the potential afforded by the integration of nonconventional remote sensing (e.g., SAR interferometry) with GIS and GPS still remains to be realized in glaciology. The emergence of new satellite images will make remote sensing of glaciology more predictive, more global and towards longer terms.

Glacier fluctuations between 1975 and 2008 in the Greater Himalaya Range of Zanskar, southern Ladakh

“…This allows in combination with climatic scenarios to estimate whether that trend will continue into the future (Gao and Liu 2001;Bishop et al 2004;Khalsa et al 2004;Raup et al 2007a, b).…”

Mapping glaciers in Jotunheimen, South-Norway, during the "Little Ice Age" maximum

“…Therefore, the spectral signal is different between the glacier foreland and the area outside (Gao and Liu, 2001;Csatho et al, 2005;Richard and Xiuping, 2006;Albertz, 2007). This spatial pattern can be used for identifying the former LIA glacier covered areas on a satellite image.…”

Imprints of sub-glacial volcanic activity on a glacier surface—SAR study of Katla volcano, Iceland

“…Backscatter intensity, in particular, varies strongly with the annual and short-term weather conditions on a glacier. For additional and more technical information about SAR electromagnetic interactions see, for example, Henderson and Lewis (1998), Ulaby et al (1986), Gao and Yansui (2001) and König et al (2001).…”