Mapping of debris-covered glaciers in parts of the Greater Himalaya Range, Ladakh, western Himalaya, using remote sensing and GIS

Abstract

Glacier inventories based on visual interpretation and manual delineation of glacier boundaries are time consuming. Supraglacial debris (debris accumulated on glacier terrain) of Himalayan glaciers creates difficulty with automated glacier mapping when using satellite images. In the present study, a combination of band ratio using the TM image and slope parameter was proven to be useful for delineating glaciers' debris-covered areas. Compared to original TM bands, supervised classification using a combination of principal components two, three, and six of debris and nonglacierized areas facilitated identification of various types of supraglacial debris. Use of principal components four, three, and two of snow-and ice-covered areas as input bands for supervised classification was helpful in classifying different types of snow and ice. Results corresponded well with manually delineated glacier outlines and field observations. Error matrix revealed that the accuracy of classification of the snow-and ice-covered parts of glaciers was 86.29%. Although manual editing was required to differentiate supraglacial debris from periglacial debris (debris outside the glacier boundary), the approach using the ability of morphometric parameter combined with band ratio for delineation of debris-covered parts of glaciers and supervised classification with principal component analysis for mapping of supraglacial covers is observed to be faster than manual delineation. Downloaded From: http://remotesensing.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 05/14/2015 Terms of Use: http://spiedl.org/terms Ghosh, Pandey, and Nathawat: Mapping of debris-covered glaciers in parts of the Greater Himalaya Range. Downloaded From: http://remotesensing.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 05/14/2015 Terms of Use: http://spiedl.org/terms Ghosh, Pandey, and Nathawat: Mapping of debris-covered glaciers in parts of the Greater Himalaya Range.

Mapping debris-covered glaciers in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru : an object-based image analysis approach.

“…Findings from this analysis support previous findings in the DCG mapping literature, namely that accurate automated mapping of DCGs is difficult without augmentation by manual editing (Alifu and Tateishi 2013, Paul, Huggel and Kääb 2004, Ghosh, Pandey and Nathawat 2014; that geomorphometric terrain data show promise when combined with optical data Gupta 2010, Paul, Huggel and; and that thermal data are of limited utility where debris cover is thick, as in the Cordillera Blanca (Alifu and Tateishi 2013, Veettil 2012). …”

“…Objects with mean slopes less than 24˚ had a high probability (~90%) of being classified as DCG, and vice versa. This is also consistent with the literature on debris-covered glaciers, which are typically lower in slope than surrounding terrain features (Ghosh, Pandey and Nathawat 2014, Paul, Huggel and Kääb 2004, Bandishoev, Dilo and Stein 2011. Indeed, Paul, Huggel and Kääb (2004) and Veettil (2012) find that a slope threshold of < 24˚ is ideal for the delineation of DCGs in the Swiss Alps and the Karakoram, Himalaya respectively.…”

“…The presence of supraglacial debris cover on the tongues of mountain glaciers can affect melt rates, alternately increasing rates of ablation in cases of thin debris cover or diminishing ablation under thick debris cover (Brock et al 2010). Debris cover also obscures the true extents of glacial ice, making for difficulties in accurate inventorying of glacier areas and their respective fluctuations in response to climate change and other factors (Ghosh, Pandey and Nathawat 2014, Veettil 2012, Paul, Huggel and Kääb 2004. In regions where local populations are entirely dependent on glacial meltwaters for water supplies, accurate assessment of glacial hydrology is vital to planning for sustainable use of water resources Seltzer 2003, Baraer et al 2012).…”

Explorative Study on Mapping Surface Facies of Selected Glaciers from Chandra Basin, Himalaya Using WorldView-2 Data

“…Given the importance of glacier facies, it is imperative to identify an extraction method which can be widely applied across glaciered regions. While most of the available research has reported facies like snow, ice, IMD, and debris [33,90,115], none have utilized the VNIR spectrum to extract crevasses. This study is the first of its kind to use OBIA on VHR VNIR imagery to isolate crevasses.…”

Climate–Glacier Dynamics and Topographic Forcing in the Karakoram Himalaya: Concepts, Issues and Research Directions

“…Mapping debris-cover and estimating its depth are active research areas in glaciology [62,121,[126][127][128][129][130][131]]. An innovative study by Casey and Kääb [132,133] also mapped geochemical composition of debris-cover cover through in-situ and remote sensing spectral analysis.…”