• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.491-502
• /
• 2019

Distinguishing debris-covered glaciers from debris-free glaciers is difficult when using only optical remote sensing images to extract glacier boundaries.According to the features that the surface temperature of debris-covered glacier is lower than surrounding objects, and higher than clean glaciers, glacial changes in the Yigong Zangbo basin was analyzed on the basis of visible, near-infrared and thermal-infrared band images of Landsat TM and OLI/TIRS in the support of ancillary digital elevation model (DEM). The results indicated that glacier area gradually declined from $928.76km^2$ in 1990 to $918.46km^2$ in 2000 and $901.51km^2$ in 2015. However, debris-covered glacier area showed a slight increase from $63.39km^2$ in 1990 to $66.24km^2$ in 2000 and $71.16km^2$ in 2015. During 25 years, the glacier length became shorter continuously with terminus elevation rising up. The area of moraine lakes in 1990 was $1.43km^2$, which increased to $1.98km^2$ in 2000 and $3.41km^2$ in 2015. In other words, the total area of the moraine lakes in 2015 is 2.38 times of that in 1990. This increase in moraine lake area could be the result of accelerated glacier melt and retreat, which is consistent with the significant warming trend in recent decades in the basin.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.15-28
• /
• 2019

By applying the method of SAR interferometry to X-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image of COSMO-SkyMed, detailed motion patterns of five glaciers in the Parlung Zangbo River basin, Tibetan Plateau, in January 2010 have been derived. The results indicate that flow patterns are generally constrained by the valley geometry and terrain complexity. The maximum of $123.9ma^{-1}$ is observed on glacier No.1 and the minimum of $39.4ma^{-1}$ is found on glacier No.3. The mean values of five glaciers are between 22.9 and $98.2ma^{-1}$. Glaciers No.1, No.2, No.4 and No.5 exhibit high velocities in their upper sections with big slope and low velocities in the lower sections. A moraine lake accelerates the speed of mass exchange leading to a fast flow at the terminal of glacier No.3. These glaciers generally move along the direction of decreased elevation and present a macroscopic illustration of the motion from the northwest to the southeast. The accuracy of DEM and registration conditions of DEM-simulated terrain phases has certain effects on calculations of glacier flow direction and velocity. The error field is relatively fragmented in areas inconsistent with the main flow line of the glaciers, and the shape and uniformity of glacier are directly related to the continuous distribution of flow velocity errors.