At present most alpine glaciers are not in equilibrium with the current climate, as a result they are undergoing a dramatic mass loss. Monitoring glacial variations is crucial to assess the consequences of climate change on the territory. In this work different geomatics techniques are exploited to measure and monitor the Rutor glacier over the years. In this study two different techniques were adopted to generate 3 digital surface models (DSMs): aerial and satellite photogrammetry. Two photogrammetric aerial surveys were carried out: at the end of the hydrological year 2019/20 and at the end of the following hydrological year. Additionally, a very high-resolution satellite stereo pair, acquired by the Pléiades-1A platform in 2017, was processed to assess whether satellite images can be applied to extract the 3D surface of the Rutor glacier. In order to evaluate the Rutor glacier mass-balance throughout the years several reference points were positioned and measured before the 2021 aerial flight. Thanks to the presence of the materialized points the 2021 model is considered as the ‘Reference Model’ against which subsequent models can be compared for glacier analysis. This model was validated by means of a comparison with the authoritative Regional DSM based on LiDAR surveys. In alpine glaciers, the positioning of artificial square cross target in time invariant areas is crucial to enable a multitemporal 4D analysis. The use of very high-resolution satellite imagery allows large areas to be mapped in 3D, but with lower accuracies proportionally decreasing with respect to slope and exposure.

Abstract. The recession of Alpine glaciers causes an increase in the extent of proglacial areas that leads to changes in the water and sediment balance morphodynamics and sediment transport. Although the processes occurring in proglacial areas are relevant not only from a scientific point of view but also for the purpose of climate change adaptation, there is a lack of studies on the continuous monitoring and multitemporal characterization of these areas. This work offers a multidisciplinary approach that merges the contributions of different scientific disciplines such as hydrology, geophysics, geomatics and water engineering to characterise the Rutor glacier and its proglacial area. We surveyed the glacier and its proglacial area since 2020 with both uncrewed (drone) and crewed aerial photogrammetric flights; we determined the bathymetry of the most downstream proglacial lake and the thickness of the sediments deposited on its bottom. Water depth at four different locations within the hydrographic network of the proglacial area and the bedload at the glacier snout were continuously monitored. The synergy of our approach enables the characterisation, monitoring and understanding of a set of complex and interconnected processes occurring in a proglacial area.