InSAR-based characterization of rock glacier movement in the Uinta Mountains, Utah, USA

Brencher, George; Handwerger, Alexander L.; Munroe, Jeffrey S.

doi:10.5194/tc-15-4823-2021

Cited by 34 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Only two ARGs have creeping speeds higher than 100 mm•a −1 , and both are moraine-type. The velocity range of ARGs in Daxue Shan is comparable to that in the Uinta Mountains reported by Brencher, Handwerger and Munroe [36]. However, the velocity range is lower than other alpine regions in the Alps, Sierra Nevada, and Northern Tienshan [26,31,34,35].…”

Section: Active Rock Glacier Velocitiessupporting

confidence: 78%

“…Recent studies have shown that multi-temporal InSAR can reduce SAR phase decorrelation and be used to detect the ARGs with low surface velocities [35]. Brencher, et al [36] compiled 255 ARGs based on multi-year SAR LOS (line-of-sight) displacement velocity in the Uinta Mountains, with a velocity range from 0.88 to 5.26 cm•a −1 , demonstrating the strength of multi-temporal InSAR for ARG mapping.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, until now, a detailed evaluation of the two approaches has not been conducted. Additionally, although multi-temporal InSAR has been proven powerful in surface deformation detection, this technique has only been applied in limited alpine regions for ARGs mapping [35][36][37]. This study systematically investigates the strengths and weaknesses of kinematic-and geomorphic-based approaches to compiling rock glaciers and aims at providing practical strategies for compiling rock glaciers completely and accurately.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Comparative Study of Active Rock Glaciers Mapped from Geomorphic- and Kinematic-Based Approaches in Daxue Shan, Southeast Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2021

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Active rock glaciers (ARGs) are important permafrost landforms in alpine regions. Identifying ARGs has mainly relied on visual interpretation of their geomorphic characteristics with optical remote sensing images, while mapping ARGs from their kinematic features has also become popular in recent years. However, a thorough comparison of geomorphic- and kinematic-based inventories of ARGs has not been carried out. In this study, we employed a multi-temporal interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technique to derive the mean annual surface displacement velocity over the Daxue Shan, Southeast Tibet Plateau. We then compiled a rock glacier inventory by synergistically interpreting the InSAR-derived surface displacements and geomorphic features based on Google Earth images. Our InSAR-assist kinematic-based inventory (KBI) was further compared with a pre-existing geomorphic-based inventory (GBI) of rock glaciers in Daxue Shan. The results show that our InSAR-assist inventory consists of 344 ARGs, 36% (i.e., 125) more than that derived from the geomorphic-based method (i.e., 251). Only 32 ARGs in the GBI are not included in the KBI. Among the 219 ARGs detected by both approaches, the ones with area differences of more than 20% account for about 32% (i.e., 70 ARGs). The mean downslope velocities of ARGs calculated from InSAR are between 2.8 and 107.4 mm∙a−1. Our comparative analyses show that ARGs mapping from the InSAR-based kinematic approach is more efficient and accurate than the geomorphic-based approach. Nonetheless, the completeness of the InSAR-assist KBI is affected by the SAR data acquisition time, signal decorrelation, geometric distortion of SAR images, and the sensitivity of the InSAR measurement to ground deformation. We suggest that the kinematic-based approach should be utilized in future ARGs-based studies such as regional permafrost distribution assessment and water storage estimates.

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Section: Active Rock Glacier Velocitiessupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Comparative Study of Active Rock Glaciers Mapped from Geomorphic- and Kinematic-Based Approaches in Daxue Shan, Southeast Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2021

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“…However, the highly active rock glacier ratio was acquired using a threshold of active rock glacier ratio > 0.1 and monitoring rate > 0.3 (Figure 13 and Table 2). The 75th percentile downslope velocity was another effective indicator used to represent the total deformation velocity of a rock glacier in a recent study [85]. With this indicator, about 4700 rock glaciers showed downslope deformation greater than 100 mm/y (Figure 14c), reporting more active rock glaciers.…”

Section: Comparison With Other Rock Glacier Surface Displacement Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting Rock Glacier Displacement in the Central Himalayas Using Multi-Temporal InSAR

et al. 2021

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Rock glaciers represent typical periglacial landscapes and are distributed widely in alpine mountain environments. Rock glacier activity represents a critical indicator of water reserves state, permafrost distribution, and landslide disaster susceptibility. The dynamics of rock glacier activity in alpine periglacial environments are poorly quantified, especially in the central Himalayas. Multi-temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (MT-InSAR) has been shown to be a useful technique for rock glacier deformation detection. In this study, we developed a multi-baseline persistent scatterer (PS) and distributed scatterer (DS) combined MT-InSAR method to monitor the activity of rock glaciers in the central Himalayas. In periglacial landforms, the application of the PS interferometry (PSI) method is restricted by insufficient PS due to large temporal baseline intervals and temporal decorrelation, which hinder comprehensive measurements of rock glaciers. Thus, we first evaluated the rock glacier interferometric coherence of all possible interferometric combinations and determined a multi-baseline network based on rock glacier coherence; then, we constructed a Delaunay triangulation network (DTN) by exploiting both PS and DS points. To improve the robustness of deformation parameters estimation in the DTN, we combined the Nelder–Mead algorithm with the M-estimator method to estimate the deformation rate variation at the arcs of the DTN and introduced a ridge-estimator-based weighted least square (WLR) method for the inversion of the deformation rate from the deformation rate variation. We applied our method to Sentinel-1A ascending and descending geometry data (May 2018 to January 2019) and obtained measurements of rock glacier deformation for 4327 rock glaciers over the central Himalayas, at least more than 15% detecting with single geometry data. The line-of-sight (LOS) deformation of rock glaciers in the central Himalayas ranged from −150 mm to 150 mm. We classified the active deformation area (ADA) of all individual rock glaciers with the threshold determined by the standard deviation of the deformation map. The results show that 49% of the detected rock glaciers (monitoring rate greater than 30%) are highly active, with an ADA ratio greater than 10%. After projecting the LOS deformation to the steep slope direction and classifying the rock glacier activity following the IPA Action Group guideline, 12% of the identified rock glaciers were classified as active and 86% were classified as transitional. This research is the first multi-baseline, PS, and DS network-based MT-InSAR method applied to detecting large-scale rock glaciers activity.

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“…More precise and accurate approaches based on remote sensing data (e.g. satellite interferometry with Sentinel-1 images; Yague-Martinez et al, 2016) were developed to characterise the rock glacier kinematics at a large scale (Necsoiu et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2017;Villarroel et al, 2018;Strozzi et al, 2020;Brencher et al, 2021). These latter approaches are nevertheless based on different criteria and still lack standardised outputs (Jones et al, 2018a;Brardinoni et al, 2019), essential to integrate kinematic information in standardised RoGIs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incorporating InSAR kinematics into rock glacier inventories: insights from 11 regions worldwide

et al. 2022

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Abstract. Rock glaciers are landforms related to permafrost creep that are sensitive to climate variability and change. Their spatial distribution and kinematic behaviour can be critical for managing water resources and geohazards in periglacial areas. Rock glaciers have been inventoried for decades worldwide, often without assessment of their kinematics. The availability of remote sensing data however makes the inclusion of kinematic information potentially feasible, but requires a common methodology in order to create homogeneous inventories. In this context, the International Permafrost Association (IPA) Action Group on rock glacier inventories and kinematics (2018–2023), with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA) Permafrost Climate Change Initiative (CCI) project, is defining standard guidelines for the inclusion of kinematic information within inventories. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of applying common rules proposed by the Action Group in 11 regions worldwide. Spaceborne interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) was used to characterise identifiable moving areas related to rock glaciers, applying a manual and a semi-automated approach. Subsequently, these areas were used to assign kinematic information to rock glaciers in existing or newly compiled inventories. More than 5000 moving areas and more than 3600 rock glaciers were classified according to their kinematics. The method and the preliminary results were analysed. We identified drawbacks related to the intrinsic limitations of InSAR and to various applied strategies regarding the integration of non-moving rock glaciers in some investigated regions. This is the first internationally coordinated work that incorporates kinematic attributes within rock glacier inventories at a global scale. The results show the value of designing standardised inventorying procedures for periglacial geomorphology.

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InSAR-based characterization of rock glacier movement in the Uinta Mountains, Utah, USA

Cited by 34 publications

References 67 publications

A Comparative Study of Active Rock Glaciers Mapped from Geomorphic- and Kinematic-Based Approaches in Daxue Shan, Southeast Tibetan Plateau

A Comparative Study of Active Rock Glaciers Mapped from Geomorphic- and Kinematic-Based Approaches in Daxue Shan, Southeast Tibetan Plateau

Detecting Rock Glacier Displacement in the Central Himalayas Using Multi-Temporal InSAR

Incorporating InSAR kinematics into rock glacier inventories: insights from 11 regions worldwide

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