Remote sensing and GIS technology in the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) Project

Raup, B. H.; Kääb, Andreas; Kargel, Jeffrey S.; Bishop, Michael P.; Hamilton, G. S.; Lee, Ella; Paul, Frank; Rau, Frank; Soltesz, D.; Khalsa, S. S.; Beedle, M. J.; Helm, Christopher

doi:10.1016/j.cageo.2006.05.015

Cited by 227 publications

(166 citation statements)

References 50 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

164

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Human interpretation probably remains the best means for extracting consistent glacier outlines from different data sets [Raup et al, 2007]. To ensure consistency of the successive outlines, any given ice body was always digitized by the same operator.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ice wastage on the Kerguelen Islands (49°S, 69°E) between 1963 and 2006

Berthier¹,

Bris²,

Mabileau³

et al. 2009

J. Geophys. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

International audienceWe observed the wastage of ice masses on the Kerguelen Islands (Indian Ocean, 49°S, 69°E) using historical information and recent satellite data. Overall, the total ice-covered area on the islands declined from 703 to 552 km2 between 1963 and 2001, a reduction of 21%. The area of Cook ice cap (the main ice body) decreased asymmetrically from 501 to 403 km2. West-flowing glaciers lost 11% of their area while east-flowing glaciers lost 28%. After 1991, the retreat rate accelerated from 1.9 km2/yr (1963-1991) to 3.8 km2/yr (1991-2003). Between 1963 and 2000, the ice volume loss was 25-30 km3, equivalent to an area-average ice thinning rate of 1.4-1.7 m/yr. The glacial retreat took place in the climatic context of a relatively low level of precipitation (compared to the 1950s) and a ~1°C warming that occurred between 1964 and 1982. The acceleration of the ice losses since, at least, the 1990s indicates that the state of the ice bodies on the Kerguelen Islands is still far from balanced. Together with other studies in Patagonia, South Georgia and Heard Island, our analysis is consistent with a pattern of strong and accelerated wastage of ice masses influenced by the Southern Ocean

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ice wastage on the Kerguelen Islands (49°S, 69°E) between 1963 and 2006

Berthier¹,

Bris²,

Mabileau³

et al. 2009

J. Geophys. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Though strong efforts have been made recently to make glacier extents for the Himalaya region available, large parts are still missing in the glacier database of the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) initiative (cf. Raup et al, 2007). The uncertainties and limited knowledge about the glacier in the Himalayas are obvious from recent debates in the media about the state and future developments of glaciers in this region (Cogley et al, 2010;Schiermeier, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compilation of a glacier inventory for the western Himalayas from satellite data: methods, challenges, and results

Frey

Paul

Strozzi

2012

Remote Sensing of Environment

Self Cite

209

150

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Due to their sensitive reaction to changes in climatic conditions, glaciers have been selected as an essential climate variable (ECV). Although a large amount of ice is located in the Himalayas, this region is yet only sparsely represented in global glacier databases. Accordingly, a sound and comprehensive change assessment or determination of water resources was not yet possible. In this study, we present a new glacier inventory for the western Himalayas, compiled from Landsat ETM+ scenes acquired between 2000 and 2002, coherence images from ALOS PALSAR image pairs, the SRTM digital elevation model (DEM) and the ASTER Global DEM (GDEM). Several specific challenges for glacier mapping were found in this region and addressed. They are related to debris cover, orographic clouds, locally variable snow conditions, and creeping permafrost features in cold-dry regions. Additional to seven topographic parameters that are obtained from the ASTER GDEM for each glacier, we also determined the relative amount of debris cover on the glacier surface. The inventory contains 11,400 glaciers larger than 0.02 km2, which cover a total area of 9,310 km2. Analysis of the inventory data revealed characteristic patterns of mean glacier elevation and relative debris cover amounts that might be related to the governing climatic conditions. The full dataset will be freely available in the GLIMS glacier database to foster further analyses and modeling of the glaciers in this region. AbstractDue to their sensitive reaction to changes in climatic conditions, glaciers have been selected as an essential climate variable (ECV). Although a large amount of ice is located in the Himalayas, this region is yet only sparsely represented in global glacier databases. Accordingly, a sound and comprehensive change assessment or determination of water resources was not yet possible. In this study, we present a new glacier inventory for the western Himalayas, compiled from Landsat ETM+ scenes acquired between 2000 and 2002, coherence images from ALOS PALSAR image pairs, the SRTM digital elevation model (DEM) and the ASTER Global DEM (GDEM). Several specific challenges for glacier mapping were found in this region and addressed. They are related to debris cover, orographic clouds, locally variable snow conditions, and creeping permafrost features in cold-dry regions. Additional to seven topographic parameters that are obtained from the ASTER GDEM for each glacier, we also determined the relative amount of debris cover on the glacier surface. The inventory contains 11,400 glaciers larger than 0.02 km 2 , which cover a total area of 9,310 km 2 . Analysis of the inventory data revealed characteristic patterns of mean glacier elevation and relative debris cover amounts that might be related to the governing climatic conditions. The full dataset will be freely available in the GLIMS glacier database to foster further analyses and modeling of the glaciers in this region.

show abstract

“…In recognition of this relevance, glaciers were identified as an Essential Climate Variable (ECV) in the terrestrial component of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) in support of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Observations of glaciers are organized within the Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers (GTN-G), with the corresponding work being coordinated between the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS; mainly responsible for in situ observations), the Global Land Ice Measurement from Space initiative (GLIMS, satellite observations, Raup et al 2007) and the National Snow and Ice Data Center at Boulder/ Colorado (NSIDC, data management and photo collection).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observation-Based Estimates of Global Glacier Mass Change and Its Contribution to Sea-Level Change

Marzeion¹,

Champollion²,

Haeberli³

et al. 2017

Space Sciences Series of ISSI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Glaciers have strongly contributed to sea-level rise during the past century and will continue to be an important part of the sea-level budget during the twenty-first century. Here, we review the progress in estimating global glacier mass change from in situ measurements of mass and length changes, remote sensing methods, and mass balance modeling driven by climate observations. For the period before the onset of satellite observations, different strategies to overcome the uncertainty associated with monitoring only a small sample of the world's glaciers have been developed. These methods now yield estimates generally reconcilable with each other within their respective uncertainty margins. Whereas this is also the case for the recent decades, the greatly increased number of estimates obtained from remote sensing reveals that gravimetry-based methods typically arrive at lower mass loss estimates than the other methods. We suggest that strategies for better interconnecting the different methods are needed to ensure progress and to increase the temporal and spatial detail of reliable glacier mass change estimates.

show abstract

Remote sensing and GIS technology in the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) Project

Cited by 227 publications

References 50 publications

Ice wastage on the Kerguelen Islands (49°S, 69°E) between 1963 and 2006

Ice wastage on the Kerguelen Islands (49°S, 69°E) between 1963 and 2006

Compilation of a glacier inventory for the western Himalayas from satellite data: methods, challenges, and results

Observation-Based Estimates of Global Glacier Mass Change and Its Contribution to Sea-Level Change

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About