Remote sensing data integration for mapping glacial extents

Abstract

Glaciers serve as one of the most prominent natural indicators of climate change, given their sensitivity to even incremental changes in temperature. In recent years the mapping of glacier extent has become accepted as an effective way to measure the effects of climate change. By measuring the extent of a glacier's terminus over multiple years, one can gain valuable information about how a glacier, and its surrounding environment, is changing over time. The glaciology community has recently embraced the advantages that Geographic Information Systems (GIS) offer to glacier mapping, with projects such as Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) establishing a global database for glacier data, including extent measurements. This paper proposes a workflow for integrating data from different platforms, including aerial imagery, natural-color satellite imagery, and multispectral imagery, to map glacier extent in a GIS. We focus on this workflow’s ability to enhance longitudinal glacier studies by increasing the number of unique data sources that can be drawn from. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this method, we mapped the terminus extent of five glaciers in Alaska's Juneau Icefield over a thirty year period (1981-2011), integrating data from three different airborne sensor platforms in our analysis.