Thickness estimation of supraglacial debris above ice cliff exposures using a high-resolution digital surface model derived from terrestrial photography
ABSTRACT The thickness of supraglacial debris cover controls how it impacts the ablation rate of underlying glacier ice, yet this quantity remains challenging to measure, particularly at glacier scales. We present a relatively straightforward, and cost-effective method to estimate debris thickness e...
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.68 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143017000685 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2017.68 2024-03-24T09:02:59+00:00 Thickness estimation of supraglacial debris above ice cliff exposures using a high-resolution digital surface model derived from terrestrial photography NICHOLSON, L. MERTES, J. 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.68 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143017000685 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Glaciology volume 63, issue 242, page 989-998 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 Earth-Surface Processes journal-article 2017 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.68 2024-02-26T15:35:08Z ABSTRACT The thickness of supraglacial debris cover controls how it impacts the ablation rate of underlying glacier ice, yet this quantity remains challenging to measure, particularly at glacier scales. We present a relatively straightforward, and cost-effective method to estimate debris thickness exposed above ice cliffs using simplified geometrical measurements from a high-resolution digital surface model (DSM), derived from a terrestrial photographic survey and a Structure from Motion with Multi-View Stereo workflow (SfM-MVS). As the ice surface relief beneath the debris cover is unknown, we assume it to be horizontal and provide error bounds based on characteristic ice-surface slope at the visible debris/ice interface. Debris thickness around the three sampled ice cliffs was highly variable (interquartile range of 0.80–2.85 m) and negatively skewed with a mean thickness of 2.08 ± 0.68 m. Manual, and high-frequency radar, determinations of debris thickness in the same area show similar thickness distributions, but statistically different mean debris thickness, due to local heterogeneity. Debris thickness values derived in this study all exceed estimates from satellite surface temperature inversions. Wider application of the method presented here would provide useful data for improving debris thickness approximations from satellite imagery. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 63 242 989 998 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth-Surface Processes |
spellingShingle |
Earth-Surface Processes NICHOLSON, L. MERTES, J. Thickness estimation of supraglacial debris above ice cliff exposures using a high-resolution digital surface model derived from terrestrial photography |
topic_facet |
Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
ABSTRACT The thickness of supraglacial debris cover controls how it impacts the ablation rate of underlying glacier ice, yet this quantity remains challenging to measure, particularly at glacier scales. We present a relatively straightforward, and cost-effective method to estimate debris thickness exposed above ice cliffs using simplified geometrical measurements from a high-resolution digital surface model (DSM), derived from a terrestrial photographic survey and a Structure from Motion with Multi-View Stereo workflow (SfM-MVS). As the ice surface relief beneath the debris cover is unknown, we assume it to be horizontal and provide error bounds based on characteristic ice-surface slope at the visible debris/ice interface. Debris thickness around the three sampled ice cliffs was highly variable (interquartile range of 0.80–2.85 m) and negatively skewed with a mean thickness of 2.08 ± 0.68 m. Manual, and high-frequency radar, determinations of debris thickness in the same area show similar thickness distributions, but statistically different mean debris thickness, due to local heterogeneity. Debris thickness values derived in this study all exceed estimates from satellite surface temperature inversions. Wider application of the method presented here would provide useful data for improving debris thickness approximations from satellite imagery. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
NICHOLSON, L. MERTES, J. |
author_facet |
NICHOLSON, L. MERTES, J. |
author_sort |
NICHOLSON, L. |
title |
Thickness estimation of supraglacial debris above ice cliff exposures using a high-resolution digital surface model derived from terrestrial photography |
title_short |
Thickness estimation of supraglacial debris above ice cliff exposures using a high-resolution digital surface model derived from terrestrial photography |
title_full |
Thickness estimation of supraglacial debris above ice cliff exposures using a high-resolution digital surface model derived from terrestrial photography |
title_fullStr |
Thickness estimation of supraglacial debris above ice cliff exposures using a high-resolution digital surface model derived from terrestrial photography |
title_full_unstemmed |
Thickness estimation of supraglacial debris above ice cliff exposures using a high-resolution digital surface model derived from terrestrial photography |
title_sort |
thickness estimation of supraglacial debris above ice cliff exposures using a high-resolution digital surface model derived from terrestrial photography |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.68 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143017000685 |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 63, issue 242, page 989-998 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2017.68 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
63 |
container_issue |
242 |
container_start_page |
989 |
op_container_end_page |
998 |
_version_ |
1794403531120181248 |