Identifying and mapping very small (<0.5 km 2 ) mountain glaciers on coarse to high-resolution imagery

Abstract Small mountain glaciers are an important part of the cryosphere and tend to respond rapidly to climate warming. Historically, mapping very small glaciers (generally considered to be <0.5 km 2 ) using satellite imagery has often been subjective due to the difficulty in differentiating the...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Glaciology
Main Authors: Leigh, J. R., Stokes, C. R., Carr, R. J., Evans, I. S., Andreassen, L. M., Evans, D. J. A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.50
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143019000509
id crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2019.50
record_format openpolar
spelling crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2019.50 2024-05-19T07:43:13+00:00 Identifying and mapping very small (<0.5 km 2 ) mountain glaciers on coarse to high-resolution imagery Leigh, J. R. Stokes, C. R. Carr, R. J. Evans, I. S. Andreassen, L. M. Evans, D. J. A. 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.50 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143019000509 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Glaciology volume 65, issue 254, page 873-888 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 journal-article 2019 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.50 2024-05-02T06:51:11Z Abstract Small mountain glaciers are an important part of the cryosphere and tend to respond rapidly to climate warming. Historically, mapping very small glaciers (generally considered to be <0.5 km 2 ) using satellite imagery has often been subjective due to the difficulty in differentiating them from perennial snowpatches. For this reason, most scientists implement minimum size-thresholds (typically 0.01–0.05 km 2 ). Here, we compare the ability of different remote-sensing approaches to identify and map very small glaciers on imagery of varying spatial resolutions (30–0.25 m) and investigate how operator subjectivity influences the results. Based on this analysis, we support the use of a minimum size-threshold of 0.01 km 2 for imagery with coarse to medium spatial resolution (30–10 m). However, when mapping on high-resolution imagery (<1 m) with minimal seasonal snow cover, glaciers <0.05 km 2 and even <0.01 km 2 are readily identifiable and using a minimum threshold may be inappropriate. For these cases, we develop a set of criteria to enable the identification of very small glaciers and classify them as certain , probable or possible. This should facilitate a more consistent approach to identifying and mapping very small glaciers on high-resolution imagery, helping to produce more comprehensive and accurate glacier inventories. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 65 254 873 888
institution Open Polar
collection Cambridge University Press
op_collection_id crcambridgeupr
language English
description Abstract Small mountain glaciers are an important part of the cryosphere and tend to respond rapidly to climate warming. Historically, mapping very small glaciers (generally considered to be <0.5 km 2 ) using satellite imagery has often been subjective due to the difficulty in differentiating them from perennial snowpatches. For this reason, most scientists implement minimum size-thresholds (typically 0.01–0.05 km 2 ). Here, we compare the ability of different remote-sensing approaches to identify and map very small glaciers on imagery of varying spatial resolutions (30–0.25 m) and investigate how operator subjectivity influences the results. Based on this analysis, we support the use of a minimum size-threshold of 0.01 km 2 for imagery with coarse to medium spatial resolution (30–10 m). However, when mapping on high-resolution imagery (<1 m) with minimal seasonal snow cover, glaciers <0.05 km 2 and even <0.01 km 2 are readily identifiable and using a minimum threshold may be inappropriate. For these cases, we develop a set of criteria to enable the identification of very small glaciers and classify them as certain , probable or possible. This should facilitate a more consistent approach to identifying and mapping very small glaciers on high-resolution imagery, helping to produce more comprehensive and accurate glacier inventories.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Leigh, J. R.
Stokes, C. R.
Carr, R. J.
Evans, I. S.
Andreassen, L. M.
Evans, D. J. A.
spellingShingle Leigh, J. R.
Stokes, C. R.
Carr, R. J.
Evans, I. S.
Andreassen, L. M.
Evans, D. J. A.
Identifying and mapping very small (<0.5 km 2 ) mountain glaciers on coarse to high-resolution imagery
author_facet Leigh, J. R.
Stokes, C. R.
Carr, R. J.
Evans, I. S.
Andreassen, L. M.
Evans, D. J. A.
author_sort Leigh, J. R.
title Identifying and mapping very small (<0.5 km 2 ) mountain glaciers on coarse to high-resolution imagery
title_short Identifying and mapping very small (<0.5 km 2 ) mountain glaciers on coarse to high-resolution imagery
title_full Identifying and mapping very small (<0.5 km 2 ) mountain glaciers on coarse to high-resolution imagery
title_fullStr Identifying and mapping very small (<0.5 km 2 ) mountain glaciers on coarse to high-resolution imagery
title_full_unstemmed Identifying and mapping very small (<0.5 km 2 ) mountain glaciers on coarse to high-resolution imagery
title_sort identifying and mapping very small (<0.5 km 2 ) mountain glaciers on coarse to high-resolution imagery
publisher Cambridge University Press (CUP)
publishDate 2019
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.50
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143019000509
genre Journal of Glaciology
genre_facet Journal of Glaciology
op_source Journal of Glaciology
volume 65, issue 254, page 873-888
ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652
op_rights http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.50
container_title Journal of Glaciology
container_volume 65
container_issue 254
container_start_page 873
op_container_end_page 888
_version_ 1799482936437768192