Detection of crevassed areas with minimum geometric information: Vernagtferner case study
Abstract Crevasses pose severe risks for mountaineers and field glaciologists. Smaller cracks between 0.5 and 2 m are still dangerous, but often not visible in medium resolution satellite imagery. If they are snow covered, they are completely undetectable by optical sensors. We set out to develop an...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2023
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.12 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143023000126 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2023.12 2024-03-03T08:46:09+00:00 Detection of crevassed areas with minimum geometric information: Vernagtferner case study Dobler, Theresa Hagg, Wilfried Mayer, Christoph 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.12 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143023000126 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Glaciology volume 69, issue 277, page 1214-1224 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 Earth-Surface Processes journal-article 2023 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.12 2024-02-08T08:49:21Z Abstract Crevasses pose severe risks for mountaineers and field glaciologists. Smaller cracks between 0.5 and 2 m are still dangerous, but often not visible in medium resolution satellite imagery. If they are snow covered, they are completely undetectable by optical sensors. We set out to develop an approach to detect potentially crevassed areas by a minimum of geometric data, and to make the method generally applicable to glacier regions. On Vernagtferner, we compared a reference dataset of crevasses observed in high-resolution optical imagery with the curvature of the ice surface and the spatial gradients in driving stress. Both parameters can be derived from a digital surface model and a bedrock model, derived from ice thickness measurements. The correlation patterns show that crevasses preferably form in convex areas and in areas where the driving stress rapidly increases. This corresponds with the theory of crevasse formation. Although the method still misclassifies larger parts, the approach has the potential to define probable non-crevassed areas as well as to aid the planning of safe routes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 69 277 1214 1224 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth-Surface Processes |
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Earth-Surface Processes Dobler, Theresa Hagg, Wilfried Mayer, Christoph Detection of crevassed areas with minimum geometric information: Vernagtferner case study |
topic_facet |
Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
Abstract Crevasses pose severe risks for mountaineers and field glaciologists. Smaller cracks between 0.5 and 2 m are still dangerous, but often not visible in medium resolution satellite imagery. If they are snow covered, they are completely undetectable by optical sensors. We set out to develop an approach to detect potentially crevassed areas by a minimum of geometric data, and to make the method generally applicable to glacier regions. On Vernagtferner, we compared a reference dataset of crevasses observed in high-resolution optical imagery with the curvature of the ice surface and the spatial gradients in driving stress. Both parameters can be derived from a digital surface model and a bedrock model, derived from ice thickness measurements. The correlation patterns show that crevasses preferably form in convex areas and in areas where the driving stress rapidly increases. This corresponds with the theory of crevasse formation. Although the method still misclassifies larger parts, the approach has the potential to define probable non-crevassed areas as well as to aid the planning of safe routes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dobler, Theresa Hagg, Wilfried Mayer, Christoph |
author_facet |
Dobler, Theresa Hagg, Wilfried Mayer, Christoph |
author_sort |
Dobler, Theresa |
title |
Detection of crevassed areas with minimum geometric information: Vernagtferner case study |
title_short |
Detection of crevassed areas with minimum geometric information: Vernagtferner case study |
title_full |
Detection of crevassed areas with minimum geometric information: Vernagtferner case study |
title_fullStr |
Detection of crevassed areas with minimum geometric information: Vernagtferner case study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Detection of crevassed areas with minimum geometric information: Vernagtferner case study |
title_sort |
detection of crevassed areas with minimum geometric information: vernagtferner case study |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.12 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143023000126 |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 69, issue 277, page 1214-1224 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.12 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
69 |
container_issue |
277 |
container_start_page |
1214 |
op_container_end_page |
1224 |
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1792502125498990592 |