Fluctuations of Heard Island Glaciers between 1947-2014

• Other Authors: DONOGHUE, SHAVAWN (hasPrincipalInvestigator), DONOGHUE, SHAVAWN (processor), HARRIS, URSULA (hasPrincipalInvestigator), Australian Antarctic Data Centre (publisher)
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Australian Antarctic Data Centre
• Subjects: GLACIERS; EARTH SCIENCE; TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE; GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS; GLACIER MASS BALANCE/ICE SHEET MASS BALANCE; CLIMATE INDICATORS; CRYOSPHERIC INDICATORS; GLACIAL MEASUREMENTS; GLACIER AREA; REMOTE SENSING; GEOEYE-1; GIS > GeoEye Imaging System; SATELLITES; GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR; OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN > HEARD AND MCDONALD ISLANDS; Heard; Heard Island; McDonald Islands; Southern Ocean; Stephenson; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://researchdata.edu.au/fluctuations-heard-island-1947-2014/1821924; https://data.aad.gov.au/metadata/records/Heard_Island_glacier_fluctuations_2012-2014; http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-617536

Heard Island glacier have been of interest since the island was first occupied. The fluctuations of these glaciers have previously been discussed by Budd and Stephenson (1970), Allison and Keage (1986), Budd (2000), Ruddell (2006), Donoghue (2009), and Cogley et al (2014). This is an initial report on the changes of Brown and Stephenson glaciers with a more detailed report to follow once orthorectified satellite images become available for analysis. This report examines two newly acquired sets of satellite images from 2012 and 2014. What is unique about these images is that in both sequences the images are near cloud free and include the entire island. This is unusual for this persistently cloud covered, mountainous island located in the ‘Furious Fifties’. These images provide the first chance to complete a full inventory of the island's glaciers over both years from a single day - 2 February in 2012 and 6 February in 2014. Complete satellite inventories of the island have only previously been attempted in 1988 and 2008 - in each case this required the use of images over several years and from different sources to capture the entire island. This report also includes an inventory of additional data sets and data resources that have been used to calculate the length and areas of heard Island between 1947 and 2014.