Monitoring Greenland and Antarctic supraglacial hydrology from space ...

• Main Author: Corr, Diarmuid
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Lancaster University 2024
• Subjects: Glaciology; Antarctica; Greenland; Remote Sensing; Machine Learning; Supraglacial Hydrology; Antarctic; West Antarctic Ice Sheet; Antarc*; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17635/lancaster/thesis/2222; https://www.research.lancs.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/monitoring-greenland-and-antarctic-supraglacial-hydrology-from-space(5a9c7b5b-75ef-4f32-bed0-1c81dcf92d81).html

Ice sheets, large masses of glacial ice covering polar regions, influence global sea level and ocean currents. The study of surface water on these ice sheets, supraglacial hydrology, is essential to understand the effects of climate change on ice sheet stability, sea-level rise, and climate systems. This thesis examines supraglacial hydrological systems in Antarctica and Greenland by developing novel methods to classify them using optical satellite imagery (Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8). Chapter 2 reveals the presence of supraglacial hydrology features, such as lakes and channels, on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet through a novel dual-NDWI and k-means clustering approach. A total of 10,478 features covering 119.4 km² were identified, broadening our knowledge of Antarctica's supraglacial hydrology. Chapter 3 uses random forest and radiative transfer models to analyse the extent and volume of surface meltwater on the Greenland Ice Sheet from 2014 to 2022. This study assesses supraglacial hydrological features ...