Seasonal and Interannual Variability of Columbia Glacier, Alaska (2011–2016): Ice Velocity, Mass Flux, Surface Elevation and Front Position

Alaskan glaciers are among the largest contributors to sea-level rise outside the polar ice sheets. The contributions include dynamic discharge from marine-terminating glaciers which depends on the seasonally variable ice velocity. Columbia Glacier is a large marine-terminating glacier located in So...

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Published in:Remote Sensing
Main Authors: Saurabh Vijay, Matthias Braun
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2017
Subjects:
Q
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9060635
https://doaj.org/article/7bcbc63c29b24a4f8285496c455768e3
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:7bcbc63c29b24a4f8285496c455768e3 2023-05-15T16:20:29+02:00 Seasonal and Interannual Variability of Columbia Glacier, Alaska (2011–2016): Ice Velocity, Mass Flux, Surface Elevation and Front Position Saurabh Vijay Matthias Braun 2017-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9060635 https://doaj.org/article/7bcbc63c29b24a4f8285496c455768e3 EN eng MDPI AG http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/9/6/635 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs9060635 https://doaj.org/article/7bcbc63c29b24a4f8285496c455768e3 Remote Sensing, Vol 9, Iss 6, p 635 (2017) Columbia Glacier bistatic InSAR offset tracking TanDEM-X mission seasonal velocity mass flux elevation changes Science Q article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9060635 2022-12-31T04:02:19Z Alaskan glaciers are among the largest contributors to sea-level rise outside the polar ice sheets. The contributions include dynamic discharge from marine-terminating glaciers which depends on the seasonally variable ice velocity. Columbia Glacier is a large marine-terminating glacier located in Southcentral Alaska that has been exhibiting pronounced retreat since the early 1980s. Since 2010, the glacier has split into two branches, the main branch and the west branch. We derived a 5-year record of surface velocity, mass flux (ice discharge), surface elevation and changes in front position using a dense time series of TanDEM-X synthetic aperture radar data (2011–2016). We observed distinct seasonal velocity patterns at both branches. At the main branch, the surface velocity peaked during late winter to midsummer but reached a minimum between late summer and fall. Its near-front velocity reached up to 14 m day−1 in May 2015 and was at its lowest speed of ~1 m day−1 in October 2012. Mass flux via the main branch was strongly controlled by the seasonal and interannual fluctuations of its velocity. The west branch also exhibited seasonal velocity variations with comparably lower magnitudes. The role of subglacial hydrology on the ice velocities of Columbia Glacier is already known from the published field measurements during summers of 1987. Our observed variability in its ice velocities on a seasonal basis also suggest that they are primarily controlled by the seasonal transition of the subglacial drainage system from an inefficient to an efficient and channelized drainage networks. However, abrupt velocity increase events for short periods (2014–2015 and 2015–2016 at the main branch, and 2013–2014 at the west branch) appear to be associated with strong near-front thinning and frontal retreat. This needs further investigation on the role of other potential controlling mechanisms. On the technological side, this study demonstrates the potential of high-resolution X-band SAR missions with a short revisit interval to ... Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier glaciers Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Remote Sensing 9 6 635
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic Columbia Glacier
bistatic InSAR
offset tracking
TanDEM-X mission
seasonal velocity
mass flux
elevation changes
Science
Q
spellingShingle Columbia Glacier
bistatic InSAR
offset tracking
TanDEM-X mission
seasonal velocity
mass flux
elevation changes
Science
Q
Saurabh Vijay
Matthias Braun
Seasonal and Interannual Variability of Columbia Glacier, Alaska (2011–2016): Ice Velocity, Mass Flux, Surface Elevation and Front Position
topic_facet Columbia Glacier
bistatic InSAR
offset tracking
TanDEM-X mission
seasonal velocity
mass flux
elevation changes
Science
Q
description Alaskan glaciers are among the largest contributors to sea-level rise outside the polar ice sheets. The contributions include dynamic discharge from marine-terminating glaciers which depends on the seasonally variable ice velocity. Columbia Glacier is a large marine-terminating glacier located in Southcentral Alaska that has been exhibiting pronounced retreat since the early 1980s. Since 2010, the glacier has split into two branches, the main branch and the west branch. We derived a 5-year record of surface velocity, mass flux (ice discharge), surface elevation and changes in front position using a dense time series of TanDEM-X synthetic aperture radar data (2011–2016). We observed distinct seasonal velocity patterns at both branches. At the main branch, the surface velocity peaked during late winter to midsummer but reached a minimum between late summer and fall. Its near-front velocity reached up to 14 m day−1 in May 2015 and was at its lowest speed of ~1 m day−1 in October 2012. Mass flux via the main branch was strongly controlled by the seasonal and interannual fluctuations of its velocity. The west branch also exhibited seasonal velocity variations with comparably lower magnitudes. The role of subglacial hydrology on the ice velocities of Columbia Glacier is already known from the published field measurements during summers of 1987. Our observed variability in its ice velocities on a seasonal basis also suggest that they are primarily controlled by the seasonal transition of the subglacial drainage system from an inefficient to an efficient and channelized drainage networks. However, abrupt velocity increase events for short periods (2014–2015 and 2015–2016 at the main branch, and 2013–2014 at the west branch) appear to be associated with strong near-front thinning and frontal retreat. This needs further investigation on the role of other potential controlling mechanisms. On the technological side, this study demonstrates the potential of high-resolution X-band SAR missions with a short revisit interval to ...
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Saurabh Vijay
Matthias Braun
author_facet Saurabh Vijay
Matthias Braun
author_sort Saurabh Vijay
title Seasonal and Interannual Variability of Columbia Glacier, Alaska (2011–2016): Ice Velocity, Mass Flux, Surface Elevation and Front Position
title_short Seasonal and Interannual Variability of Columbia Glacier, Alaska (2011–2016): Ice Velocity, Mass Flux, Surface Elevation and Front Position
title_full Seasonal and Interannual Variability of Columbia Glacier, Alaska (2011–2016): Ice Velocity, Mass Flux, Surface Elevation and Front Position
title_fullStr Seasonal and Interannual Variability of Columbia Glacier, Alaska (2011–2016): Ice Velocity, Mass Flux, Surface Elevation and Front Position
title_full_unstemmed Seasonal and Interannual Variability of Columbia Glacier, Alaska (2011–2016): Ice Velocity, Mass Flux, Surface Elevation and Front Position
title_sort seasonal and interannual variability of columbia glacier, alaska (2011–2016): ice velocity, mass flux, surface elevation and front position
publisher MDPI AG
publishDate 2017
url https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9060635
https://doaj.org/article/7bcbc63c29b24a4f8285496c455768e3
genre glacier
glaciers
Alaska
genre_facet glacier
glaciers
Alaska
op_source Remote Sensing, Vol 9, Iss 6, p 635 (2017)
op_relation http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/9/6/635
https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292
2072-4292
doi:10.3390/rs9060635
https://doaj.org/article/7bcbc63c29b24a4f8285496c455768e3
op_doi https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9060635
container_title Remote Sensing
container_volume 9
container_issue 6
container_start_page 635
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