Detection of Surface Crevasses over Antarctic Ice Shelves Using SAR Imagery and Deep Learning Method

Crevasses are formed by glacier movement and the stresses within glacier ice. Knowledge of the crevasses’ distribution is critical for understanding the glacier and ice shelf stability. In this study, we propose an automated crevasse extraction framework based on Sentinel-1 SAR imagery and an improv...

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Published in:Remote Sensing
Main Authors: Jingjing Zhao, Shuang Liang, Xinwu Li, Yiru Duan, Lei Liang
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022
Subjects:
Q
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030487
https://doaj.org/article/89b8e5c58f244bb88ca6fa4df92ef22e
id ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:89b8e5c58f244bb88ca6fa4df92ef22e
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:89b8e5c58f244bb88ca6fa4df92ef22e 2023-05-15T13:22:02+02:00 Detection of Surface Crevasses over Antarctic Ice Shelves Using SAR Imagery and Deep Learning Method Jingjing Zhao Shuang Liang Xinwu Li Yiru Duan Lei Liang 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030487 https://doaj.org/article/89b8e5c58f244bb88ca6fa4df92ef22e EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/3/487 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs14030487 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/89b8e5c58f244bb88ca6fa4df92ef22e Remote Sensing, Vol 14, Iss 487, p 487 (2022) crevasses Sentinel-1 SAR improved U-Net network Antarctic ice shelves Science Q article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030487 2022-12-31T15:51:00Z Crevasses are formed by glacier movement and the stresses within glacier ice. Knowledge of the crevasses’ distribution is critical for understanding the glacier and ice shelf stability. In this study, we propose an automated crevasse extraction framework based on Sentinel-1 SAR imagery and an improved U-Net network. The spatial distribution of crevasses on Antarctic ice shelves in 2020 was mapped with a spatial resolution of ~40 m, and the characteristics of crevasses on the Nickerson Ice Shelf, Jelbart Ice Shelf, Amery Ice Shelf, Thwaites Glacier, and Shackleton Ice Shelf were analyzed. The results indicated the extraction accuracy of our method was 84.2% and the F1 score was 72.5%. Compared with previous published studies, the identification of the crevasse areas had good visual consistency. However, in some scenes, the recall rate was relatively lower due to the quality of the SAR image, terrain surrounding the crevasses, and observation geometry. The crevasses on different ice shelves had different characteristics in terms of length, density, type, and spatial pattern, implying the different stress structures of ice shelves. The Thwaites Glacier and the Nickerson Ice Shelf in the West Antarctica Ice Sheet (WAIS) had shorter ice crevasses, whereas the lengths of ice crevasses on the Jelbart Ice Shelf and the Amery Ice Shelf in the East Antarctica Ice Sheet (EAIS) were relatively long. Nevertheless, there are more closely spaced crevasses on the ice shelf in WAIS compared to that in the EAIS. For the distribution of crevasse types, the Nickerson Ice Shelf and the Shackleton Ice Shelf had various forms of crevasses. There were mainly transverse crevasses developed on the Jelbart Ice Shelf and the Amery Ice Shelf. This study provides a helpful reference and guidance for automated crevasse extraction. The method proposed by this study manifests great application potential and the efficacy of producing a time-series crevasse data set with higher spatial resolution and larger coverage. In the future, more ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Amery Ice Shelf Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Jelbart Ice Shelf Nickerson Ice Shelf Shackleton Ice Shelf Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic East Antarctica West Antarctica Shackleton Amery ENVELOPE(-94.063,-94.063,56.565,56.565) Amery Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(71.000,71.000,-69.750,-69.750) Thwaites Glacier ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) Nickerson ENVELOPE(168.800,168.800,-83.450,-83.450) Shackleton Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(100.504,100.504,-65.996,-65.996) Jelbart Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(-4.500,-4.500,-70.500,-70.500) Nickerson Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(-145.000,-145.000,-75.750,-75.750) Remote Sensing 14 3 487
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic crevasses
Sentinel-1 SAR
improved U-Net network
Antarctic ice shelves
Science
Q
spellingShingle crevasses
Sentinel-1 SAR
improved U-Net network
Antarctic ice shelves
Science
Q
Jingjing Zhao
Shuang Liang
Xinwu Li
Yiru Duan
Lei Liang
Detection of Surface Crevasses over Antarctic Ice Shelves Using SAR Imagery and Deep Learning Method
topic_facet crevasses
Sentinel-1 SAR
improved U-Net network
Antarctic ice shelves
Science
Q
description Crevasses are formed by glacier movement and the stresses within glacier ice. Knowledge of the crevasses’ distribution is critical for understanding the glacier and ice shelf stability. In this study, we propose an automated crevasse extraction framework based on Sentinel-1 SAR imagery and an improved U-Net network. The spatial distribution of crevasses on Antarctic ice shelves in 2020 was mapped with a spatial resolution of ~40 m, and the characteristics of crevasses on the Nickerson Ice Shelf, Jelbart Ice Shelf, Amery Ice Shelf, Thwaites Glacier, and Shackleton Ice Shelf were analyzed. The results indicated the extraction accuracy of our method was 84.2% and the F1 score was 72.5%. Compared with previous published studies, the identification of the crevasse areas had good visual consistency. However, in some scenes, the recall rate was relatively lower due to the quality of the SAR image, terrain surrounding the crevasses, and observation geometry. The crevasses on different ice shelves had different characteristics in terms of length, density, type, and spatial pattern, implying the different stress structures of ice shelves. The Thwaites Glacier and the Nickerson Ice Shelf in the West Antarctica Ice Sheet (WAIS) had shorter ice crevasses, whereas the lengths of ice crevasses on the Jelbart Ice Shelf and the Amery Ice Shelf in the East Antarctica Ice Sheet (EAIS) were relatively long. Nevertheless, there are more closely spaced crevasses on the ice shelf in WAIS compared to that in the EAIS. For the distribution of crevasse types, the Nickerson Ice Shelf and the Shackleton Ice Shelf had various forms of crevasses. There were mainly transverse crevasses developed on the Jelbart Ice Shelf and the Amery Ice Shelf. This study provides a helpful reference and guidance for automated crevasse extraction. The method proposed by this study manifests great application potential and the efficacy of producing a time-series crevasse data set with higher spatial resolution and larger coverage. In the future, more ...
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Jingjing Zhao
Shuang Liang
Xinwu Li
Yiru Duan
Lei Liang
author_facet Jingjing Zhao
Shuang Liang
Xinwu Li
Yiru Duan
Lei Liang
author_sort Jingjing Zhao
title Detection of Surface Crevasses over Antarctic Ice Shelves Using SAR Imagery and Deep Learning Method
title_short Detection of Surface Crevasses over Antarctic Ice Shelves Using SAR Imagery and Deep Learning Method
title_full Detection of Surface Crevasses over Antarctic Ice Shelves Using SAR Imagery and Deep Learning Method
title_fullStr Detection of Surface Crevasses over Antarctic Ice Shelves Using SAR Imagery and Deep Learning Method
title_full_unstemmed Detection of Surface Crevasses over Antarctic Ice Shelves Using SAR Imagery and Deep Learning Method
title_sort detection of surface crevasses over antarctic ice shelves using sar imagery and deep learning method
publisher MDPI AG
publishDate 2022
url https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030487
https://doaj.org/article/89b8e5c58f244bb88ca6fa4df92ef22e
long_lat ENVELOPE(-94.063,-94.063,56.565,56.565)
ENVELOPE(71.000,71.000,-69.750,-69.750)
ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500)
ENVELOPE(168.800,168.800,-83.450,-83.450)
ENVELOPE(100.504,100.504,-65.996,-65.996)
ENVELOPE(-4.500,-4.500,-70.500,-70.500)
ENVELOPE(-145.000,-145.000,-75.750,-75.750)
geographic Antarctic
East Antarctica
West Antarctica
Shackleton
Amery
Amery Ice Shelf
Thwaites Glacier
Nickerson
Shackleton Ice Shelf
Jelbart Ice Shelf
Nickerson Ice Shelf
geographic_facet Antarctic
East Antarctica
West Antarctica
Shackleton
Amery
Amery Ice Shelf
Thwaites Glacier
Nickerson
Shackleton Ice Shelf
Jelbart Ice Shelf
Nickerson Ice Shelf
genre Amery Ice Shelf
Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
East Antarctica
Ice Sheet
Ice Shelf
Ice Shelves
Jelbart Ice Shelf
Nickerson Ice Shelf
Shackleton Ice Shelf
Thwaites Glacier
West Antarctica
genre_facet Amery Ice Shelf
Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
East Antarctica
Ice Sheet
Ice Shelf
Ice Shelves
Jelbart Ice Shelf
Nickerson Ice Shelf
Shackleton Ice Shelf
Thwaites Glacier
West Antarctica
op_source Remote Sensing, Vol 14, Iss 487, p 487 (2022)
op_relation https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/3/487
https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292
doi:10.3390/rs14030487
2072-4292
https://doaj.org/article/89b8e5c58f244bb88ca6fa4df92ef22e
op_doi https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030487
container_title Remote Sensing
container_volume 14
container_issue 3
container_start_page 487
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