Dynamical change at tidewater glaciers examined using time-lapse photogrammetry

Retreating glaciers and ice sheets provide a significant contribution to sea level rise, which will affect future populations and their activities. Accurate sea level projections are needed in order to best inform policy makers, but these projections are limited by our understanding of dynamical cha...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: How, Penelope
Other Authors: Bingham, Robert, Dugmore, Andrew, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
Language:English
Published: The University of Edinburgh 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1842/31103
Description
Summary:Retreating glaciers and ice sheets provide a significant contribution to sea level rise, which will affect future populations and their activities. Accurate sea level projections are needed in order to best inform policy makers, but these projections are limited by our understanding of dynamical change at marine-terminating glaciers. Terrestrial time-lapse photography has proved to be a viable approach for obtaining high-detail observational records, and is used here to examine signals of dynamical change at two tidewater glaciers in Svalbard. Photogrammetric measurements were extracted using PyTrx (`Python Tracking'), a new photogrammetry toolbox that has been developed here for deriving velocities (e.g. glacier surface velocity), surface areas (e.g. supraglacial lake area, surfacing plume area), and line distances (e.g. terminus profiles). PyTrx has been created as a Python-alternative photogrammetry software, and offers additional functionality to the typical monoscopic feature-tracking toolboxes that are currently available. Subglacial hydrology and its relation to basal sliding were examined at Kronebreen, Svalbard. The results revealed a difference in flow efficiency between the north and south regions of the glacier tongue, which influences spatial patterns in surface velocities. Long-term changes in ice flow were concluded to be controlled by the location of effcient and inefficient drainage, and the position of regions where water is stored and released. Changes in terminus conditions and calving processes were examined at Tunabreen, a surge-type tidewater glacier. Observations suggested that atmospheric forcing plays a larger role in terminus stability than previously considered, and it is likely that terminus dynamics at Tunabreen are the product of a unique interplay between oceanic and atmospheric forcing which are shaped by the glacier's surge-type nature. Additionally, calving activity at Tunabreen can be characterised as high-frequency, low-magnitude events, and a high proportion of its long-term ...