Observing hourly changes in a glacier's surface with Terrestrial Radar Interferometry
Abstract
Capturing rapid changes in the surface of a glacier requires frequent observations. Terrestrial Radar Interferometry (TRI) is a new technique that relies on a portable, ground-based radar to image the terminal zones of glaciers up to 10 km from the calving front. TRI offers denser spatial sampling than GPS and higher temporal sampling than satellite SAR, making it an excellent tool to monitor fast-moving glaciers. This study focuses on developing methods to generate robust topographic and deformation maps with TRI. Breidamerkurjokull is a fast-moving glacier in southeastern Iceland with summer velocities as high as 4 m/d at the calving front. The glacier terminates at, and continuously calves icebergs into, a tidally-influenced lagoon. To better understand its dynamics, we image the glacier with the GAMMA Portable Radar Interferometer (GPRI). The GPRI is a Ku-band real-aperture radar with one transmitting and two receiving antennas. The configuration of the receiving antennas allows estimates of glacier topography with each subsequent image acquisition along with a deformation map, since the baseline between the antennas is known and fixed. We will present results that show the temporal evolution of the glacier's surface over a period of approximately one week, including volumetric ice change estimates for the imaged area.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012AGUFM.C21C0619V
- Keywords:
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- 0758 CRYOSPHERE / Remote sensing