Three summers of high-resolution, high-accuracy velocity data of Helheim Glacier, as measured by an automated terrestrial LiDAR scanner: methods, challenges, and applications
Abstract
Existing remote sensing methods for measuring glacier velocities are often limited in spatial and/or temporal resolution. Remote terrestrial LiDAR scanning (TLS) can provide sufficient spatial coverage and high temporal resolution, but its use as a glacier monitoring tool is nascent. In 2015, the ATLAS remote terrestrial LiDAR system was installed on the south side of Helheim Glacier in southeast Greenland to capture temporal and spatial variations in ice velocity at the terminus of this large tidewater glacier. The ATLAS system uses a 1064 nm laser to survey the glacier every six hours at ranges up to 6 km. After three summers of data collection, we have a large high-resolution velocity dataset for 2015, 2016, and 2017. We present and compare these velocity results, discuss the change detection methods used to calculate velocities from three-dimensional point clouds, and consider the accuracies of the data themselves and change detection methods used upon them. We address the challenges associated with automatic TLS collection in harsh environments that have prevented us from successfully collecting year-round velocity data up to this point. We discuss uses for these velocity data and present preliminary results analyzing the dynamic response of the glacier to large-scale calving events.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AGUFM.C41B1215G
- Keywords:
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- 0720 Glaciers;
- CRYOSPHERE;
- 0746 Lakes;
- CRYOSPHERE;
- 0758 Remote sensing;
- CRYOSPHERE;
- 0762 Mass balance 0764 Energy balance;
- CRYOSPHERE