Surface Velocities of Glaciers in Western Canada from Speckle-Tracking of ALOS PALSAR and RADARSAT-2 data

Speckle-tracking of historically acquired ALOS PALSAR and RADARSAT-2 datasets are used to determine the dynamics of major glaciers and ice masses in western Canada over the past decade. For the icefields of the St. Elias Mountains and those that fringe the northern British Columbia/Alaska border, ou...

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Main Authors: Wesley Van Wychen, Luke Copland, Hester Jiskoot, Laurence Gray, Martin Sharp, David Burgess
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2018-01-01
Series:Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07038992.2018.1433529
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author Wesley Van Wychen
Luke Copland
Hester Jiskoot
Laurence Gray
Martin Sharp
David Burgess
author_facet Wesley Van Wychen
Luke Copland
Hester Jiskoot
Laurence Gray
Martin Sharp
David Burgess
author_sort Wesley Van Wychen
collection DOAJ
description Speckle-tracking of historically acquired ALOS PALSAR and RADARSAT-2 datasets are used to determine the dynamics of major glaciers and ice masses in western Canada over the past decade. For the icefields of the St. Elias Mountains and those that fringe the northern British Columbia/Alaska border, our results are largely consistent with earlier studies that used the same data, but different speckle-tracking techniques, to derive ice motion. However, our results are generally more spatially comprehensive than those previously published, in particular in fast-flowing regions such as Hubbard, Seward, Tweedsmuir and Lowell glaciers. We also produce new velocity maps for the icefields located in the Coast Mountains of southwestern British Columbia and for the Chaba, Clemenceau and Columbia icefields of the Rocky Mountains. Generally, faster flow is present on large ocean- and land-terminating outlet glaciers, particularly those in high accumulation maritime regions. These results, taken together with velocity maps of the Canadian Arctic and Yukon produced in previous studies, mean that baseline maps of glacier velocities determined from speckle tracking of SAR datasets are now available for nearly all the major ice masses of Canada.
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spelling doaj.art-049417d7241840dfaadbec4be5d00d9f2023-10-12T13:36:22ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCanadian Journal of Remote Sensing1712-79712018-01-01441576610.1080/07038992.2018.14335291433529Surface Velocities of Glaciers in Western Canada from Speckle-Tracking of ALOS PALSAR and RADARSAT-2 dataWesley Van Wychen0Luke Copland1Hester Jiskoot2Laurence Gray3Martin Sharp4David Burgess5Environment and GeomaticsEnvironment and GeomaticsUniversity of LethbridgeEnvironment and GeomaticsUniversity of AlbertaNatural Resources CanadaSpeckle-tracking of historically acquired ALOS PALSAR and RADARSAT-2 datasets are used to determine the dynamics of major glaciers and ice masses in western Canada over the past decade. For the icefields of the St. Elias Mountains and those that fringe the northern British Columbia/Alaska border, our results are largely consistent with earlier studies that used the same data, but different speckle-tracking techniques, to derive ice motion. However, our results are generally more spatially comprehensive than those previously published, in particular in fast-flowing regions such as Hubbard, Seward, Tweedsmuir and Lowell glaciers. We also produce new velocity maps for the icefields located in the Coast Mountains of southwestern British Columbia and for the Chaba, Clemenceau and Columbia icefields of the Rocky Mountains. Generally, faster flow is present on large ocean- and land-terminating outlet glaciers, particularly those in high accumulation maritime regions. These results, taken together with velocity maps of the Canadian Arctic and Yukon produced in previous studies, mean that baseline maps of glacier velocities determined from speckle tracking of SAR datasets are now available for nearly all the major ice masses of Canada.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07038992.2018.1433529
spellingShingle Wesley Van Wychen
Luke Copland
Hester Jiskoot
Laurence Gray
Martin Sharp
David Burgess
Surface Velocities of Glaciers in Western Canada from Speckle-Tracking of ALOS PALSAR and RADARSAT-2 data
Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing
title Surface Velocities of Glaciers in Western Canada from Speckle-Tracking of ALOS PALSAR and RADARSAT-2 data
title_full Surface Velocities of Glaciers in Western Canada from Speckle-Tracking of ALOS PALSAR and RADARSAT-2 data
title_fullStr Surface Velocities of Glaciers in Western Canada from Speckle-Tracking of ALOS PALSAR and RADARSAT-2 data
title_full_unstemmed Surface Velocities of Glaciers in Western Canada from Speckle-Tracking of ALOS PALSAR and RADARSAT-2 data
title_short Surface Velocities of Glaciers in Western Canada from Speckle-Tracking of ALOS PALSAR and RADARSAT-2 data
title_sort surface velocities of glaciers in western canada from speckle tracking of alos palsar and radarsat 2 data
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07038992.2018.1433529
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