Semi-automated open water iceberg detection from Landsat applied to Disko Bay, West Greenland
Changes in Greenland's marine-terminating outlet glaciers have led to changes in the flux of icebergs into Greenland's coastal waters, yet icebergs remain a relatively understudied component of the ice-ocean system. We developed a simple iceberg delineation algorithm for Landsat imagery. A...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2019-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Glaciology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143019000236/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1811155776613384192 |
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| author | JESSICA SCHEICK ELLYN M. ENDERLIN GORDON HAMILTON |
| author_facet | JESSICA SCHEICK ELLYN M. ENDERLIN GORDON HAMILTON |
| author_sort | JESSICA SCHEICK |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Changes in Greenland's marine-terminating outlet glaciers have led to changes in the flux of icebergs into Greenland's coastal waters, yet icebergs remain a relatively understudied component of the ice-ocean system. We developed a simple iceberg delineation algorithm for Landsat imagery. A machine learning-based cloud mask incorporated into the algorithm enables us to extract iceberg size distributions from open water even in partially cloudy scenes. We applied the algorithm to the Landsat archive covering Disko Bay, West Greenland, to derive a time series of iceberg size distributions from 2000–02 and 2013–15. The time series captures a change in iceberg size distributions, which we interpret as a result of changes in the calving regime of the parent glacier, Sermeq Kujalleq (Jakobshavn Isbræ). The change in calving style associated with the disintegration and disappearance of Sermeq Kujalleq's floating ice tongue resulted in the production of more small icebergs. The increased number of small icebergs resulted in increasingly negative power law slopes fit to iceberg size distributions in Disko Bay, suggesting that iceberg size distribution time series provide useful insights into changes in calving dynamics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:40:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-04b5ac93665245e3be5b79b1b1e515c4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:40:19Z |
| publishDate | 2019-06-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Glaciology |
| spelling | doaj.art-04b5ac93665245e3be5b79b1b1e515c42023-03-09T12:40:45ZengCambridge University PressJournal of Glaciology0022-14301727-56522019-06-016546848010.1017/jog.2019.23Semi-automated open water iceberg detection from Landsat applied to Disko Bay, West GreenlandJESSICA SCHEICK0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3421-4459ELLYN M. ENDERLIN1GORDON HAMILTON2School of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USASchool of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USASchool of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USAChanges in Greenland's marine-terminating outlet glaciers have led to changes in the flux of icebergs into Greenland's coastal waters, yet icebergs remain a relatively understudied component of the ice-ocean system. We developed a simple iceberg delineation algorithm for Landsat imagery. A machine learning-based cloud mask incorporated into the algorithm enables us to extract iceberg size distributions from open water even in partially cloudy scenes. We applied the algorithm to the Landsat archive covering Disko Bay, West Greenland, to derive a time series of iceberg size distributions from 2000–02 and 2013–15. The time series captures a change in iceberg size distributions, which we interpret as a result of changes in the calving regime of the parent glacier, Sermeq Kujalleq (Jakobshavn Isbræ). The change in calving style associated with the disintegration and disappearance of Sermeq Kujalleq's floating ice tongue resulted in the production of more small icebergs. The increased number of small icebergs resulted in increasingly negative power law slopes fit to iceberg size distributions in Disko Bay, suggesting that iceberg size distribution time series provide useful insights into changes in calving dynamics.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143019000236/type/journal_articlecalvingicebergsice-ocean interactionsremote sensing |
| spellingShingle | JESSICA SCHEICK ELLYN M. ENDERLIN GORDON HAMILTON Semi-automated open water iceberg detection from Landsat applied to Disko Bay, West Greenland Journal of Glaciology calving icebergs ice-ocean interactions remote sensing |
| title | Semi-automated open water iceberg detection from Landsat applied to Disko Bay, West Greenland |
| title_full | Semi-automated open water iceberg detection from Landsat applied to Disko Bay, West Greenland |
| title_fullStr | Semi-automated open water iceberg detection from Landsat applied to Disko Bay, West Greenland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Semi-automated open water iceberg detection from Landsat applied to Disko Bay, West Greenland |
| title_short | Semi-automated open water iceberg detection from Landsat applied to Disko Bay, West Greenland |
| title_sort | semi automated open water iceberg detection from landsat applied to disko bay west greenland |
| topic | calving icebergs ice-ocean interactions remote sensing |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143019000236/type/journal_article |
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