Greater than the sum of its parts: optical remote sensing and sediment core data provide a holistic perspective on glacial processes
In this letter we make the case that closer integration of sediment core and passive optical remote sensing data would provide new insights into past and contemporary glacio-sedimentary processes. Sediment cores are frequently used to study past glacial processes and environments as they contain a l...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
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| Series: | Journal of Glaciology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143024000078/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1797294866186633216 |
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| author | Henry Jacob Miller Gage Carolyn Hope Eyles |
| author_facet | Henry Jacob Miller Gage Carolyn Hope Eyles |
| author_sort | Henry Jacob Miller Gage |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this letter we make the case that closer integration of sediment core and passive optical remote sensing data would provide new insights into past and contemporary glacio-sedimentary processes. Sediment cores are frequently used to study past glacial processes and environments as they contain a lengthy geochemical and sedimentological record of changing conditions. In contrast, optical remote sensing imagery is used extensively to examine contemporary glacial processes, including meltwater dynamics, glacial retreat, calving, and ice accumulation. While paleoenvironmental data from sediment cores and optical remote sensing imagery are rarely used in tandem, they are complementary. Sediment core records are spatially discrete, providing long-term paleoenvironmental proxy data which require assumptions about environment-sediment linkages. Optical imagery offers precise, spatially extensive data to visualize contemporary processes often limited in their temporal extent. We suggest that methodologies which integrate optical remotely sensing with sediment core data allow direct observation of processes interpolated from sedimentological analysis and achieve a more holistic perspective on glacial processes. This integration addresses the limitations of both data sources and can achieve a stronger understanding of glacier dynamics by expanding the spatiotemporal extent of data, reducing the uncertainty of interpretations, and broadening the local analyses to regional and global scales. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T21:38:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2ebe6820867f42248b8dc13840c763a9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T21:38:18Z |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Glaciology |
| spelling | doaj.art-2ebe6820867f42248b8dc13840c763a92024-02-26T10:28:54ZengCambridge University PressJournal of Glaciology0022-14301727-56521710.1017/jog.2024.7Greater than the sum of its parts: optical remote sensing and sediment core data provide a holistic perspective on glacial processesHenry Jacob Miller Gage0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8670-5957Carolyn Hope Eyles1School of Earth, Environment, and Society, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, CanadaSchool of Earth, Environment, and Society, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, CanadaIn this letter we make the case that closer integration of sediment core and passive optical remote sensing data would provide new insights into past and contemporary glacio-sedimentary processes. Sediment cores are frequently used to study past glacial processes and environments as they contain a lengthy geochemical and sedimentological record of changing conditions. In contrast, optical remote sensing imagery is used extensively to examine contemporary glacial processes, including meltwater dynamics, glacial retreat, calving, and ice accumulation. While paleoenvironmental data from sediment cores and optical remote sensing imagery are rarely used in tandem, they are complementary. Sediment core records are spatially discrete, providing long-term paleoenvironmental proxy data which require assumptions about environment-sediment linkages. Optical imagery offers precise, spatially extensive data to visualize contemporary processes often limited in their temporal extent. We suggest that methodologies which integrate optical remotely sensing with sediment core data allow direct observation of processes interpolated from sedimentological analysis and achieve a more holistic perspective on glacial processes. This integration addresses the limitations of both data sources and can achieve a stronger understanding of glacier dynamics by expanding the spatiotemporal extent of data, reducing the uncertainty of interpretations, and broadening the local analyses to regional and global scales.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143024000078/type/journal_articleglacial sedimentologypaleoclimateremote sensing |
| spellingShingle | Henry Jacob Miller Gage Carolyn Hope Eyles Greater than the sum of its parts: optical remote sensing and sediment core data provide a holistic perspective on glacial processes Journal of Glaciology glacial sedimentology paleoclimate remote sensing |
| title | Greater than the sum of its parts: optical remote sensing and sediment core data provide a holistic perspective on glacial processes |
| title_full | Greater than the sum of its parts: optical remote sensing and sediment core data provide a holistic perspective on glacial processes |
| title_fullStr | Greater than the sum of its parts: optical remote sensing and sediment core data provide a holistic perspective on glacial processes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Greater than the sum of its parts: optical remote sensing and sediment core data provide a holistic perspective on glacial processes |
| title_short | Greater than the sum of its parts: optical remote sensing and sediment core data provide a holistic perspective on glacial processes |
| title_sort | greater than the sum of its parts optical remote sensing and sediment core data provide a holistic perspective on glacial processes |
| topic | glacial sedimentology paleoclimate remote sensing |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143024000078/type/journal_article |
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