High-Resolution Monitoring of Glacier Mass Balance and Dynamics with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on the Ningchan No. 1 Glacier in the Qilian Mountains, China
Glaciers located in the Qilian Mountains are rapidly retreating and thinning due to climate change. The current understanding of small glacier mass balance changes under a changing climate is limited by the scarcity of in situ measurements in both time and space as well as the resolution of remote s...
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MDPI AG
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/14/2735 |
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| author | Bo Cao Weijin Guan Kaiji Li Baotian Pan Xiaodong Sun |
| author_facet | Bo Cao Weijin Guan Kaiji Li Baotian Pan Xiaodong Sun |
| author_sort | Bo Cao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Glaciers located in the Qilian Mountains are rapidly retreating and thinning due to climate change. The current understanding of small glacier mass balance changes under a changing climate is limited by the scarcity of in situ measurements in both time and space as well as the resolution of remote sensing products. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide an unparalleled opportunity to track the spatiotemporal variations in glacier extent at a high resolution and the changing glacier morphological features related to glacial dynamics. Five measurements were performed on the Ningchan No. 1 (NC01) glacier in the Qilian Mountains between 18 August 2017 and 13 August 2020. The glacier changes displayed in the digital orthophoto maps (DOMs) and digital surface models (DSMs) show a 7.4 ± 0.1 m a<sup>−1</sup> retreat of the terminus of NC01, a mass balance of −1.22 ± 0.1 m w.e. a<sup>−1</sup> from 2017 to 2020, and a maximum surface velocity of 3.2 ± 0.47 m from 18 August 2017 to 26 August 2018, which clearly show consistency with stake measurements. The surface elevation change was influenced by the combined effects of air temperature, altitude, slope, and surface velocity. This research demonstrates that UAV photogrammetry can greatly improve the temporal and spatial resolution of glaciological research. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:25:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3e8c734d06754007888552acc435f730 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:25:27Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-3e8c734d06754007888552acc435f7302023-11-22T04:51:38ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-07-011314273510.3390/rs13142735High-Resolution Monitoring of Glacier Mass Balance and Dynamics with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on the Ningchan No. 1 Glacier in the Qilian Mountains, ChinaBo Cao0Weijin Guan1Kaiji Li2Baotian Pan3Xiaodong Sun4Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (MOE), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (MOE), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (MOE), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (MOE), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (MOE), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaGlaciers located in the Qilian Mountains are rapidly retreating and thinning due to climate change. The current understanding of small glacier mass balance changes under a changing climate is limited by the scarcity of in situ measurements in both time and space as well as the resolution of remote sensing products. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide an unparalleled opportunity to track the spatiotemporal variations in glacier extent at a high resolution and the changing glacier morphological features related to glacial dynamics. Five measurements were performed on the Ningchan No. 1 (NC01) glacier in the Qilian Mountains between 18 August 2017 and 13 August 2020. The glacier changes displayed in the digital orthophoto maps (DOMs) and digital surface models (DSMs) show a 7.4 ± 0.1 m a<sup>−1</sup> retreat of the terminus of NC01, a mass balance of −1.22 ± 0.1 m w.e. a<sup>−1</sup> from 2017 to 2020, and a maximum surface velocity of 3.2 ± 0.47 m from 18 August 2017 to 26 August 2018, which clearly show consistency with stake measurements. The surface elevation change was influenced by the combined effects of air temperature, altitude, slope, and surface velocity. This research demonstrates that UAV photogrammetry can greatly improve the temporal and spatial resolution of glaciological research.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/14/2735unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)glacier mass balanceglacier surface velocityQilian Mountains |
| spellingShingle | Bo Cao Weijin Guan Kaiji Li Baotian Pan Xiaodong Sun High-Resolution Monitoring of Glacier Mass Balance and Dynamics with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on the Ningchan No. 1 Glacier in the Qilian Mountains, China Remote Sensing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) glacier mass balance glacier surface velocity Qilian Mountains |
| title | High-Resolution Monitoring of Glacier Mass Balance and Dynamics with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on the Ningchan No. 1 Glacier in the Qilian Mountains, China |
| title_full | High-Resolution Monitoring of Glacier Mass Balance and Dynamics with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on the Ningchan No. 1 Glacier in the Qilian Mountains, China |
| title_fullStr | High-Resolution Monitoring of Glacier Mass Balance and Dynamics with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on the Ningchan No. 1 Glacier in the Qilian Mountains, China |
| title_full_unstemmed | High-Resolution Monitoring of Glacier Mass Balance and Dynamics with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on the Ningchan No. 1 Glacier in the Qilian Mountains, China |
| title_short | High-Resolution Monitoring of Glacier Mass Balance and Dynamics with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on the Ningchan No. 1 Glacier in the Qilian Mountains, China |
| title_sort | high resolution monitoring of glacier mass balance and dynamics with unmanned aerial vehicles on the ningchan no 1 glacier in the qilian mountains china |
| topic | unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) glacier mass balance glacier surface velocity Qilian Mountains |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/14/2735 |
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