Interannual and Seasonal Variability of Glacier Surface Velocity in the Parlung Zangbo Basin, Tibetan Plateau
Monitoring glacier flow is vital to understand the response of mountain glaciers to environmental forcing in the context of global climate change. Seasonal and interannual variability of surface velocity in the temperate glaciers of the Parlung Zangbo Basin (PZB) has attracted significant attention....
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MDPI AG
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/1/80 |
| _version_ | 1797543291960426496 |
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| author | Jing Zhang Li Jia Massimo Menenti Shaoting Ren |
| author_facet | Jing Zhang Li Jia Massimo Menenti Shaoting Ren |
| author_sort | Jing Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Monitoring glacier flow is vital to understand the response of mountain glaciers to environmental forcing in the context of global climate change. Seasonal and interannual variability of surface velocity in the temperate glaciers of the Parlung Zangbo Basin (PZB) has attracted significant attention. Detailed patterns in glacier surface velocity and its seasonal variability in the PZB are still uncertain, however. We utilized Landsat-8 (L8) OLI data to investigate in detail the variability of glacier velocity in the PZB by applying the normalized image cross-correlation method. On the basis of satellite images acquired from 2013 to 2020, we present a map of time-averaged glacier surface velocity and examined four typical glaciers (Yanong, Parlung No.4, Xueyougu, and Azha) in the PZB. Next, we explored the driving factors of surface velocity and of its variability. The results show that the glacier centerline velocity increased slightly in 2017–2020. The analysis of meteorological data at two weather stations on the outskirts of the glacier area provided some indications of increased precipitation during winter-spring. Such increase likely had an impact on ice mass accumulation in the up-stream portion of the glacier. The accumulated ice mass could have caused seasonal velocity changes in response to mass imbalance during 2017–2020. Besides, there was a clear winter-spring speedup of 40% in the upper glacier region, while a summer speedup occurred at the glacier tongue. The seasonal and interannual velocity variability was captured by the transverse velocity profiles in the four selected glaciers. The observed spatial pattern and seasonal variability in glacier surface velocity suggests that the winter-spring snow might be a driver of glacier flow in the central and upper portions of glaciers. Furthermore, the variations in glacier surface velocity are likely related to topographic setting and basal slip caused by the percolation of rainfall. The findings on glacier velocity suggest that the transfer of winter-spring accumulated ice triggered by mass conservation seems to be the main driver of changes in glacier velocity. The reasons that influence the seasonal surface velocity change need further investigation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:42:29Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:42:29Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-4589756e71614ab1a76b23edb589c83c2023-11-21T02:51:34ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922020-12-011318010.3390/rs13010080Interannual and Seasonal Variability of Glacier Surface Velocity in the Parlung Zangbo Basin, Tibetan PlateauJing Zhang0Li Jia1Massimo Menenti2Shaoting Ren3State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaMonitoring glacier flow is vital to understand the response of mountain glaciers to environmental forcing in the context of global climate change. Seasonal and interannual variability of surface velocity in the temperate glaciers of the Parlung Zangbo Basin (PZB) has attracted significant attention. Detailed patterns in glacier surface velocity and its seasonal variability in the PZB are still uncertain, however. We utilized Landsat-8 (L8) OLI data to investigate in detail the variability of glacier velocity in the PZB by applying the normalized image cross-correlation method. On the basis of satellite images acquired from 2013 to 2020, we present a map of time-averaged glacier surface velocity and examined four typical glaciers (Yanong, Parlung No.4, Xueyougu, and Azha) in the PZB. Next, we explored the driving factors of surface velocity and of its variability. The results show that the glacier centerline velocity increased slightly in 2017–2020. The analysis of meteorological data at two weather stations on the outskirts of the glacier area provided some indications of increased precipitation during winter-spring. Such increase likely had an impact on ice mass accumulation in the up-stream portion of the glacier. The accumulated ice mass could have caused seasonal velocity changes in response to mass imbalance during 2017–2020. Besides, there was a clear winter-spring speedup of 40% in the upper glacier region, while a summer speedup occurred at the glacier tongue. The seasonal and interannual velocity variability was captured by the transverse velocity profiles in the four selected glaciers. The observed spatial pattern and seasonal variability in glacier surface velocity suggests that the winter-spring snow might be a driver of glacier flow in the central and upper portions of glaciers. Furthermore, the variations in glacier surface velocity are likely related to topographic setting and basal slip caused by the percolation of rainfall. The findings on glacier velocity suggest that the transfer of winter-spring accumulated ice triggered by mass conservation seems to be the main driver of changes in glacier velocity. The reasons that influence the seasonal surface velocity change need further investigation.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/1/80Parlung Zangbo Basinglacier velocityspatial-temporal variationsmotion mechanism |
| spellingShingle | Jing Zhang Li Jia Massimo Menenti Shaoting Ren Interannual and Seasonal Variability of Glacier Surface Velocity in the Parlung Zangbo Basin, Tibetan Plateau Remote Sensing Parlung Zangbo Basin glacier velocity spatial-temporal variations motion mechanism |
| title | Interannual and Seasonal Variability of Glacier Surface Velocity in the Parlung Zangbo Basin, Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full | Interannual and Seasonal Variability of Glacier Surface Velocity in the Parlung Zangbo Basin, Tibetan Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Interannual and Seasonal Variability of Glacier Surface Velocity in the Parlung Zangbo Basin, Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Interannual and Seasonal Variability of Glacier Surface Velocity in the Parlung Zangbo Basin, Tibetan Plateau |
| title_short | Interannual and Seasonal Variability of Glacier Surface Velocity in the Parlung Zangbo Basin, Tibetan Plateau |
| title_sort | interannual and seasonal variability of glacier surface velocity in the parlung zangbo basin tibetan plateau |
| topic | Parlung Zangbo Basin glacier velocity spatial-temporal variations motion mechanism |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/1/80 |
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