Quantifying ice cliff evolution with multi-temporal point clouds on the debris-covered Khumbu Glacier, Nepal
Measurements of glacier ice cliff evolution are sparse, but where they do exist, they indicate that such areas of exposed ice contribute a disproportionate amount of melt to the glacier ablation budget. We used Structure from Motion photogrammetry with Multi-View Stereo to derive 3-D point clouds fo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2017-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Glaciology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143017000478/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1811155864515510272 |
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| author | C. SCOTT WATSON DUNCAN J. QUINCEY MARK W. SMITH JONATHAN L. CARRIVICK ANN V. ROWAN MIKE R. JAMES |
| author_facet | C. SCOTT WATSON DUNCAN J. QUINCEY MARK W. SMITH JONATHAN L. CARRIVICK ANN V. ROWAN MIKE R. JAMES |
| author_sort | C. SCOTT WATSON |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Measurements of glacier ice cliff evolution are sparse, but where they do exist, they indicate that such areas of exposed ice contribute a disproportionate amount of melt to the glacier ablation budget. We used Structure from Motion photogrammetry with Multi-View Stereo to derive 3-D point clouds for nine ice cliffs on Khumbu Glacier, Nepal (in November 2015, May 2016 and October 2016). By differencing these clouds, we could quantify the magnitude, seasonality and spatial variability of ice cliff retreat. Mean retreat rates of 0.30–1.49 cm d−1 were observed during the winter interval (November 2015–May 2016) and 0.74–5.18 cm d−1 were observed during the summer (May 2016–October 2016). Four ice cliffs, which all featured supraglacial ponds, persisted over the full study period. In contrast, ice cliffs without a pond or with a steep back-slope degraded over the same period. The rate of thermo-erosional undercutting was over double that of subaerial retreat. Overall, 3-D topographic differencing allowed an improved process-based understanding of cliff evolution and cliff-pond coupling, which will become increasingly important for monitoring and modelling the evolution of thinning debris-covered glaciers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:41:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6dffd3599cff4e06b861297d7c24d0a3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:41:48Z |
| publishDate | 2017-10-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Glaciology |
| spelling | doaj.art-6dffd3599cff4e06b861297d7c24d0a32023-03-09T12:40:28ZengCambridge University PressJournal of Glaciology0022-14301727-56522017-10-016382383710.1017/jog.2017.47Quantifying ice cliff evolution with multi-temporal point clouds on the debris-covered Khumbu Glacier, NepalC. SCOTT WATSON0DUNCAN J. QUINCEY1MARK W. SMITH2JONATHAN L. CARRIVICK3ANN V. ROWAN4MIKE R. JAMES5School of Geography and University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UKSchool of Geography and University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UKSchool of Geography and University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UKSchool of Geography and University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UKDepartment of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UKLancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UKMeasurements of glacier ice cliff evolution are sparse, but where they do exist, they indicate that such areas of exposed ice contribute a disproportionate amount of melt to the glacier ablation budget. We used Structure from Motion photogrammetry with Multi-View Stereo to derive 3-D point clouds for nine ice cliffs on Khumbu Glacier, Nepal (in November 2015, May 2016 and October 2016). By differencing these clouds, we could quantify the magnitude, seasonality and spatial variability of ice cliff retreat. Mean retreat rates of 0.30–1.49 cm d−1 were observed during the winter interval (November 2015–May 2016) and 0.74–5.18 cm d−1 were observed during the summer (May 2016–October 2016). Four ice cliffs, which all featured supraglacial ponds, persisted over the full study period. In contrast, ice cliffs without a pond or with a steep back-slope degraded over the same period. The rate of thermo-erosional undercutting was over double that of subaerial retreat. Overall, 3-D topographic differencing allowed an improved process-based understanding of cliff evolution and cliff-pond coupling, which will become increasingly important for monitoring and modelling the evolution of thinning debris-covered glaciers.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143017000478/type/journal_articledebris-covered glaciersglacial geomorphologyglaciological instruments and methodsremote sensingsupraglacial lakes |
| spellingShingle | C. SCOTT WATSON DUNCAN J. QUINCEY MARK W. SMITH JONATHAN L. CARRIVICK ANN V. ROWAN MIKE R. JAMES Quantifying ice cliff evolution with multi-temporal point clouds on the debris-covered Khumbu Glacier, Nepal Journal of Glaciology debris-covered glaciers glacial geomorphology glaciological instruments and methods remote sensing supraglacial lakes |
| title | Quantifying ice cliff evolution with multi-temporal point clouds on the debris-covered Khumbu Glacier, Nepal |
| title_full | Quantifying ice cliff evolution with multi-temporal point clouds on the debris-covered Khumbu Glacier, Nepal |
| title_fullStr | Quantifying ice cliff evolution with multi-temporal point clouds on the debris-covered Khumbu Glacier, Nepal |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantifying ice cliff evolution with multi-temporal point clouds on the debris-covered Khumbu Glacier, Nepal |
| title_short | Quantifying ice cliff evolution with multi-temporal point clouds on the debris-covered Khumbu Glacier, Nepal |
| title_sort | quantifying ice cliff evolution with multi temporal point clouds on the debris covered khumbu glacier nepal |
| topic | debris-covered glaciers glacial geomorphology glaciological instruments and methods remote sensing supraglacial lakes |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143017000478/type/journal_article |
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