Landsat Satellites Observed Dynamics of Snowline Altitude at the End of the Melting Season, Himalayas, 1991–2022

Studying the dynamics of snowline altitude at the end of the melting season (SLA-EMS) is beneficial in predicting future trends of glaciers and non-seasonal snow cover and in comprehending regional and global climate change. This study investigates the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of SLA...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jingwen Wang, Zhiguang Tang, Gang Deng, Guojie Hu, Yuanhong You, Yancheng Zhao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-05-01
Series:Remote Sensing
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/10/2534
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Summary:Studying the dynamics of snowline altitude at the end of the melting season (SLA-EMS) is beneficial in predicting future trends of glaciers and non-seasonal snow cover and in comprehending regional and global climate change. This study investigates the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of SLA-EMS in nine glacier areas of the Himalayas, utilizing Landsat images from 1991 to 2022. The potential correlations between SLA-EMS, alterations in temperature, and variations in precipitation across the Himalayas region glacier are also being analyzed. The results obtained are summarized below: (1) the Landsat-extracted SLA-EMS exhibits a strong agreement with the minimum snow coverage at the end of the melting season derived from Sentinel-2, achieving an overall accuracy (OA) of 92.6% and a kappa coefficient of 0.85. The SLA-EMS can be accurately obtained by using this model. (2) In the last 30 years, the SLA-EMS in the study areas showed an upward trend, with the rising rate ranging from 0.4 m·a<sup>−1</sup> to 9.4 m·a<sup>−1</sup>. Among them, the SLA-EMS of Longbasaba rose fastest, and that of Namunani rose slowest. (3) The SLA-EMS in different regions of the Himalayas in a W-E direction have different sensitivity to precipitation and temperature. However, almost all of them show a positive correlation with temperature and a negative correlation with precipitation.
ISSN:2072-4292