Using satellite imagery to assess the glacier retreat in King George Island, Antarctica
In recent decades, remote sensing has become a powerful tool for continuously monitoring glacier dynamics in remote areas, enabling the identification of significant spatiotemporal changes due to its capacity to provide multitemporal information at regional and global scales. In this study, Landsat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universitat Politècnica de València
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Revista de Teledetección |
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| Online Access: | https://polipapers.upv.es/index.php/raet/article/view/22317 |
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| author | Ibeth Rojas-Macedo Cinthya Bello Wilson Suarez Edwin Loarte Fiorella Vega-Jacome Maria G. Bustamante Rosell Pedro M. Tapia |
| author_facet | Ibeth Rojas-Macedo Cinthya Bello Wilson Suarez Edwin Loarte Fiorella Vega-Jacome Maria G. Bustamante Rosell Pedro M. Tapia |
| author_sort | Ibeth Rojas-Macedo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In recent decades, remote sensing has become a powerful tool for continuously monitoring glacier dynamics in remote areas, enabling the identification of significant spatiotemporal changes due to its capacity to provide multitemporal information at regional and global scales. In this study, Landsat satellite images (1989–2020) were used to quantify glacier retreat in the ice cap of King George Island (KGI), located in the Antarctic Peninsula, and to evaluate the teleconnections of El Niño – Southern Oscillation - ENSO (ONI and SOI indices) with climatic
variables (temperature and precipitation) in this region. Our findings reveal a 10% loss in glacier coverage over the last 31 years, with a slower glacier retreat observed since 2008. Glaciers with smaller areas and marine terminating were the most affected. Of the 73 glaciers on KGI, 42% had continental terminating, 21% had marine terminating, and 37% had mixed terminating (continental and marine). Of the total glacier area lost, 35% corresponds to glaciers with marine terminating, while 16% corresponds to glaciers with continental terminating. Furthermore, climatic variables exhibited heterogeneous responses during ENSO events, with a significant correlation between mean temperature and ONI at the annual level and during the austral spring, which may be influencing glacier retreat in the study area to some extent. |
| first_indexed | 2025-02-16T22:07:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ed69a994a3d1443d80f4ca0f5b50a69e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1133-0953 1988-8740 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-16T22:07:34Z |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Universitat Politècnica de València |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revista de Teledetección |
| spelling | doaj.art-ed69a994a3d1443d80f4ca0f5b50a69e2025-01-15T11:29:22ZengUniversitat Politècnica de ValènciaRevista de Teledetección1133-09531988-87402025-01-016510.4995/raet.2025.2231721507Using satellite imagery to assess the glacier retreat in King George Island, AntarcticaIbeth Rojas-Macedo0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5891-8194Cinthya Bello1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4154-6379Wilson Suarez2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3409-790XEdwin Loarte3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3123-1904Fiorella Vega-Jacome4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4580-9324Maria G. Bustamante Rosell5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3253-1597Pedro M. Tapia6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0708-4468National Agrarian UniversityUniversidad Científica del Sur Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología del PerúUniversidad Nacional Santiago Antúnez de Mayolo University of Potsdam National Institute of Glaciers and Mountain Ecosystems of Peru (INAIGEM)Universidad Peruana Cayetano HerediaIn recent decades, remote sensing has become a powerful tool for continuously monitoring glacier dynamics in remote areas, enabling the identification of significant spatiotemporal changes due to its capacity to provide multitemporal information at regional and global scales. In this study, Landsat satellite images (1989–2020) were used to quantify glacier retreat in the ice cap of King George Island (KGI), located in the Antarctic Peninsula, and to evaluate the teleconnections of El Niño – Southern Oscillation - ENSO (ONI and SOI indices) with climatic variables (temperature and precipitation) in this region. Our findings reveal a 10% loss in glacier coverage over the last 31 years, with a slower glacier retreat observed since 2008. Glaciers with smaller areas and marine terminating were the most affected. Of the 73 glaciers on KGI, 42% had continental terminating, 21% had marine terminating, and 37% had mixed terminating (continental and marine). Of the total glacier area lost, 35% corresponds to glaciers with marine terminating, while 16% corresponds to glaciers with continental terminating. Furthermore, climatic variables exhibited heterogeneous responses during ENSO events, with a significant correlation between mean temperature and ONI at the annual level and during the austral spring, which may be influencing glacier retreat in the study area to some extent.https://polipapers.upv.es/index.php/raet/article/view/22317remote sensingking george islandglacier retreatel niño-southern oscillationantarctica |
| spellingShingle | Ibeth Rojas-Macedo Cinthya Bello Wilson Suarez Edwin Loarte Fiorella Vega-Jacome Maria G. Bustamante Rosell Pedro M. Tapia Using satellite imagery to assess the glacier retreat in King George Island, Antarctica Revista de Teledetección remote sensing king george island glacier retreat el niño-southern oscillation antarctica |
| title | Using satellite imagery to assess the glacier retreat in King George Island, Antarctica |
| title_full | Using satellite imagery to assess the glacier retreat in King George Island, Antarctica |
| title_fullStr | Using satellite imagery to assess the glacier retreat in King George Island, Antarctica |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using satellite imagery to assess the glacier retreat in King George Island, Antarctica |
| title_short | Using satellite imagery to assess the glacier retreat in King George Island, Antarctica |
| title_sort | using satellite imagery to assess the glacier retreat in king george island antarctica |
| topic | remote sensing king george island glacier retreat el niño-southern oscillation antarctica |
| url | https://polipapers.upv.es/index.php/raet/article/view/22317 |
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