APPLICATION OF IMAGE DIFFERENCING AND DEM DIFFERENCING IN GLACIOLOGICAL STUDIES

Remote sensing application in mapping and assessing glaciers is difficult due to inherent sensor limitations and information extraction issues. Conventional field based methods are difficult to use in most regions due to treacherous terrain leading to limited accessibility, high topography and severe weather conditions. Moreover, the use of remote sensing for glaciologic studies is also limited by spatio-temporal spectral variations, cloud cover and saturation due to dynamic glacier surfaces and sensor gain settings. Also, glacier elevation changes and ice-velocity estimates are constrained by systematic biases in digital elevation models. This presentation will outline new remote sensing based methodology to monitor glacier frontal fluctuation and elevation differencing.