Glacier Velocity Measurements with Landsat-8 Oli Data

Abstract

Mountain glaciers are sensitive to climate change and are thus relevant indicators of regional climate variability. In order to understand the dynamics of glaciers, retrieving glacier surface velocity is valuable in understanding physical processes in glaciers. We apply an image cross-correlation algorithm in the frequency domain to derive glacier velocity on the Yanong glacier between 2013 and 2018. The results indicate that the flow patterns are related to the terrain complexity. Yanong Glacier maximum velocity was 168 m/year at the elevation around 4700 meters. The surface velocity exceeded 100 m/year above the elevation of 4200 m, while above 5000 m the surface velocity fluctuated around 60 m/year along the main stream.