Remote Sensing And GIS

Applications In Glacier And Snow Cover

StudiesBy

Swetha A

5WD12CGI15

Introduction•Snow : Atmospheric water vapor frozen into ice crystals and

falling in light white flakes or lying on the ground as a white layer.

•Glacier : are large masses of snow, recrystallized ice and rock debris that accumulate in great quantities and begin to flow outwards and downwards under the pressure of their own weight

•Snow cover : ground covered with snow showing some depth

•Sea ice : Sea ice is simply frozen ocean water .Found in remote polar oceans

What is the cryosphere?

• Some places on Earth are so cold that water is a solid—ice or

snow. Scientists call these frozen places of our planet the

"cryosphere." (snow , ice, glacier, sea ice, ice selves ice bergs,

frozen ground)

• The Arctic

• Antarctica

• And In between (snow on Mount Kilimanjaro is in 

Africa )

Types of Glaciers• Ice Sheets• Ice Shelves• Ice Caps• Ice Streams• Ice fields• Mountain Glaciers• Valley Glaciers• Piedmont Glaciers• Cirque Glaciers• Hanging Glaciers• Tidewater Glaciers

Types of snow cover• New snow

• Firn

• Névé

• Old snow

• Seasonal snow

• Perennial snow

• Powder snow

Distribution of glaciers and ice around the world.

• The GLIMS project (Global Land Ice Measurements from Space) is currently creating a unique glacier inventory storing critical information about the extent and rates of change of the world's estimated 160,000 glaciers.

Antarctica

Greenland

Snow Cover (1 month - Terra/MODIS)April 1, 2013 00:00-May 1, 2013 00:00

Arctic Sea Ice

Maps of September ice extent for 1980, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011

Arctic Sea IceAcquired September 14,

1984 Acquired September 13, 2012

• These snow cover maps are made from observations collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite.

• Snow cover values range from medium blue (greater than 0 percent) to white (100 percent).

• Landmasses that do not sustain snow cover and places where MODIS did not collect data are gray or black.

• Because MODIS relies on visible light to assess snow cover, the sensor cannot collect data over the highest latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere during winter when no sunlight reaches those regions.

MODIS ( Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer )

• Is a key instrument aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites.

• Terra was launched on December 18, 1999, and Aqua was launched on May 4, 2002

• Terra's orbit around the Earth is timed so that it passes from north to south across the equator in the morning, while Aqua passes south to north over the equator in the afternoon.

• Terra MODIS and Aqua MODIS are viewing the entire Earth's surface every 1 to 2 days, acquiring data in 36 spectral bands, or groups of wavelengths

• 1,000-m, 500-m, and 250-m resolution spectral bands

• Works in visible region .

• The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite capture this view of the Chesapeake Bay region

• Lake Michigan, South. The true color image (left) while the false color ice cover image (right) is derived from the MODIS/Terra Snow Cover. Image courtesy of NSIDC.(National Snow and Ice Data Center)

• Patagonian glaciers, including Los Glaciares National Park and

the Moreno Glacier. Chile and Argentina.

• The Vatnajokull glacier is the largest in Iceland.

• Glacial moraine near Zermatt, Switzerland.

Glaciers on Landsat GeoCover Satellite Images

GISGIS of of Qinghai-Tibet PlateauQinghai-Tibet Plateau

GIS ofGIS of the the Region alongRegion along the the Qinghai-Tibet highway and railQinghai-Tibet highway and rail

Chinese glacier

Baffin Island towards east with ASTER image draped over ASTER-derived DEM.

Snow cover

Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI)

GIS TOOL TO COMPARE SIMULATED ANDREMOTELY SENSED SNOW-COVER

OBSERVATIONS

• A GIS (geographic information system)-based Snow-Cover Comparison Tool (SCCT)

Snow and Glacier Melt Run

The Himalayas abut or cross five countries: Bhutan, India, Nepal, China, and Pakistan

Karakoram region, and in the Greater Himalayan Range

Thickening Of Karakoram Glaciers In Himalayas

• Map of Khurdopin Glacier, a surge-type glacier, during 2000-2008. The yellow polygon shows the area where the thinning rate (and thus the ablation rate) is averaged. PHOTO: CNES 2008 / Distribution Spot Image

Do glaciers and snow affect people?

• Glaciers Provide Drinking Water

• Glaciers Irrigate Crops

• Glaciers Help Generate Hydroelectric Power

• Recreation

Skiing and snowboarding

Snowshoeing

Snowmobiling

Are glaciers and snow dangerous?

• Flooding Caused By A Glacier

• Avalanches From Glaciers

• The Threat Of Icebergs

• Snow Avalanches

• Ice Storm

• Blizzard

• Thunder Snow

Snow & glacier melting due to• Global warming(0.32° increase)

• Greenhouse effect

• Climatic change

• Land use changes

• Deforestation (increase in atmospheric methane )

Conclusion• Polar Satellites

• 518A - Preserving Glaciers and Polar Regions

(Iceland, Finland and Chile )

• Monitoring Of Snow Cover

• Instrument development

• Seasonal changes monitoring

• Microwave Images

References• National Snow And Ice Data Center (NSIDC)

• Snow Cover And Glacier Change Study In Nepalese Himalaya

Using Remote Sensing And Geographic Information System

By Arun Bhakta Shrestha1 And Sharad Prasad Joshi2

• Mapping Glacier Variations From 1990 To 2006in The

Central Mongolian Altai By Brandon Scott Krumwiede

• Monitoring Receding Of Glaciers And In North-eastern

Pakistan Through Geo-informatics Techniques By Umair Bin

Zamir

The end Any queries ?