Estimation of mass-balance rate of ice-flow in the Satopanth glacier using optical remote sensing and surface elevation
Student name: Mr Sujai Banerji
Guide: Dr P K Joshi
Year of completion: 2015
Host Organisation: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr Raaj Ramsankaran
Abstract: Glacial monitoring in recent times has gained a lot of impetus from the scientific community
as changes in glacial extents, which are an indicator of their health, are recognized to be
attributed to climate change. Therefore, there is an immediate need for research to provide
greater clarity about the details of hydro-meteorological processes in the Himalayas. The
devastating flood of Uttarakhand that occurred in June 2013 and killed thousands of people is
a case in point.In this study, the focus is turned to Satopanth Glacier which is one such
sensitive glacier. The parameter for glacier health has been identified to be the mass-balance
rate which has been found out by employing a sophisticated methodology. Using the plug-in,
COSI-Corr, which is a program compatible with the ENVI 5.0 platform, a displacement map
is generated.Extensive image processing techniques have been employed on this map using
ArcGIS 10.2 to generate the mass-balance rate distribution over the glacier. The breakthrough
of this research has been the fact that all the data that has been generated has only used optical
remote sensing imagery which is contrary to the usual practice of using microwave imagery.
A hypsometric sensitivity analysis of the glacial parameters such as the Correction Factor (C)
has been done which has been used in conjunction with various other parameters to reveal
some important facts such as the need for ground penetrating radar measurements for
Satopanth Glacier or a geomorphologically similar glacier like Dokriani Glacier for the
calculation of mass-balance rate distribution but not for ice-flux distribution. The icethickness
distribution of the glacier with the help of the respective DEM may be used for
analysis of the bed-rock topography which plays a vital role in the movement of the glacier.
The drawbacks and the future scope of this work have been discussed briefly as well.
Keywords:COSI-Corr, Surface Velocity, Ice-thickness, Ice-Flux, Mass-balance rate.
