Quantification of Asian and Alaskan Glacier Dynamic Since 1990s - A Multi-Satellite Approach
Tseng, Kuo-Hsin1; Shum, C.K1; Braun, Alexander2; Lee, Hyongki3; Wan, Junkun1; Huang, Zhenwei1; Duan, Jianbin1; Yi, Yuchan1
1The Ohio State University, UNITED STATES; 2University of Texas at Dallas/Dept. of Geosciences, UNITED STATES; 3University of Houston, UNITED STATES

Shrinking glacier worldwide contributes nearly 70% in the present-day sea level rise. The depletion of a massive amount of freshwater storage invokes a global awareness under the climate change crisis. The quantification of glacier dynamic in terms of surface variation and associated equivalent mass change using remote sensing products mainly depends on the post-processing techniques of radar/laser altimetry, delineation of glacier outlines, and the accuracy in the digital elevation model (DEM). Meanwhile, these observations are also sensitive to a variety of in situ conditions such as surface gradient, firn/snow density, and debris cover. In this study, we propose to compare multiple satellite products, both radar (Envisat) and laser (ICESat GLAS) altimetry, and exploit two glacier inventory: Global Land Ice Measurement from Space (GLIMS) and Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI), and two DEMs: ASTER GDEM2 and SRTM (C-band and X-band), towards quantifying the glacier mass changes and compare with in situ data from multiple pairings. The surface condition will also be validated by synchronous Landsat imagery. In the end, the decadal trend of glacier mass balance change in target area is linked to the fluctuation in atmospheric variables, obtained from ECMWF's ERA-Interim reanalysis model, such as temperature, snow fall, precipitation, and snow density.