Detecting spatial-temporal changes of glacier surge by satellite remote sensing
Project/Area Number |
24651001
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
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Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
Research Field |
Environmental dynamic analysis
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Research Institution | Hokkaido University |
Principal Investigator |
FURUYA Masato 北海道大学, 理学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (60313045)
|
Project Period (FY) |
2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
|
Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2014)
|
Budget Amount *help |
¥4,030,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥930,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥2,730,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥630,000)
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Keywords | glacier surge / SAR / West Kunlun Shan / Yukon / winter speed-up / glacier hydrology / remote sensing / Patagonia / Patagonia Icefield |
Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Glacier surge exhibits order(s)-of-magnitude faster surface velocities during the short active phase, accompanying terminus advances and ice-thickness changes. However, the generation mechanisms remain uncertain because of the limited observations of surging glaciers that repeat the active phase after the decades-long quiescent phase. Here we use satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images to examine the spatial-temporal changes in surface velocities, aiming to understand the mechanisms. We first identified surging glaciers at the West Kunlun Shan, NW Tibet. During the more-than-5-years-long active phase, we could detect clear seasonal modulations in their speeds that accelerated from fall to winter. In addition, we have discovered winter speed-up signals at the quiescent surge-type glaciers in Yukon, Canada. Namely, surge-type glaciers can accelerate even in the absence of surface meltwater input, suggesting the presence of englacial water and its rerouting toward the base.
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Report
(4 results)
Research Products
(37 results)