Hostname: page-component-5b777bbd6c-v47t2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-06-24T07:06:19.841Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Blue ice areas and their topographical properties in the Lambert glacier, Amery Iceshelf system using Landsat ETM+, ICESat laser altimetry and ASTER GDEM data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2011

Jaehyung Yu ,
Hongxing Liu ,
Lei Wang ,
Kenneth C. Jezek  and
Joonghyeok Heo
Jaehyung Yu*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Geosciences, Texas A&M University, Kingsville MSC175, 700 University Blvd, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA
Hongxing Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0131, USA
Lei Wang
Affiliation:
Department of Geography & Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
Kenneth C. Jezek
Affiliation:
Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Joonghyeok Heo
Affiliation:
Department of Geology & Geophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
*
jaehyung.yu@tamuk.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Blue ice extent and its geographical distribution during the three years from December 1999–January 2003 have been mapped together with rock exposure areas for the entire Lambert-Amery glacial basin at an unprecedented level of spatial detail using Landsat ETM+ images. Various geometric and shape attributes for each blue ice patch have been derived. The total area of blue ice is estimated to be 20 422 km2, accounting for 1.48% of the glacial basin. We also found that the image texture information is helpful for distinguishing different types of blue ice: rough blue ice, smooth blue ice, and level blue ice. Rough blue ice areas are mostly associated with glacial dynamics and located in relatively low elevation regions, smooth blue ice areas are often related to nunataks and mountains, steep slopes and wind blows, and level blue ice areas are formed by melt-induced lakes in the margin of the ice shelf and melt-induced ponds on the ice shelf in low elevations. The elevation and surface slope properties of different types of blue ice area are characterized through regional topographical analysis with ICESat laser altimetry data. The effect of mountain height on the blue ice extent is also examined with local topographic profile analysis based on the ASTER global digital elevation model. The wide variation of the ratio of blue ice area length to mountain height indicates that the factors controlling the formation and extent of blue ice are more complicated than we previously thought.

Keywords

extent of blue iceformation of blue icesurface texture of blue icetopographic profile analysis
Type
Physical Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , 06 February 2012 , pp. 95 - 110
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Anys, H., Bannari, A., He, D.C.Morin, D. 1994. Texture analysis for the mapping of urban areas using airborne MEIS-II images. Proceedings of the First International Airborne Remote Sensing Conference and Exhibition, Strasbourg, France. Ann Arbor, MI: Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, 3, 231–245.Google Scholar
Arvidson, T., Gasch, J.Goward, S.N. 2001. Latsat 7's long-term acquisition plan – an innovative approach to building a global imagery archive. Remote Sensing of Environment, 78, 13–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bindschadler, R.Vornberger, P. 2000. Detecting ice sheet topography with AVHRR, RESURS-01, and Landsat TM imagery. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 66, 417–422.Google Scholar
Bindschadler, R., Vornberger, P., Fleming, A., Fox, A., Mullins, J., Binnie, D., Paulsen, S.J.Granneman, B. 2008. Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA). Remote Sensing of Environment, 112, 4214–4226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bintanja, R. 1999. On the glaciological, meteorological, and climatological significance of Antarctic blue ice areas. Reviews of Geophysics, 37, 337–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bintanja, R.Reijmer, C.H. 2001. Meteorological conditions over Antarctic blue ice areas and their influence on the local surface mass balance. Journal of Glaciology, 47, 37–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronge, L.B.Bronge, C. 1999. Ice and snow-type classification in Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, using Landsat-TM data and ground radiometer measurements. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 20, 225–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, I.C.Scambos, T.A. 2004. Satellite monitoring of blue ice extent near Byrd Glacier, Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 39, 223–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Budd, W.F. 1966. Ablation from an Antarctica ice surface. In Oura, H.,ed. Physics of snow and ice. Proceedings of the International Conference on Low Temperature Science, Sapporo, Japan, August 14–19, 1966. Hokkaido, Japan: Institute of Low Temperature Science, 431–446.Google Scholar
DiMarzio, J., Brenner, A., Schutz, R., Shuman, C.A.Zwally, H.J. 2007. GLAS/ICESat 500 m laser altimetry digital elevation model of America. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center. [Digital media].Google Scholar
Faure, G.Buchanan, D. 1991. Ablation rates of the ice fields in the vicinity of the Allan Hills, Victoria. Antarctic Research Series, 53, 19–31.Google Scholar
Jensen, R. 2004. Introductory digital image processing, 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 544 pp.Google Scholar
Jezek, K.C., Drinkwater, M.R., Crawford, J.P., Bindschadler, R.Kwok, R. 1993. Analysis of synthetic aperture radar data collected over south-western Greenland ice sheet. Journal of Glaciology, 39, 119–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liston, G.E., Winther, J.G., Baruland, O., Elvohoy, H.Sand, K. 1999. Below-surface ice melt on the coastal Antarctic ice sheet. Journal of Glaciology, 45, 273–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, H., Wang, L.Jezek, K. 2006. Automated delineation of dry and melt snow zones in Antarctica using active and passive microwave observations from space. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 44, 2152–2162.Google Scholar
Liu, H., Yu, J., Zhao, Z.Jezek, K. 2008. Incorporation of flow stripes as constraints for calibrating ice surface velocity measurements from interferometric SAR data. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, 74, 1501–1508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McIntyre, N.F. 1985. A re-assessment of the mass balance in the Lambert Glacier drainage basin. Journal of Glaciology, 31, 34–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mellor, M.Swithinbank, C. 1989. Airfields on Antarctic glacier ice. Hanover, NH: Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, report no. 89-21, 97 pp.Google Scholar
Nishio, F.Annexstad, J.O. 1979. Glaciological survey in the bare ice area near the Allan Hills in Victoria Land, Antarctica. Memoirs of National Institute of Polar Research, Special Issue, 17, 1–13.Google Scholar
Orheim, O.Lucchitta, B. 1990. Investigating climate change by digital analysis of blue ice extent on satellite images of Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 14, 211–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scarchilli, C., Frezzotti, M., Grigioni, P., Silvestri, L.D., Agnoletto, L.Dolci, S. 2010. Extraordinary blowing snow transport events in East Antarctica. Climate Dynamics, 34, 1195–1206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schutz, B.E., Zwally, H.J., Shuman, C.A., Hancock, D.DiMarzio, J.P. 2005. Overview of the ICESat mission. Geophysical Research Letters, 32, 10.1029/2005GL024009.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schytt, V. 1961. Glaciology II. Blue ice fields, moraine features and glacier fluctuations. Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition, 1942–1952, Scientific Results, 4E, 182–204.Google Scholar
Shuman, C.A., Zwally, H.J., Schutz, B.E., Brenner, A.C., DiMarzio, J.P., Suchdeo, V.P.Fricker, H.A. 2006. ICESat Antarctic elevation data: preliminary precision and accuracy assessment. Geophysical Research Letters, 33, 10.1029/2005GL025227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sinisalo, A.Moore, J.C. 2010. Antarctic blue ice areas – towards extracting palaeoclimate information. Antarctic Science, 22, 99–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soille, P. 1994. Generalized geodesic distances applied to interpolation and shape descriptions. In Serra, J.&Soille, P., eds. Mathematical morphology and its application to image processing. London: Kluwer Academic, 193–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swithinbank, C. 1991. Potential airfield sites in Antarctica for wheeled aircraft. Hanover, NH: Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, report no. 91-24, 68 pp.Google Scholar
Takahashi, S., Endoh, T., Azuma, N.Meshida, S. 1992. Bare ice fields developed in the inland part of Antarctica. Proceedings of the NIPR Symposium on Polar Meteorology and Glaciology, 5, 128–139.Google Scholar
Takahashi, S., Naruse, R., Masayoshi, N.Mae, S. 1988. A bare ice field in East Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, caused by horizontal divergence of snow. Annals of Glaciology, 11, 156–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van den Broeke, M.R.Bintanja, R. 1995. The interaction of katabatic winds and the formation of blue ice areas in East Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology, 41, 395–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warren, S.G.Wiscombe, W.J. 1980. A model for the spectral albedo of snow. II: Snow containing atmospheric aerosols. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 37, 2734–2745.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winther, J., Jespersen, M.N.Liston, G.E. 2001. Blue ice areas in Antarctica derived from NOAA AVHRR satellite data. Journal of Glaciology, 47, 325–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yu, J. 2005. Investigation of glacial dynamics in Lambert glacial basin using satellite remote sensing techniques. PhD thesis, Texas A&M University, 191 pp. [Unpublished].Google Scholar
Yu, J., Liu, H., Jezek, K., Warner, R.Wen, J. 2010. Analysis of velocity field, mass balance and basal melt of the Lambert Glacier-Amery Ice Shelf system by incorporating Radarsat SAR interferometry and ICESat laser altimetry measurements. Journal of Geophysical Research, 115, 10.1029/2010JB007456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zwally, H.J., Schutz, R., Bentley, C., Bufton, J., Herring, T., Minster, J., Spinhirne, J.Thomas, R. 2003. GLAS/ICESat L2 Antarctic and Greenland ice sheet altimetry data V001. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center. [Digital media].Google Scholar