Analyzing Yengisogat Glacier surface velocities with ALOS PALSAR data feature tracking, Karakoram, China

Little is known about the detailed behavior of glaciers in the Karakoram Mountains. Advanced land observing satellite (ALOS) phased array type L-band synthetic aperture radar (PALSAR) data were used to obtain the surface velocity of the Yengisogat Glacier in the Karakoram Mountains. Four ALOS PALSAR data sets with 46 days temporal baseline acquired from 2007 to 2009 covered all four seasons and were used to extract the offset fields and estimate annual average surface velocity based on seasonal velocities. For the ALOS PALSAR data the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) feature-tracking procedures within the GAMMA software were utilized instead of SAR interferometry because of low coherence in case of fast-moving glaciers or large time intervals between the image acquisitions. The accuracy of the measurements is discussed, and the measurements were consistent with previous results from optical imagery feature tracking. It was revealed that the south tributaries contributed to the main flow of the glacier, with the glacier surface velocities of the south tributaries moving more rapidly than the north tributaries. This was mainly attributed to the effect of the glacier’s aspect in the glacier long-term development point of view. Seasonal and spatial variations of the glacier surface velocity imply that the tributary South Skamri Glacier is probably surging. This has previously been mentioned by some researchers such as Copland et al. The Equilibrium Line Altitude was found to be at about 5,000 m a.s.l for south tributaries, estimated from the surface velocity distribution along the glacier centerline.