GLIMS definition of a glacier

The GLIMS definition of a ‘glacier’, tailored to remote sensing and compliant with the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) standards, states that: ‘A glacier or perennial snow mass, identified by a single GLIMS glacier ID, consists of a body of ice and snow that is observed at the end of the melt season, or, in the case of tropical glaciers, after transient snow melts. This includes, at a minimum, all tributaries and connected feeders that contribute ice to the main glacier, plus all debris-covered parts of it. Excluded is all exposed ground, including nunataks. An ice shelf shall be considered as a separate glacier’ (GLIMS Analysis Tutorial).

The following selected points from the explanation section should also be mentioned:

1. Bodies of ice above the bergschrund that are connected to the glacier should be considered part of the glacier, because they contribute snow (through avalanches) and ice (through creep flow) to the glacier.

2. A tributary in a glacier system that has been treated (and named) historically as a separate glacier should be included as part of the glacier into which it flows.

3. A stagnant ice mass that is still in contact with a glacier is part of the glacier, even if it supports an old growth forest.

4. If snowfields are identifiable, they should be disconnected from the main glacier. For hydrological purposes, they can be included in the GLIMS Glacier Database under a separate GLIMS glacier ID, but they must be marked as a snowfield.

5. Lateral glacier outlines that might be hidden by seasonal snow or by avalanches should be labeled as preliminary, or even the entire glacier can be excluded. Ice avalanche cones below a glacier terminus (dry-calving) are not part of the glacier.

Debris-covered glaciers

Debris cover on a glacier varies with thickness, presence or absence of dead ice, type of rock, thermal resistance of the material, etc. (e.g. Reference PaulMihalcea and others, 2008). Given the high variability in debris characteristics, an attempt to present a standardized definition of debris-covered ice is difficult. Debris on the glacier tongues refers to material incorporated into a glacier by mass-wasting processes, entrainment of subglacial debris and meltout of englacial debris. On a typical debris-covered glacier, such as Khumbu Glacier, Nepal Himalaya, the thickness of the debris ranges from 0m at the boundary with clean ice to up to several meters at the glacier snout (Conway and Rasmussen, 2000; Reference Klein and IsacksKayastha and others, 2000; Reference Taschner and RanziTakeuchi and others, 2000). Special cases which do not necessarily fit this category include: thermokarst debris-covered tongues on Tana Glacier, Chugach Mountains, Alaska, USA, and Malaspina Glacier, Alaska, where active debris-covered ice is covered by vegetation [1]; the old, weathered and dirty calving margin of Tasman Glacier, New Zealand (Reference Schiefer, Menounos and WheateRöhl, 2008), wet debris cover, as well as ice covered completely or partly by debris, where only some patches of ice are visible. Such ‘special cases’ must be treated separately. All debris-covered parts of the glacier should be mapped if possible.

Rock glaciers are sometimes difficult to distinguish from debris-covered glaciers in medium-resolution satellite imagery. Rock glaciers differ from debris-covered glaciers mainly by a much smaller size and a missing accumulation area. They often reach further down in elevation and their typical ridge-and-furrow surface structure and steep fronts result in a characteristic illumination pattern that can be identified on satellite scenes in most cases. We recommend that rock glaciers be included as a separate category in a glacier inventory when they are easily identified and properly delineated.

Ice divides

Ice divides are used to define the glacier as an individual entity in a hydrologic sense. This implies that connected units must be separated in the accumulation area where they drain into different basins. The separation of tributaries is more delicate as their connectivity can change over time. From this point of view it makes sense to start with the oldest available datasets (e.g. Little Ice Age extent as mapped from trimlines). According to the GLIMS Analysis Tutorial:

1. If there is no flow between separate parts of a contiguous ice mass, the two parts should, in general, be treated as distinct units, separated at the topographic divide. However, for practical purposes, such an ice mass may be analyzed as a unit at the analyst’s discretion, if delineation of the flow divides is impossible or impractical.

2. Any steep rock walls that avalanche snow onto a glacier but do not retain snow themselves should not be included as part of the glacier.

Glacier mapping: clean ice and glacier lakes

Multitemporal satellite imagery from the Landsat TM and ETM+, Système Probatoire pour l’Observation de la Terre (SPOT) and ASTER sensors has been used for automated glacier mapping within the context of the GLIMS initiative in the Swiss Alps (Reference KargelKääb and others, 2002; Reference Paul, Kääb, Maisch, Kellenberger and HaeberliPaul and others, 2002), central Asia (Reference KrupnikKhromova and others, 2003,Reference Kulkarni2006; Reference Svoboda and PaulSurazakov and Aizen, 2006; Reference Aizen, Kuzmichenok, Surazakov and AizenAizen and others, 2007; Reference BolchBolch, 2007), the Peruvian Andes (Reference Gregory and OerlemansGeorges, 2004; Reference Raper and BraithwaiteRacoviteanu and others, 2008a) and the Himalaya (Reference Bolch, Kamp, Kaufmann and SulzerBolch and Kamp, 2006; Reference Bolch, Buchroithner, Pieczonka and KunertBolch and others, 2008) among others. Most of the papers presented at the GLIMS workshop dealt with glacier mapping algorithms from Landsat and ASTER. Here we present an overview of various methods for automated delineation of clean to slightly dirty glacier ice, with advantages and disadvantages of each algorithm. A more detailed review and comparison of band ratio techniques is provided by Reference Paul, Kääb, Maisch, Kellenberger and HaeberliPaul and others (2002), Reference Paul, Huggel and KääbPaul and Kääb (2005), Reference Paul and HaeberliPaul (2007) and Reference Raper, Brown and BraithwaiteRacoviteanu and others (2008b).

Automatic delineation of clean glacier ice relies on the high reflectivity of snow and ice in the VNIR wavelengths (0.4–1.2 μm) compared with a very low reflectivity in the shortwave infrared (SWIR; 1.4–2.5 μm) (Dozier, 1989; Reference Rivera and CasassaRees, 2006). In the absence of clouds, snow and ice are distinguished from the surrounding terrain using the VNIR bands from the various sensors available. Commonly used techniques such as TM3/TM5, TM4/TM5, the normalized difference snow index (NDSI) (Reference Hall, Bayr, Schöner, Bindschadler and ChienHall and others, 1995) and other methods using band ratios take advantage of the spectral uniqueness of snow and ice in the SWIR wavelengths to separate them from non-glacier areas such as rock, soil or vegetation (Reference BarryBayr and others, 1994). Other simple methods include: manual delineation based on visual interpretation; qualitative digital thresholding based on spectral reflectance (e.g. Reference Schiefer, Menounos and WheateRott, 1994); and linear/non-linear functional boundaries for supervised hard classifications (e.g. Reference Andreassen, Paul, Kääb and HausbergAniya and others, 1996).

Several presentations at the GLIMS workshop illustrated techniques for automatic extraction of clean to slightly dirty glacier ice. Three studies [3–5] used Landsat imagery to delineate glaciers over large regions in Norway, western Canada and Baffin Island, respectively. The TM3/TM5 ratio with a threshold of 2.0 (TM3/TM5 >2.0 = ice/snow) yielded satisfactory results for Norwegian glaciers where debris-covered ice is sparse (Reference Andreassen, Paul, Kääb and HausbergAndreassen and others, 2008). An area cutoff of 0.01 km² and a 3 x3 median filter were applied to obtain glacier outlines for the Jotunheimen region (Fig. 1). Similar methods were employed by Bolch and others [4] to map the glaciers of British Columbia and Alberta (Bolch and others, in press) (Fig. 2). Racoviteanu and others [6, 7] illustrated the use of the NDSI in the Sikkim Himalaya, India, and the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. These studies emphasized the need to choose the threshold manually depending on the scene characteristics (e.g. haze, sun position and topography). For example, for Sikkim, the threshold chosen was 0.7 (NDSI > 0.7 = snow/ice) (Reference Raper, Brown and BraithwaiteRacoviteanu and others, 2008b), but for Cordillera Blanca the suitable threshold was 0.5–0.6 (Reference Raper and BraithwaiteRacoviteanu and others, 2008a). The NDSI algorithm correctly classified the clean ice in these two areas, including most of the ice in shadow (Fig. 3), and also masked out clouds. However, all band ratio algorithms fail to identify debris-covered ice. Paul [5] further provided a thorough comparison of various techniques, including band ratios TM3/TM5, TM4/TM5, NDSI (TM2 – TM5)/(TM2 + TM5), as well as a median filter and dark object subtraction (DOS) for Baffin Island (cf. Reference Paul, Huggel and KääbPaul and Kääb, 2005). For this region, Paul reports the TM 3/5 ratio with an additional threshold in TM1 to be a robust, simple and accurate method, partly even better then manual delineation (i.e. not generalized and consistent for the entire scene). An advantage of this method is that clean ice can be identified even under (optically) thin clouds and in shadow regions. Molnia and others [1] used various masks based on image ratios and thresholding of digital numbers (DN) to construct a glacier inventory of Afghanistan using ASTER and Landsat-7 ETM+ imagery from 2001 to 2004. The rather complex classification scheme also distinguishes between snow and ice, but glacier outlines are of the same quality compared with the simpler methods. For delineation of water bodies, some studies proposed the following: using the normalized difference water index (NDWI) [4]; using glacial lake color to aid classification schemes such as band ASTER 1/3 ratio and band 3 intensity [2]; and other new techniques such as sub-pixel mapping using ASTER imagery (Reference Zhang, Lin, Liu and ShiZhang and others, 2004). The accuracy of the glacier outlines derived from image classification using automated methods is generally estimated to be one pixel in most accuracy studies (Reference CongaltonCongalton, 1991; Reference Zhang and GoodchildZhang and Goodchild, 2002). However, the accuracy estimates may vary widely by region depending on the quality of the images, the methods used and the presence of debris-covered glaciers.

Fig. 1.

The new glacier inventory for Jotunheimen, Norway, is based on Landsat TM and ETM+ imagery using a TM3/TM5 band ratio [3].The false-color composite (FCC) with bands 5, 4, 3 (as RGB) displays glaciers in light blue–green and also shows drainage divides, edited lakes and internal IDs of the glaciers finally selected.

Fig. 2.

Results of the western Canada glacier inventory based on Landsat scenes using the TM3/TM5 band ratio. Labels point to: (a) debris cover delineated manually; (b) proglacial lake edited manually; and (c) ice divides that are different in the glacier inventory from the Terrain Resource in Management (TRIM) program (http://ilmbwww.gov.bc.ca/bmgs/pba/trim) [4]. Clouds (white) are clearly recognizable in the FCC.

Fig. 3.

Results of the classification algorithm for clean ice in northern Sikkim/China from 2001 ASTER imagery. Arrows point to: (a) clean snow and ice classified correctly; (b) shadowed glacier classified correctly; (c) proglacial lakes misclassified as glacier; (d) internal rock correctly delineated (reproduced from Reference Raper, Brown and BraithwaiteRacoviteanu and others, 2008b).

Challenges

While the above presentations illustrated the effectiveness of NDSI and single-band ratios (such as TM3/TM5 and TM4/ TM5) for fast glacier mapping over large areas, there remain challenges in regions with shadow, clouds, seasonal snow, turbid/frozen/multi-hued proglacial lakes and debris cover. Many presentations in the GLIMS workshop pointed to these challenges. For example, three studies [4, 5, 7] discussed problems in regions with clouds, late-season snow, perennial ice, proglacial/frozen lakes, regions with crevasses, dark (polluted) ice in shadow and debris cover (Figs 3–5). Figure 4 also indicates regions that are not accurately classified with the TM3/5 ratio (polluted bare ice in shadow and thicker debris cover). Figure 5 indicates the subtle differences in hue for ice-covered lakes compared with flat ice caps which can be present in some regions. In most studies, turbid or frozen glacier lakes and debris-covered glaciers were delineated manually using color composites from various VNIR and SWIR band combinations (Figs 2 and 5). Recommendations/ possible solutions with respect to mapping of shadow, clouds, seasonal snow, and turbid/frozen/multi-hued proglacial lakes are briefly presented below. Challenges related to debris-cover mapping were given special consideration in the GLIMS workshop by the working groups and are addressed in a separate section of this paper.

Fig. 4.

Mapping accuracy of the TM3/TM5 ratio method in a challenging region near Penny Ice Cap on Baffin Island, Canada [5]. The light-blue lines show the glacier outlines as originally mapped, red lines indicate the glacier basins and yellow circles denote regions that have not been mapped correctly. The numbers indicate: 1 – snow and ice in shadow; 2 – bare rock in shadow; and 3 – snow couloirs.

Fig. 5.

Illustration of the subtle difference in color between ice-covered lakes (blue outline) and clean ice (black) for a system of ice caps on Baffin Island, Canada, using a Landsat ETM+ image from August 2002 in the background [5]

Technical recommendations

Below is a list of conclusions and technical recommendations for delineation of clean glacier ice. These recommendations may be used as guidelines for choosing one image classification scheme over another, depending on specific cases.

1. Careful selection of satellite scenes at the end of the ablation season is compelling. Scenes where seasonal snow is present outside of glaciers should be avoided [4, 5].The latter is only possible when the scene is acquired in a year with a very negative glacier mass balance, i.e. when glaciers are free of snow up to the highest elevations. Otherwise, the irregular melt pattern of snowfields might help in discriminating them from the more regularly shaped glacier outlines.

2. Perennial snow banks can be identified by comparing two images that have been acquired several (≥10) years apart under similar conditions (e.g. same time of year). In general, perennial snow should not change at all and should be located in topographically preferred regions.

3. In choosing one classification scheme over another, the analyst should consider the end product vs processing time, research vs operational algorithms and acknowledge that operational needs depend also on terrain complexity.

4. Band ratios and normalized difference methods such as TM2/5, TM3/5, TM4/5 and NDSI are simple and robust and are efficient in delineating clean ice in a timely manner. However, these algorithms might not work properly for dark (polluted) ice in shadow, debris-covered ice is excluded and turbid or frozen lakes are misclassified as glaciers. These regions need to be delineated manually or using algorithms customized and tested for such cases.

5. The image threshold should be iteratively selected based on inspection of shadow regions, which are the most sensitive for the threshold value, before applying it to the whole scene [5].

6. Clouds are highly reflective in the VNIR bands, confounding the classification schemes based on single-band ratio. They are thus classified as ‘non-glacier’ with any of the above methods [1, 7]. Although clouds are visible in a TM band 5, 4, 3 composite (appearing white), a separate cloud mask might help to identify their location. In most cases, they can be masked out by using a threshold in a SWIR band (AST4 or TM5) where clouds are highly reflective (Dozier, 1989).

7. Delineating the glaciers underneath optically thick clouds remains a challenge. Multiple scenes may be used to eliminate regions that are frequently clouded. Alternatively, glacier identification can be conducted using glaciological knowledge about glacier flow or morphometric analysis in addition to spectral classification [4]. The latter is particularly useful for partly cloud-covered ablation regions, while isolated gaps in the accumulation area due to clouds can be corrected more easily.

8. Turbid proglacial lakes, frozen lakes and supraglacial lakes exhibit a similar band ratio to snow and ice, thus confounding the band ratio classification procedures. While proglacial lakes should not be included as part of the glacier, supraglacial lakes are part of the glacier and must be included. Frozen lakes can only be identified by careful visual inspection (see Fig. 5). A separate classification of lakes is of limited use for glacier delineation, but serves as a valuable input for other investigations.

9. Post-classification steps such as median filters, visual checking for classification errors and manual editing are helpful to further improve classification results. A 3 x3 median filter helps to smooth the resulting glacier outlines and removes noise in regions of shadow or from isolated small snowpatches [3, 5].

Algorithms

Various semi-automated approaches for mapping of debris-covered glaciers were presented at the GLIMS workshop: band ratios and masks [1], a morphometric approach coupled with thermal information [7] and a neural network approach [2]. Reference Racoviteanu, Manley, Arnaud and WilliamsPaul and others (2004a) developed a semiautomated method for glacier mapping based on slope characteristics, a map of vegetation cover and a TM4/TM5 band ratio. The algorithms are implemented in a Fortran code and PCI Geomatica modeling scripts (see Reference Racoviteanu, Arnaud, Williams and OrdoñezPaul, 2007), which can be translated into other software. The result depends highly on the quality of the DEM and the type of debris-covered glaciers being mapped (e.g. a smooth surface without melt ponds). Reference Bolch, Buchroithner, Kunert and KampBolch and others (2007) tested various morphometric approaches coupled with thermal information. A supervised classification with a slope threshold yielded satisfactory results for the Khumbu region in Nepal (Reference BolchBolch and others, 2007) and can always be used as a starting point when other algorithms are not available. One study [7] presented a morphometric approach coupled with thermal information using ASTER data in a decision tree classifier. Binary (yes/no) masks are created for different classes (such as ice/snow, vegetation, bare land and clouds) from single-band thresholding or band ratios (NDSI). Thresholds are chosen manually and are then applied to the entire image to eliminate regions unsuitable for the occurrence of debris cover. This approach proved useful for mapping the debris-covered glaciers in the Sikkim Himalaya, although some noise needs to be eliminated from the final map (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6.

Results of the debris-covered mapping algorithm using a decision tree for the Sikkim area, Indian Himalaya, based on an ASTER scene from November 2001. Pixels classified as potentially debris-covered are shown in red; clean glacier outlines are shown in black [7].

Currently, there is no single best algorithm for debris-cover mapping that can be applied to large regions without some manual corrections of the resulting outlines. The various methods for mapping debris-covered glaciers have not yet been compared and a superior method has thus not yet emerged. The basic consideration for applying a semiautomated method over fully manual correction is the required workload, which varies by region with respect to characteristics and number of the debris-covered glaciers, DEM availability and the complexity of the method. For example, complicated algorithms such as neural networks or Fuzzy C Mean clustering classifications may provide more accurate results, especially for various types of debris cover (Reference Berthier, Arnaud, Kumar, Ahmad, Wagnon and ChevallierBishop and others 1999), but the long processing time may limit their applicability over large regions.

Remaining challenges in debris-cover mapping relate to accurate identification of the glacier terminus, the separation from stagnant glacier parts and, in some areas, the lack of a high-resolution DEM needed to apply the specified algorithms. Stereo viewing of the original satellite bands, which strongly enhances visual perception, may be helpful in interpreting subtle morphological details (personal communication from V. Aizen, 2008). However, one of the greatest remaining challenges is the validation of the existing debris-cover algorithms. Possibilities for validation include use of velocity maps derived from feature tracking, field campaigns using radar techniques or drilling, georeferenced ground photos or calculation of thickness changes from DEM differencing. Given that it may be difficult to locate the boundary of a debris-covered glacier even in the field (e.g. Reference Hall, Riggs and SalomonsonHaeberli and Epifani, 1986), the uncertainty in mapping debris-covered glaciers from satellite data remains high no matter what technique is used and this should be acknowledged in any glacier inventory and analysis derived from it.

Technical recommendations

1. In choosing an algorithm for debris-cover mapping, the analyst should consider the software availability, the type of image being analyzed and the type of terrain.

2. Given the complexity of the debris-cover mapping methods, the algorithms presented above may be used as a guide or a starting point for manual delineation.

3. Over large regions, manual delineation of debris-covered glacier ice is very time-consuming (about 5 min per glacier) and the analyst might consider relying on automated algorithms while acknowledging the errors associated with these algorithms.

4. Visual identification of debris-covered parts may be strongly enhanced by utilizing stereo-viewing techniques on the original images (e.g. using ASTER bands 3N and 3B).

5. Surface slope and vegetation maps may work well in most cases. If thermokarst features are present (hummocky surface), the analyst should either use a different method, or try to first fill the holes in the DEM (sinkholes) using various available interpolating methods.

6. Terrain curvature can work well for delineating debris-covered regions when marked moraines are visible on the DEM.

7. Using the highest-resolution DEM available is not always advisable because of the noise in the data and the additional features that become visible, so terrain smoothing may be useful in some cases before applying the algorithms.

8. ‘Special cases’ mentioned above should be identified and treated specifically, possibly by using manual delineation.

9. Visual inspection of the derived debris-cover maps and final editing are always required.

Algorithms

A first starting point for ice-divide mapping is a flow-direction and/or watershed grid derived from the DEM. This can be used in many cases to digitize the ice divides accurately (Reference Paul and Kääb.Paul and Andreassen, 2009) but is rather time-consuming. Other automated methods were also presented at the workshop. One study [4] described an approach for ice-divide delineation which consists of: (1) generating a buffer around the glacier; (2) calculating basins based on a DEM; and (3) removing all basins without a glacier (Fig. 8). An algorithm developed by Reference Müller, Caflisch and MüllerManley (2008) was illustrated for the Afghanistan and Cordillera Blanca glaciers, respectively [1, 6]. Manley’s algorithm consists of creating ‘contiguous ice’ polygons, identifying ice divides for them using DEM analysis, then ‘cutting’ the contiguous ice polygons along the ice divides. The steps are: (1) calculating the median elevation for each ice mass; (2) isolating the ‘toes’ of the ice masses, where each toe is identified by ice gridcells with elevations lower than the median elevation for the ice mass; (3) using the toes as ‘pour points’ (starting points for watershed analysis) to identify separate glacier basins (watersheds); (4) identifying complex ice masses (those with more than one toe, and only those larger than a variable area cut-off, depending on the number of toes per ice mass); (5) isolating basin areas within the complex ice masses (‘complex basins’); (6) converting the complex basins to polygons; and (7) overlaying the basin polygons on the ice polygons. The result of the algorithm depends on the choice of less-than-median-elevation for toes that act as ‘pour points’ for glacier basins. ‘Pour points’ can be digitized manually or derived automatically (Reference Singh and BengtssonSchiefer and others, 2008).

Fig. 8.

Schematic illustration of the ice-divide mapping algorithm using DEM analysis in Western Canada. The background shows a shaded relief from the used TRIM DEM [4].

The methods presented above rely on the availability of an appropriate DEM, which is not always available for some glacierized regions. Furthermore, it must be mentioned that DEMs based on optical imagery often have inaccuracies in the accumulation zones of the glaciers (where the ice divides are situated) due to low or almost no contrast on the snow-covered areas (Reference VanLooy and ForsterToutin, 2008; Svoboda and Reference Paul and Kääb.Paul, 2009). In the absence of a DEM, illumination differences and glaciological knowledge about glacier flow can be applied for a first estimation of the ice-divide position (cf. Reference Paul, Huggel and KääbPaul and Kääb, 2005). Ice divides derived in this way can be revised later in the digital database when DEM information becomes available.

Challenges

The types of difficulties faced in applying the ice-divide algorithms depend on whether the ice bodies are ice caps or ice fields, complex topologies or compound glacier types. Such cases need to be addressed separately in most cases. It is important to acknowledge that the choice of an ice-divide mapping method depends on the intended application. Consistency with ice divides from various years is desirable for change analysis studies, such as area changes, to minimize errors. However, it is necessary to consider that ice divides may change and glaciers may disintegrate, requiring the delineation of new ice divides [4]. The analyst can start with the largest possible (e.g. Little Ice Age) extent, which can be used subsequently to track the changes of the entire system

Technical recommendations

The choice of an ice-divide algorithm requires a DEM for watershed modeling, and glacier outlines derived from topographic maps or satellite imagery. The following recommendations are based largely on a case study in Baffin Island (Reference Paul, Huggel and KääbPaul and Kääb, 2005) as well as on other participants’ expertise compiled during the working session on ice-divide mapping:

To a large extent, choosing a location for the ice divide depends on the purpose of the glacier inventory and the glacier type (e.g. ice caps of varying complexity). Four scenarios were identified:

1. When a former glacier inventory already exists and a comparison with these former glacier extents is envisaged, ice divides should be placed at the same locations as in the former inventory. When the old ice divides are not available digitally but have to be digitized from printed (sketch) maps, a larger error must be considered (which might even be larger than the real area change).

2. If the purpose of glacier mapping is a hydrologic one (e.g. to calculate specific runoff from a catchment), the glaciers should be divided in a hydrologic way. Given an accurate orthorectification of the satellite data, readily available digitized catchments should be used. To some extent it might be possible to use major hydrologic divides instead of those related to a lower stream order.

3. When no former inventory is available, glaciers should be divided in a more glaciological sense. However, principal rules of a hydrologic numbering scheme (see Reference PaulMüller and others, 1977) should also be considered. Where printed maps with point data from the WGI are available (e.g. as for Baffin Island), they should be considered as an identifier for individual entities.

4. Ice caps can be divided into distinct units when they are well defined. When they are more compact or the units are not clear, they should not be subdivided (see Fig. 7).

The algorithms to be applied for digitizing ice divides mostly depend on the availability of a (reliable) DEM. Two scenarios were identified:

1. When no DEM is available, a best guess of the location should be made based on illumination differences and glaciological knowledge about glacier flow. Uncertain divides in the accumulation region can be indicated by straight lines and a lower positional accuracy in the metadata table for the respective line segment.

2. When a DEM is available, the first step is the calculation of a flow direction grid that allows delineating divides manually. A second step is the calculation of watersheds or upslope area from given pour points. A third step is the application of the above-mentioned automated methods.

Challenges

Challenges in DEM extraction from optical satellite imagery are manifold and include among others: lack of ground control due to logistical, cultural and/or political issues; lack of contrast over accumulation areas of the glacier or in regions of shadow, exacerbated by suboptimal instrument gains; the presence of clouds on the satellite scene being analyzed; and obscuration of terrain due to the looking direction of the stereo sensor. Users must be cognizant of errors inherent in DEMs derived from remote-sensing imagery, such as elevation and slope biases (Reference Kaser, Cogley, Dyurgerov, Meier and OhmuraKääb and others, 2003; Reference BerthierBerthier and others, 2006; Racoviteanu and others, 2007; Reference GeorgesFujita and others, 2008; Reference Paul, Hendriks, Pellika and ReesPaul, 2008).

For some glaciological applications, a one-time modernera global DEM of adequate spatial resolution and well-characterized errors would be desirable. As mentioned earlier, the DEM derived from the SRTM has found application within the community, although the biases, voids and the 3 arcsec resolution limit its utility. The Silcast software has been used to produce a GDEM at 1 arcsec resolution from about 30 000 ASTER scenes. The product is due for completion mid-2009 (http://www.ersdac.or.jp/GDEM/E/). A recent study focused on comparing a prerelease version of the GDEM and the SRTM-3 (Reference KääbHayakawa and others, 2008). A validation summary of the ASTER GDEM produced by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan, and NASA was recently released and is available from https://lpdaac.usgs.gov. This study concludes that the overall accuracy of the global ASTER DEM can be taken to be approximately 20m at 95% confidence interval. While the accuracy of carefully generated DEMs from satellite data might be higher than the near-global products (SRTM, GDEM), the latter might be well suited to derive detailed glacier inventory data on a global scale. Further studies comparing the different DEM sources and software packages quantitatively will be performed in the future.

Technical recommendations

Quality control of the DEMs is essential before they are applied for glacier studies. Acceptable errors depend on the intended application. These include, in order of increasing accuracy requirement: extracting topographic information (slope/aspect) which does not change rapidly, orthorectification of satellite imagery, hypsometry, extracting glacier parameters (e.g. minimum/mean/maximum elevations), and geodetic mass balance (from DEM differencing). DEMs can be derived from topographic maps by interpolating either points or contour lines digitized from these maps. The accuracy of the resulting DEM is largely dependent on the type of terrain and the interpolation method used (Racoviteanu and others, 2007; Reference KääbKääb, 2008). DEMs from satellite imagery are constructed by stereo-correlation procedures with the above mentioned specialized software packages. Below is a summary of steps that may be used to minimize DEM errors and to conduct quality control on DEMs for both topographic maps and satellite imagery.

1. In choosing a satellite scene for DEM generation, the following should be considered:

the quality of source imagery such as channel gains (high gains provides detail in shadow regions, but may result in saturation over the accumulation area); the degree of cloudiness, their possible elevation and maybe a predefined cloud mask;

the date of acquisition: for area change detection and mass-balance applications, the satellite scene should be acquired at the end of the ablation season with minimal seasonal snow;

the choice of spatial resolution influences the output DEM. The cell size should be chosen according to terrain characteristics (higher resolution for rugged terrain, lower resolution for smooth terrain).

2. Ground-control points (GCPs) acquired in the field for DEM generation and/or evaluation should be spread across the scene, away from steep slopes and have similar slope/aspect to the glacier. The placement of the antenna must be included in GCPs from the field as this can induce vertical errors of a few meters.

3. Methods of assessing the accuracy of DEMs derived from either map or satellite imagery include:

examining the root-mean-square error in the vertical coordinate (RMSEz) with respect to GCPs;

identifying artefacts such as blunders and outliers, using hillshades, profile curvature, elevation histograms, DEMs with coarser cell size and slope maps;

performing a trend assessment on the DEM to detect biases;

comparing transects from the DEM with field data;

specifically for DEMs constructed from topographic maps using interpolation, spot elevation from the DEMs can be compared with points extracted from the original contours to determine the accuracy of each interpolation method;

for DEMs created from satellite imagery, software reports such as score channel and error maps;

for a reliable DEM, the orthorectified stereo bands (e.g. ASTER 3N and 3B) should match exactly. DEM errors that may occur due to mismatching can be calculated by dividing the shift through the stereo ratio of the sensor (e.g. 0.6 for ASTER);

when a DEM is created from mosaicking several scenes together, examining discontinuities at mosaic seams will provide information on the accuracy of the orthorectification process and DEM extraction.

4. Some suggestions for improving the quality of the resulting DEMs include:

pre-processing (selection of cloud-free satellite scenes with good contrast over snow and ice), stretching, sharpening and filtering;

ensuring a good distribution of GCPs and avoiding questionable ones;

downsampling of the epipolar image pairs;

post-processing/editing such as hole filling from DEMs with coarser resolution, interpolation, and terrain smoothing.

Challenges

Various presentations [1, 4, 6] addressed challenges in glacier change detection studies and comparison with old topographic data, posed by inconsistencies in the various data sources and processing steps. Such challenges include: geometric changes in glacier topography such as rock outcrops, splitting or disintegration of glaciers; and inconsistencies arising from comparing data from various sources, for example satellite-derived data vs data derived from topographic maps, or comparison with the point data as stored in the WGI. The largest sources of error in the estimates of area changes may come from errors in the baseline data sources, mostly in the case of old data from topographic maps. For example, two studies conducted in the Cordillera Blanca (Reference Gregory and OerlemansGeorges, 2004; Racoviteanu and others, 2008a) point out that the glacierized area in the 1970 baseline inventory was overestimated by as much as 10% due to seasonal snow, thus resulting in a larger estimated area change from 1970 to the present. Racoviteanu and others (2008a) point to apparent growth in glacier areas of as much as 100% due to digitizing errors in the baseline glacier inventory of the Cordillera Blanca, mostly in debris-covered areas. Other challenges for area change detection are posed by use of poor-quality satellite images, the presence of seasonal snow in the accumulation region of glaciers and the presence of debris cover on the glacier surface. Challenges in vertical change detection using multiple DEMs could be related to inconsistencies in horizontal/ vertical datums in the various elevation datasets being compared or penetration of the radar beam into dry snow for interferometric SAR (InSAR)-derived DEMs (Reference FarrFarr and others, 2007). For example, Racoviteanu and others (2007) report an apparent glacier thickening at high elevations of Nevado Coropuna, Peru, due to known errors in the baseline topographic map. Such errors are common when the topographic map was derived from aerial photography with low contrast in the accumulation areas, and pose a major problem in elevation change studies. To minimize such inconsistencies, a few recommendations are listed below.

Recommendations

For calculation of glacier area changes between two points in time, the following issues should be considered:

1. When possible, area change calculations should be derived from similar datasets (e.g. same type of satellite imagery).

2. The change should be calculated by subtracting the obtained total sizes in each analyzed year and not by digitally subtracting the glacier maps.

3. To minimize inconsistencies, the use of the same type of data by the same surveyor and the same analysis methods is recommended.

4. There should be consistency in upper glacier boundaries, internal rocks, debris cover and snow cover among various inventories used for comparison. If inconsistencies exist in parts of the dataset, selecting a subsample of the glacier dataset for detailed change analysis is recommended (Racoviteanu and others, 2008a).

5. If glacier outlines from different sources are compared (e.g. one set of outlines derived from older topographic maps and the other from satellite imagery), special care must be taken that exactly the same entities are compared. In such cases and for analysis purposes, drainage divides should be kept constant for both datasets, thus ignoring any changes in the position of the ice divides [4] (Reference Racoviteanu, Arnaud, Williams and OrdoñezPaul and others, 2007; Racoviteanu and others, 2008a; Reference Paul and Kääb.Paul and Andreassen, 2009).

In assessing changes in elevation from multiple DEMs, the following points may be considered:

1. Any physical changes on the glacier surface over the period of evaluation (e.g. snow amount, lake formation) should be considered.

2. Change detection analysis should be avoided in regions where DEM values are interpolated.

3. It should be taken into account that DEMs from optical stereo are often inaccurate in accumulation areas (e.g. Reference Sidjak and WheateSchiefer and others, 2007; Reference Wessels, Kargel and KiefferVanLooy and Forster, 2008).

4. The distribution of vertical errors between two DEMs with respect to elevation and slope should be quantified.

5. Elevation differences should be computed on non-glacierized terrain vs glacierized terrain and care should be taken that they are as flat as possible to avoid resampling artefacts (Reference Paul, Kääb, Maisch, Kellenberger and HaeberliPaul, 2008).

6. If difference maps look like hillshade maps, this indicates a geolocation registration error (shift).

7. When using spaceborne altimetry data (ICESat) or InSAR (ERS, SRTM) in evaluating DEM accuracy, errors arising from signal saturation and beam penetration should be considered.

8. Changes in topographic parameters such as minimum or mean glacier elevation through time are difficult to quantify if there were strong changes in glacier geometry, such as separation of tributaries or disintegration of ice masses, as noted in various studies (Reference Rabus, Eineder, Roth and BamlerPaul and others, 2004a; Reference Manley, Williams and FerrignoKulkarni and others, 2007; Racoviteanu and others, 2008a). The related rules and recommendations for such calculations have yet to be defined.