Scientists are Tracking Glacial Change with Landsat and Radar

An animation shows glaciers in the Karakoram range of Pakistan with monthly ice-velocity measurements overlaid from January through December. On Baltoro Glacier, red areas, indicating high ice velocities, propagate slowly downslope throughout the melting season.
NASA/Chad Greene via NASA

NASA scientists studied and analyzed over 36 million satellite images and Landsat data to track the seasonal movements of major glaciers on Earth. The study resulted in the creation of a comprehensive global dataset. Check out the study published in Science.

The research, built off the ITS_LIVE ice velocity dataset from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), reveals that seasonal glacier dynamics are becoming more pronounced as our planet warms, with the strongest seasonal variations occurring where annual maximum temperatures exceed freezing. Armed with this global perspective, researchers can continue to tease out patterns in glacial dynamics, identifying how factors including geology and hydrology impact seasonal melting.

Alex Gardner, a scientist at NASA JPL and a co-author on this study, explains how combining Landsat and radar data makes this research possible.

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