Glaciated areas are important targets for interdisciplinary research. In the last quarter of the 20th century, there has been a significant shift in glacier observation approaches from direct fieldwork to remote sensing. Over the past 15 years, unmanned aerial systems have been increasingly used for this purpose. In this article, we briefly describe a newly launched Russian-Chinese project aimed at developing a theory and methodology for digital modeling and analysis of the glacier microtopography using very high resolution data from unmanned aerial surveys. We argue the relevance of the study and review key publications on the application of digital terrain modeling and geomorphometry in glaciology. Next, we discuss the aim of the project and tasks performed by the Russian side, as well as materials and methods used in the study. As initial data, we use multi-temporal, digital aerial images of very high resolution (5 cm) collected by the unmanned aerial survey of the ice sheet and glaciers near the Larsemann Hills, East Antarctic. Finally, we present some examples for geomorphometric analysis of glacier microtopography including snow/ice features of eolian origin.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1065-1071
Number of pages7
JournalInternational Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences - ISPRS Archives
Volume43
Issue numberB2
DOIs
StatePublished - 6 Aug 2020
Event2020 24th ISPRS Congress - Technical Commission II - Nice, Virtual, France
Duration: 31 Aug 20202 Sep 2020

    Research areas

  • Digital Terrain Modeling, Geomorphometry, Glacier, Microtopography, Unmanned Aerial Survey

    Scopus subject areas

  • Information Systems
  • Geography, Planning and Development

ID: 69869277