In situ measurements of the ice flow motion at Eqip Sermia Glacier using a remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)

<p>Measuring the ice flow motion accurately is essential to better understand the time evolution of glaciers and ice sheets and therefore to better anticipate the future consequence of climate change in terms of sea level rise. Although there are a variety of remote sensing methods to fill thi...

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Main Authors: G. Jouvet, E. van Dongen, M. P. Lüthi, A. Vieli
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2020-02-01
Series:Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems
Online Access:https://www.geosci-instrum-method-data-syst.net/9/1/2020/gi-9-1-2020.pdf
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spelling doaj-ad7b664be1a3494babde9833635bed142020-11-25T02:39:33ZengCopernicus PublicationsGeoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems2193-08562193-08642020-02-01911010.5194/gi-9-1-2020In situ measurements of the ice flow motion at Eqip Sermia Glacier using a remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)G. Jouvet0G. Jouvet1G. Jouvet2E. van Dongen3M. P. Lüthi4A. Vieli5Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandAutonomous Systems Laboratory, ETH Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandLaboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland<p>Measuring the ice flow motion accurately is essential to better understand the time evolution of glaciers and ice sheets and therefore to better anticipate the future consequence of climate change in terms of sea level rise. Although there are a variety of remote sensing methods to fill this task, in situ measurements are always needed for validation or to capture high-temporal-resolution movements. Yet glaciers are in general hostile environments where the installation of instruments might be tedious and risky when not impossible. Here we report the first-ever in situ measurements of ice flow motion using a remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). We used a quadcopter UAV to land on a highly crevassed area of Eqip Sermia Glacier, West Greenland, to measure the displacement of the glacial surface with the aid of an onboard differential GNSS receiver. We measured approximately 70&thinsp;cm of displacement over 4.36&thinsp;h without setting foot onto the glacier – a result validated by applying UAV photogrammetry and template matching techniques. Our study demonstrates that UAVs are promising instruments for in situ monitoring and have great potential for capturing continuous ice flow variations in inaccessible glaciers – a task that remote sensing techniques can hardly achieve.</p>https://www.geosci-instrum-method-data-syst.net/9/1/2020/gi-9-1-2020.pdf
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author G. Jouvet
G. Jouvet
G. Jouvet
E. van Dongen
M. P. Lüthi
A. Vieli
spellingShingle G. Jouvet
G. Jouvet
G. Jouvet
E. van Dongen
M. P. Lüthi
A. Vieli
In situ measurements of the ice flow motion at Eqip Sermia Glacier using a remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems
author_facet G. Jouvet
G. Jouvet
G. Jouvet
E. van Dongen
M. P. Lüthi
A. Vieli
author_sort G. Jouvet
title In situ measurements of the ice flow motion at Eqip Sermia Glacier using a remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
title_short In situ measurements of the ice flow motion at Eqip Sermia Glacier using a remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
title_full In situ measurements of the ice flow motion at Eqip Sermia Glacier using a remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
title_fullStr In situ measurements of the ice flow motion at Eqip Sermia Glacier using a remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
title_full_unstemmed In situ measurements of the ice flow motion at Eqip Sermia Glacier using a remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
title_sort in situ measurements of the ice flow motion at eqip sermia glacier using a remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (uav)
publisher Copernicus Publications
series Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems
issn 2193-0856
2193-0864
publishDate 2020-02-01
description <p>Measuring the ice flow motion accurately is essential to better understand the time evolution of glaciers and ice sheets and therefore to better anticipate the future consequence of climate change in terms of sea level rise. Although there are a variety of remote sensing methods to fill this task, in situ measurements are always needed for validation or to capture high-temporal-resolution movements. Yet glaciers are in general hostile environments where the installation of instruments might be tedious and risky when not impossible. Here we report the first-ever in situ measurements of ice flow motion using a remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). We used a quadcopter UAV to land on a highly crevassed area of Eqip Sermia Glacier, West Greenland, to measure the displacement of the glacial surface with the aid of an onboard differential GNSS receiver. We measured approximately 70&thinsp;cm of displacement over 4.36&thinsp;h without setting foot onto the glacier – a result validated by applying UAV photogrammetry and template matching techniques. Our study demonstrates that UAVs are promising instruments for in situ monitoring and have great potential for capturing continuous ice flow variations in inaccessible glaciers – a task that remote sensing techniques can hardly achieve.</p>
url https://www.geosci-instrum-method-data-syst.net/9/1/2020/gi-9-1-2020.pdf
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