DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TYPES OF GLACIER DYNAMICS MAPS

Abstract: In cooperation between remote sensing experts and cartographers interested in glaciology new types of maps showing the glacier dynamics have been developed. The map make use of the original phase gradient approach to glacier rheology modelling based on repeat-pass ERTS SAR interferograms. Careful map design and, in particular, colour assignment allow the visualization of the glacier dynamics in its locally changing velocity with an estimated accuracy of approx. 2.0 cm per day. In fact, two map derivates, a differential interferogram showing the glacier velocity and another product displaying the glacier strain rate, have been designed. Moreover, maps displaying the glacier marginal changes within four years have generated. The strain rate maps evidenced that spots with high values frequently correspond with crevasse-prone areas which can even be detected under thick layers of snow. In this sense, the latter visualizations can be seen as a sort of maps of crevasse-danger zones. The Svartisen Ice Caps in Norway and the Hintereis Glacier in Austria served a