Estimation of Velocity of the Polar Record Glacier, Antarctica Using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)

The ice flow velocity is a critical variable in understanding the glacier dynamics. The Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR) is a robust technique to monitor Earth’s surface mainly to measure its topography and deformation. The phase information from two or more interferogram further helps to extract information about the height and displacement of the surface. We used this technique to derive glacier velocity for Polar Record Glacier (PRG), East Antarctica, using Sentinel-1 Single Look Complex images that were captured in Interferometric Wide mode. For velocity estimation, Persistent Scatterer interferometry (PS-InSAR) method was applied, which uses the time coherent of permanent pixel of master images and correlates to the same pixel of the slave image to get displacement by tracking the intensity of those pixels. C-band sensor of European Space Agency, Sentinel-1A, and 1B data were used in this study. Estimated average velocity of the PRG is found to be approximately ≈400 ma−1, which varied from ≈100 to ≈700 ma−1. We also found that PRG moves at ≈700 and 200 ma−1 in the lower part and the upper inland area, respectively