Use of L-band SAR data for Monitoring Glacier Surging next to Aru Lake

Abstract The ice avalanche disaster caused by glacier movements threatens the safety of the downstream area of the glacier. The monitoring method based on SAR data allows the detection of glaciers’ movement at all weather conditions. In addition, SAR-based techniques are capable of analyzing the phenomena in large area and with long time span which has important application value. In this study, using offset tracking technique, the two glaciers near Aru lake in Tibet, China, were monitored and analyzed. L-band PALSAR-1/2 SAR data were used to comprehensively monitor the velocity changes of the two glaciers based on offset tracking technique, before and after their surging. The results show that the velocities of the two glaciers increased from 5 cm/day and 7 cm/day, in 2008, 2009, to 20 cm/day and 12 cm/day, in 2015. The movement characteristics of velocity increase were observed before the ice avalanche. After the ice avalanche, the velocity decreased to 5 cm/day and 7 cm/day while the glaciers’ area increasing significantly. The above analysis results show that L-band SAR data can effectively monitor the velocity changes of glaciers before and after the glacier leaping, which can provide important data support for the monitoring and early warning of glacier disasters.