DEM RECONSTRUCTION OF LARSEN B REGION BASED ON 1960S OPTICAL SATELLITE IMAGERY

Abstract. Antarctica is an important part of the earth system and crucial to global sea-level and climate change. In 1995, a number of US intelligence satellite photographs from the 1960s to 1970s have been declassified, only a portion of which (ARGON) covers the Antarctica. It provides a broader perspective to study the early Antarctica and it’s very important for us to study the changes in the early stage of Antarctica. In this paper, a hierarchical stereo image matching strategy was used to reconstruct a digital elevation model of the Larsen B region of Antarctica Peninsula in 1960s using ARGON images. The accuracy of the matching result estimated in all layers is within one scanned-pixel of 33 m and the accuracy of geometric modelling after bundle adjustment estimated by using check points is within one nominal pixel of 140 m. In the future, the elevation changes from 1960s of Larsen B tributary glaciers will be analysed.