The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
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Articles | Volume XLIII-B3-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIII-B3-2020-919-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIII-B3-2020-919-2020
21 Aug 2020
 | 21 Aug 2020

MODELLING OF GLACIER AND ICE SHEET MICRO-TOPOGRAPHY BASED ON UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE DATA, ANTARCTICA

X. Yuan, G. Qiao, Y. Li, H. Li, and R. Xu

Keywords: Modelling, Micro-topography, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, RTK, SfM-MVS, East Antarctica

Abstract. Modelling of glacier and ice sheet micro-topography is meaningful for the understanding of interactions between local ice mass and climate. Here, we used an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platform composed of a DJI Phantom 4 and a D-RTK mobile station to model the surface micro-topography around Zhongshan Station of China, East Antarctica. Two UAV survey types (vertical and oblique aerial photogrammetry) were performed during the China's 35th Antarctic expedition (CHINARE) in 2018–2019. Six surveys were obtained by the SfM-MVS technology. Then, we extracted the features of glacier surface micro-topography (blue ice, crevasses, ice doline and melt-water). It’s noteworthy that traces of melt-water and a large ice doline appeared on the surface of Dalk Glacier in December 2018. Finally, we concluded that surface micro-topographic features, observable in the UAV-derived models but unavailable on satellite images, may reveal hints for interactions between surface and beneath processes in regional polar glacier.