Temporal fluctuations of siachen glacier velocity: a repeat pass sar interferometry based approach
Sivaranjani Sivalingam, Geetha Priya Murugesan, Krishnaveni Dhulipala, Anil V. Kulkarni, Suresh Devaraj
Abstract
Glacier velocity, the glacier's health indicator, is an emerging research interest in global warming among the scientific community over the current decade. As per scientific reports, due to their stable and advanced nature, the glaciers of Karakoram are exclusive. The present study focuses on understanding the temporal velocity variability of the Siachen Glacier, Shyok Basin, Karakoram using SAR datasets, in the perspective of the difficulties in estimating the glacier velocity over the inaccessible Karakoram Mountain. For the hydrological year 2017-18, 30 sentinel-1 derived interferograms using the DInSAR technique were analyzed to obtain Line Of Sight velocity. The transient velocity of the glacier reflects separate patterns within the glacier for different seasons due to the thermodynamic and orographic system over the glacier surface. In azimuth and range direction, the projected annual LOS velocity to a two-dimensional surface velocity is estimated to be around 103.8 ± 3.1 m/year.