Spatial analysis of supraglacial debris cover in Svalbard, Arctic Region—a decadal study

Murugesan, Geetha Priya; Narayan, Varshini; Devaraj, Suresh

doi:10.1007/s11356-020-12282-x

Research Article
Published: 11 January 2021

Spatial analysis of supraglacial debris cover in Svalbard, Arctic Region—a decadal study

Geetha Priya Murugesan ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8196-0753¹,
Varshini Narayan² &
Suresh Devaraj³

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 28, pages 22823–22831 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Continental glacier melts directly influence the environment, resulting in sea-level rise affecting the settlements along the coast. The increase in global warming and constant change in the glacier mass grabbed the attention of researchers in understanding the evolution and distribution of glaciers. Despite the increase in the number of glacier studies, the difficulty is experienced by the researchers in understanding the supra-glacial debris cover and its characteristics. Supraglacial debris cover affects surface melt by increasing and decreasing ablation under thin and thick debris cover. In the present study, estimation of supraglacial debris cover (SDC) over Austre Brøggerbreen and Vestre Brøggerbreen glaciers of Ny-Ålesund is carried out with the aid of Landsat 5/7/8 datasets between 2000 and 2020. Supraglacial debris-cover is mapped using NDSI and band ratio techniques based on thresholding and it is estimated that Austre Brøggerbreen and Vestre Brøggerbreen glaciers are covered by 7.29% and 15.19% of SDC respectively. Results obtained are validated by a field visit to Arctic glacier, which is the first of its kind enhancing India’s scientific credentials in Polar research.

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Data availability

The dataset utilized/analyzed during the current study will be available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgments

National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, Goa has supported the logistical access to Ny-Ålesund to carry out this scientific research work. The authors also thank Drone Aerospace Systems Pvt. Ltd., Sierra Aerospace, and CIIRC-Jyothy Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, Karnataka for supporting the research work.

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Affiliations

SENSE, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, 600127, India
Geetha Priya Murugesan
Department of ECE, Jyothy Institute of Technology, Thataguni, Bengaluru, 560082, India
Varshini Narayan
CIIRC, Jyothy Institute of Technology, Thataguni, Bengaluru, 560082, India
Suresh Devaraj

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Geetha Priya Murugesan
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Varshini Narayan
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Suresh Devaraj
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Contributions

Geetha Priya Mursugesan conceptualized the idea, and provided the necessary resources to carry out this research and supervised Varshini Narayan and Suresh Devaraj throughout this study. Varshini Narayan processed and analyzed the datasets. Geetha Priya Murugesan and Suresh Devaraj wrote the manuscript. Suresh Devaraj provided essential technical inputs that helped improve the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Geetha Priya Murugesan.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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All ethical practices have been followed in relation to the development, data analysis, writing, and publication of this research article.

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The datasets used in the present study are open-access datasets downloaded from USGS Earth explorer, and the results are generated by the author in the laboratory. None of the data used belongs to any person in any form.

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Murugesan, G.P., Narayan, V. & Devaraj, S. Spatial analysis of supraglacial debris cover in Svalbard, Arctic Region—a decadal study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 22823–22831 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12282-x

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Received: 07 October 2020
Accepted: 28 December 2020
Published: 11 January 2021
Issue Date: May 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12282-x

Keywords

Supraglacial debris cover
Svalbard
NDSI
NIR/SWIR
Decadal change