IJEP 44(5): 396-404 : Vol. 44 Issue. 5 (May 2024)
1. Amity University (AIGIRS), Noida – 201313, Uttar Pradesh, India
2. Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad – 380 015, Gujarat, India
3. Government College, Chharra – 124 504, Haryana, India
Abstract
Snow and glaciers are essential components of the Earth’s system. The Himalayan region possesses more than 50% of the ice outside the polar region. The melt water from snow and glaciers of the Hindu-Kush-Himalaya (HKH) region feeds about the 10 most prominent rivers in Asia and supports a large population living in downstream areas. It is also known as the water tower of Asia as it contains a large amount of water from perennial snow and ice at the highest elevation. Mountain glaciers have long served as natural laboratories for studying glacier processes. They are also essential elements of many landscapes; they release water, scour bedrock, cool the weather in summer and advance down valleys or retreat into high basins. They also preserve an extraordinary record of past changes in Earth’s climate and atmospheric composition. This study attempts to understand the interaction of polarimetric data of active synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with glacier features. SAR data have unique capabilities of penetration through clouds and fresh snow. We analyzed the polarimetric signature using RADARSAT-2 quad-pol (HH, HV, VH, VV) data for February 2011 and September 2011. The scattering mechanism of different glaciated features was analyzed using H/A/alpha decomposition and complemented with Sentinel 2 data for February 2021. This study shows the potential of SAR for extracting various glacier features and utility for the Himalayan cryosphere.
Keywords
Synthetic aperture radar, Quad-pol, Radarsat-2, Sentinel-2, H/A/alpha decomposition, Polarimetry, Glacier
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