Mapping debris-covered glaciers and identifying factors affecting the accuracy

Supraglacial debris significantly hampers the mapping of glaciers using remote sensing data. A semi-automated approach for the mapping of debris-covered glacier was applied, which combined the inputs from thermal and optical remote sensing data and the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derived morphometric parameters. A thermal mask that delineates the supraglacial debris extent was generated by the thresholding of surface temperature layer obtained from Landsat TM/ETM + thermal band satellite data. The extent of clean glacier ice was identified by band ratioing and thresholding of TM/ETM + 4 and TM/ETM + 5 bands. Morphometric parameters like slope, plan curvature and profile curvature were rearranged in similar surface groups using the technique of cluster analysis. All these masks were vectorized and final classification maps were generated using geographic information system (GIS) overlay operations