New algorithms for the compilation of glacier inventories

Abstract

Glacier inventories are used for many applications in glaciology, however, their manual compilation is time-consuming. Here, we present two new algorithms for the automatic compilation of glacier inventories. The first approach is based on hydrological modeling tools and separates glacier complexes into individual glaciers, requiring a digital elevation model (DEM) and glacier complex outlines as input. Its application to > 60,000 km² of ice in Alaska (~98% success rate) and southern Arctic Canada (~97% success rate) indicates the method is robust if DEMs and glacier complex outlines of good quality are available. The second algorithm relies on glacier outlines and a DEM and derives centerlines in a three-step 'cost grid -- least cost route' procedure. First, termini and heads are determined for every glacier. Second, centerlines are derived by determining the least cost route on a previously determined cost grid. Third, the centerlines are split into branches, followed by the attribution of a branch order. Application to > 21,000 Alaska glaciers shows that ~5.5% of the glacier heads and ~3.5% of the termini require manual correction. With corrected heads and termini, ~1.5% of the actual derived centerlines need edits. Comparison with alternative approaches reveals that the centerlines vary significantly depending on the algorithm used.