The 1993-1994 Surge Of Bering Glacier, Alaska Observed With Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar

Abstract

Sequential synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired by the First European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1) were employed for observation of the 1993-'94 surge of Bering Glacier, Alaska. Evidence of accelerated motion became visible in late April 1993. Subsequently the surge front propagated down-glacier at a mean velocity of 90 m/day between 19 May and 25 August, reaching most of the 34 km perimeter of the terminus by shortly after 25 August. The calving terminus then advanced rapidly into proglacial Vitus Lake at a maximum rate, during 9 August to 18 October, of 19 m/day in its central area. The propagating surge front consisted of a distributed region of undulations and bulges on the glacier surface having heights, estimated from SAR data, of 40 to 110 m and widths varying from 0.7 to 1.5 km. The measurements were made using terrain-corrected, geocoded and coregistered images. <p>