An inventory of Norway's glaciers and ice-marginal lakes from 2018–19 Sentinel-2 data

Andreassen, Liss M.; Nagy, Teodor; Kjøllmoen, Bjarne; Leigh, Joshua R.

Abstract

We used Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m resolution to map the extent of Norway's glaciers and ice-marginal lakes over 2018–19. We applied a standardized semi-automated band ratio method to derive glacier outlines and ice-marginal lakes. To optimise the results, we manually edited the ice-lake interfaces, debris, snow and parts of the glaciers situated under shadow. We compared our Sentinel-2 derived outlines with very high-resolution aerial orthophotos and Pléiades satellite orthoimages. Glaciers larger than 0.3 km2 have area differences within 7%, whereas values are larger for smaller glaciers. The orthophotos and orthoimages provide more details and a higher mapping accuracy for individual glaciers, but require manual digitisation, have smaller spatial and temporal coverage and can have adverse snow conditions. We found a total glacier area of 2328 ± 70 km2 of which the ten largest glaciers accounted for 52%. The glacier area decreased 15% since the previous inventory (Landsat data from 1999 to 2006), the reduction being largest in northern Norway (22%) compared to southern Norway (10%). We detected more than 2000 previously undetected smaller glaciers and ice patches (covering 37 km2) and 360 new ice-marginal lakes.

Citation

Andreassen, L. M., Nagy, T., Kjøllmoen, B., & Leigh, J. R. (2022). An inventory of Norway's glaciers and ice-marginal lakes from 2018–19 Sentinel-2 data. Journal of Glaciology, 68(272), 1085-1106. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.20

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Mar 4, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022-12
• Deposit Date: May 18, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 31, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Glaciology
• Print ISSN: 0022-1430
• Electronic ISSN: 1727-5652
• Publisher: International Glaciological Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 68
• Issue: 272
• Pages: 1085-1106
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.20
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1205765