Premium
Measuring glacier surface temperatures with ground‐based thermal infrared imaging
Author(s) -
AubryWake Caroline,
Baraer Michel,
McKenzie Jeffrey M.,
Mark Bryan G.,
Wigmore Oliver,
Hellström Robert Å.,
Lautz Laura,
Somers Lauren
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl065321
Subject(s) - glacier , infrared , geology , thermal infrared , remote sensing , thermal , environmental science , climatology , geomorphology , meteorology , physics , optics
Spatially distributed surface temperature is an important, yet difficult to observe, variable for physical glacier melt models. We utilize ground‐based thermal infrared imagery to obtain spatially distributed surface temperature data for alpine glaciers. The infrared images are used to investigate thermal microscale processes at the glacier surface, such as the effect of surface cover type and the temperature gradient at the glacier margins on the glacier's temperature dynamics. Infrared images were collected at Cuchillacocha Glacier, Cordillera Blanca, Peru, on 23–25 June 2014. The infrared images were corrected based on ground truth points and local meteorological data. For the control points, the Pearson's correlation coefficient between infrared and station temperatures was 0.95. The ground‐based infrared camera has the potential for greatly improving glacier energy budget studies, and our research shows that it is critical to properly correct the thermal images to produce robust, quantifiable data.