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Abstract
We present the results of an investigation into the capabilities of high‐resolution airborne Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) for the study of a small glacier in Svalbard. The data are shown to be capable of producing a digital elevation model (DEM) with a horizontal resolution of 1–2 m and a vertical resolution of 5–15 cm. This degree of resolution is suitable for mass‐balance estimation using repeat data on an annual or semi‐annual basis, but it is also reveals linear surface features such as meltwater channels and crevasses. These have potential for tracking in repeat imagery to deduce the surface flow of the glacier. The intensity of the returned LiDAR pulse can also be used to discriminate snow‐covered parts of the glacier from bare ice.
Acknowledgements
The LiDAR data were collected by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Airborne Remote Sensing Facility, using the University of Cambridge Unit for Landscape Modelling's Optech ALTM3033 LiDAR. Logistical facilities in Svalbard were provided by the NERC field station at Ny‐Ålesund and we thank the base managers, Nick Cox and Pete Milner, for their assistance. Differential GPS data were primarily collected by N. Barrand and B. Barrett. We thank the pilots and crew of the NERC ARSF for their efforts in the face of difficult flying conditions due to poor weather during their deployment to Svalbard. Financial support was provided for N.S.A. and W.G.R. by the B.B. Roberts Fund of the Scott Polar Research Institute and by St Johns and Christ's Colleges of the University of Cambridge. Some of the image processing was performed using ImageJ, a public‐domain Java image‐processing program developed by Wayne Rasband at the US National Institutes of Health and downloadable from http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/.