Co-registration and bias corrections of satellite elevation data sets for quantifying glacier thickness change

Abstract. There are an increasing number of digital elevation models (DEMs) available worldwide for deriving elevation differences over time, including vertical changes on glaciers. Most of these DEMs are heavily post-processed or merged, so that physical error modelling becomes difficult and statistical error modelling is required instead. We propose a three-step methodological framework for assessing and correcting DEMs to quantify glacier elevation changes: (i) remove DEM shifts, (ii) check for elevation-dependent biases, and (iii) check for higher-order, sensor-specific biases. A simple, analytic and robust method to co-register elevation data is presented in regions where stable terrain is either…

• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• CI
  California Institute of Technology
• KI
  Keck Institute for Space Studies
• CN
  Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales
• MO
  Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
• NF
  Norges Forskningsråd

  Award: 176076
• NP
  Norsk Polarinstitutt
• UG
  U.S. Geological Survey
• GS
  Goddard Space Flight Center