Alpine glacier 3D displacement derived from ascending and descending TerraSAR-X images on Mont-Blanc test site

This paper explores the possibilities to estimate the 3D displacement field of Alpine glaciers by using high resolution TerraSAR-X images. The amplitude correlation technique applied on 11-day repeat pass data provides two projections of the surface displacement. The combined use of ascending and descending data acquired over almost the same period provides 4 different projections which can be geocoded and inverted to derive the 3D displacement field. Experimental results are presented on the Argentiere glacier with stripmap HH images acquired over the Mont Blanc test site (Chamonix, France) during summer 2009. The results are compared with the available ground truth in the textured areas and on artificial targets (corner reflectors) installed on the glacier.