Object-Based Glacier Surface Change Detection using Multispectral Satellite Data

Due to change in global temperature, glaciers all over the Himalayan region including the Karakoram range have been retreating and many small glaciers have already disappeared. Therefore, it is the prime most need to acquire precise information on glacier changes. This study presents an object-based approach that utilizes the Maps to detect the change detection in glacier ice/snow coverage from the temporal signatures of multispectral satellite imageries of Landsat 4-5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+), and Landsat 8 Operational Land Image/ Thermal Infrared Sensor (OLI-TIRS) from year 1997 to 2018. It is observed that the glacier ice/snow cover area is increased by 25.17% during 20 years period. This research is the first attempt to study the glacier ice cover change in the Karakoram range using a semi-automatic object-based approach.