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UAV-Based Survey of Glaciers in Himalayas: Challenges and Recommendations

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Abstract

Role of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based remote sensing (RS) applications in glaciology have increased in recent years. UAV-based RS studies on mountain glaciers are mainly focussing on obtaining accurate ultra-high-resolution data from UAV images for different glaciological applications. However, studies understanding the challenges involved during UAV surveys on complex terrains of high mountain glaciers are inadequate and they are not available for places like Himalayas. Therefore, this study aims to examine and derive strategies to minimize those challenges on such complex glacier and their margin topography. Here, UAV surveys were conducted using a fixed-wing commercial-grade off-the-shelf UAV (eBee series, SenseFly) on three glacier sites (East Rathong, Hamtah and Panchinala-A) located in different climate regimes within the Indian part of Himalayas. From the UAV collected images, ultra-high-resolution ortho-mosaicked images and Digital Elevation Models were generated at 0.1 m ground sample distance and their accuracies were assessed using the collected ground control points. Based on the challenges observed, the study recommends criteria for selection of best-suited take-off/landing locations on a mountain glacier and its margins for conducting efficient UAV surveys in the complex terrain such as in the Himalayas and possibly beyond. Recommendations reported in this article shall be useful to minimize the challenges and associated risks during UAV data acquisition using fixed-wing UAVs.

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Fig. 1

source of glaciers: Hillshade of ALOS World 3D—30 m (AW3D30) Version 3.1

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source: Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, i-cubed, USDA FSA, USGS, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo, and the GIS User Community

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by Ministry of Earth Sciences (MOES) and Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India for the project titled “RISK ASSESSMENT OF MORAINE DAMMED GLACIER LAKES DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE” (Project Number: 4096) under the scheme called IMPacting Research INnovation and Technology (IMPRINT) scheme. We acknowledge Sakura Geoinformation Software Research Pvt. Ltd. Chennai, and their team for providing UAV-related training and their support during field investigations. We thank Dr Ankur Pandit, Dr Prateek Gantayat, Mr Abhijit Chhatry, Ms Sangita Singh, Mr Vivek Sharma, Ms Smarika Kulshrestha and Ms Anisha Narendran from Hydro-Remote Sensing Applications (H-RSA) Group, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay for being part of the field investigations. We would like to thank all the porters individually from Red Panda and Travel Himalayas for assisting us throughout the fieldwork and a special thanks to Mr. Adhikari for guiding us to reach the glacier sites and his invaluable help during field measurements at Panchinala-A glacier.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hydro-Remote Sensing Applications (H-RSA) Group, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400 076, India

    RAAJ Ramsankaran & P. J. Navinkumar

  2. Earth System Science and Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, India

    Ajay Dashora

  3. Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560012, India

    Anil V. Kulkarni

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  1. RAAJ Ramsankaran
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Appendix

Appendix

See Table 8.

Table 8 Sample list of the potential glaciers in Indian Himalayas suitable for UAV surveying of whole glacier using fixed-wing UAVs (here eBee series)
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Ramsankaran, R., Navinkumar, P.J., Dashora, A. et al. UAV-Based Survey of Glaciers in Himalayas: Challenges and Recommendations. J Indian Soc Remote Sens 49, 1171–1187 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-020-01300-7

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