Glaciers from space

Glaciers are senstive climate indicators and are effective monitoring means for environmental and climatic changes. The institute for Cartography of the Dresden University of Technology, Germany, and the Department for Geography of the University of Montana, Missoula, USA are developing a methodology for accurate mapping of debris-covered glaciers, focusing on the glaciers on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest. Four ASTER scences from 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005 have been considered for Digital Elevation Model generation and glacier monitoring. Based on the derived digital terrain model (DTM), morphometric parameters such as slope, plan, and profile curvature have been calculated.