Estimate Yengisogat Glacier Surface Flow Velocities Using ALOS PALSAR Data Feature-tracking, Karakoram,China

Little is known about the detailed behavior of glaciers in the Karakoram Mountains. The Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) data were used to obtain the surface velocity of the Yengisogat Glacier in the Karakoram Mountains. Four data sets covered all four seasons to extract the offset fields and estimate annual average surface velocity based on seasonal velocities. For the ALOS PALSAR data, the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) feature-tracking (SFRT) was utilized instead of SAR interferometry because of low coherence in fast moving glaciers or large time intervals between the acquisitions of images. The accuracy of measurements was discussed and measurements were consistent with previous results. We find that there were two fast moving glacier flows existed in south tributaries of the glacier.