The Relationship between Time Since Deglaciation and the Reflectance of Glacial Forelands

Glacial recession rates can be reconstructed by conducting physiochemical and ecological surveys of glacial forelands and can be determined by analysis of the distribution and composition of successional vegetation. This latter method is used in this study, which illustrates that a basic vegetation index such as a near-infrared/red ratio, obtained from ground-based reflectivity measurements with a Milton Multiband Radiometer (MMR) for individual foreland moraines, correlates well with the age of the moraines. This suggests that ground, airborne, or spaceborne remotely sensed data, when obtained with established ground-based observations, may facilitate the spatial determination of glacial recession. It does not aim to replace existing techniques but explores the potential for a rapid synoptic assessment of glacial foreland chronosequences in conjunction with conventional groundbased techniques of age determination.