A study of the glacier flow velocity in the Tianshan mountains based on high resolution SAR

It is quite difficult for the scientists to carry out the field scientific research on mountain glaciers, due to the special geographical position and formidable natural conditions. In addition, the conventional measurement methods are not able to meet the requirements of the rapid monitoring and quantitative evaluation for the glacier changes. As an advanced technique for spatial information acquisition, SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) can monitor the ground surface motion with high precision under all weather. The unique advantages indicate that SAR is the optimum method for glacier monitoring. Considering the baseline length, temporal baseline and the continuity, three COSMO images were selected to carry out the study of the glacier flow velocity in the Tianshan Mountains using Offset_Tracking technology. From the result, we can see the displacement of the range direction of Tianshan glacier is relatively obvious while compared to the displacement of the azimuth direction. The velocity of the glacier displacement reduces from glacier axis to both sides, and increases from its origin to snowline and then reduces towards the end.