Characterization of ice shelf fracture features using ICESat-2–A case study over the Amery Ice Shelf

Fractures are important structural features that affect the stress condition and stability of ice shelves. Previous studies have mainly focused on the measurement of fractures in the horizontal dimension. However, the vertical morphology of fractures could also be potentially important in determining their evolution and role in ice shelf stability. In this regard, the dense and high-resolution surface elevation measurements collected by the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) provide an excellent opportunity for studying fractures in the vertical dimension over a regional scale. Here we developed an object-oriented algorithm to automatically detect and characterize fracture features (including rifts, surface fractures, and the surface expressions of basal fractures) from ICESat-2 data. We successfully applied the algorithm to ICESat-2 L3A Land Ice Height (ATL06) data over the Amery Ice Shelf in East Antarctica, and retrieved the vertical structural information of two major fracture fields. The detected fracture features match well with the visible fracture lines in Landsat-8 satellite imagery, and the edges of fracture features are well-captured from the ATL06 data. We analyzed the fracture patterns in terms of surface depth, width, vertical shape, length, and orientation. We found that the fracture feature depth is a key factor determining the formation of new fractures and the spatial pattern of depth is closely related to rift formation. We anticipate that further application of the object-oriented method over other ice shelves will produce important insights regarding fracture formation and ice shelf vulnerability by combining ICESat-2-derived vertical information with the horizontal structure retrieved from satellite imagery.

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Work Title Characterization of ice shelf fracture features using ICESat-2–A case study over the Amery Ice Shelf
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Shujie Wang
  2. Patrick Alexander
  3. Qiusheng Wu
  4. Marco Tedesco
  5. Song Shu
Keyword
  1. ICESat-2
  2. Antarctica
  3. Ice shelf
  4. Fracture
  5. Vertical structure
License CC BY 4.0 (Attribution)
Work Type Research Paper
Publisher
  1. Remote Sensing of Environment
Publication Date March 15, 2021
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.112266
Deposited February 28, 2021

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  • Updated Publisher Show Changes
    Publisher
    • Remote Sensing of Environment
  • Added ICESat-2_Manuscript_accepted.pdf
  • Added Creator Shujie Wang
  • Added Creator Patrick Alexander
  • Added Creator Qiusheng Wu
  • Added Creator Marco Tedesco
  • Added Creator Song Shu
  • Updated Acknowledgments Show Changes
    Acknowledgments
    • This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation (ANS #1713072) and NASA (#80NSSC18K0814 and #NNX17AH04G) when S. Wang worked as a postdoctoral research scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. The authors thankfully acknowledge the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) for the ICESat-2 ATL03 and ATL06 data products and the MEaSUREs phase-based Antarctica ice velocity data, and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for the Landsat images.
  • Updated Acknowledgments, License Show Changes
    Acknowledgments
    • This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation (ANS #1713072) and NASA (#80NSSC18K0814 and #NNX17AH04G) when S. Wang worked as a postdoctoral research scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. The authors thankfully acknowledge the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) for the ICESat-2 ATL03 and ATL06 data products and the MEaSUREs phase-based Antarctica ice velocity data, and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for the Landsat images.
    License
    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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