Application of remote sensing on land cover change in Gongga mountain glacier

Global warming has brought about many severe environmental problems, including a rise in sea level, lack of water resource, global food crisis, ecological environmental change, and increased natural hazards. In many mountainous areas of the world, glaciers are critical sources of fresh water that crucially contribute to the sustainability of socio-economic activities such as hydroelectric power generation, agriculture and tourism. Studies have shown that the mountain glaciers have retreated rapidly likely due to global warming. Thus, glaciers can provide a longer term perspective for the study of climatic variations and environmental changing. Their retreat is considered a key indicator of early detection of global climate changes. In China, in response to global warming, glaciers on the Tibetan plateau have been retreating since the early 20th century, and the change has begun to accelerate since 1980s. The Hailuogou glacier, a typical monsoonal temperate glacier, is located on the eastern side of Mt. Gongga, in the region of the southeastern part of the Tibetan plateau. It has a profound influence on regional and global atmospheric circulation and is therefore important for understanding the dynamics of global environmental change. This study applies the remote sensing techniques to monitor Hailuogou glacier's surface cover change. Change detection of the glacier retreat during the period of 10 years is performed by utilizing the multi-temporal satellite imagery (SPOT, 1997-2009). The results showed that an annual mean retreat at Hailuogou glacier during 1997 to 2009 was 35.5 m, faster than that of the previous studies of around 29.8 m.