Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-021-09899-7

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Using UAV and satellite image data for analyzing the elevation change
of debris‑covered glaciers and its associated driving factors
Neamat Karimi1 · Ashkan Farokhnia1 · Sara Sheshangosht1 · Masoud Bahreinimotlagh1

Received: 11 October 2020 / Accepted: 3 August 2021

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021

Abstract
In this paper, we aim to determine the interactions of debris-covered glacier elevation change with some glacial properties
(including ice thickness, surface temperature, debris albedo, and supraglacial lakes) over the largest and the most dynamic
glacier in Iran, Alamkouh Glacier, using the repeated acquisition of high-resolution remote sensing data and in-situ measure-
ments during 2010–2018. First, we present the elevation change of Alamkouh glacier using digital elevation models (DEMs)
derived from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and LiDAR. Results revealed that on the whole glacier area, the LiDAR and
UAV datasets achieved a highly consistent estimate of glacier elevation change at − 1.6 ± 0.2 m during 2010 and 2018. On
the local scale, datasets revealed a clear constant between moderate elevation change of the two smaller flow units of the
glacier (about − 0.48 ± 0.06 and − 0.37 ± 0.04 m) and significantly more negative elevation change in the main flow unit
(− 2.5 ± 0.31 m). Results show that the elevation change of the Alamkouh glacier is jointly influenced by supraglacial lakes
and the types of glacier cover. The regions where the rates of thinning are greatest coincide with the regions where the
supraglacial lakes exist. In contrast, a weak relationship existed between the elevation change and glacier surface albedo and
especially ice thickness. We observed a remarkable negative elevation change (− 6.3 m) of areas connected with supraglacial
lakes in comparison with clean ice (− 3.1 m) and debris-covered (− 1.71 m) areas. It is proven that the quantity and area
of the supraglacial lakes are the key to understanding the melting rate of the debris-covered glacier. Our observations infer
the significant insulating function of debris cover on the Alamkouh glacier and highlight the effect of supraglacial lakes on
enhancing glacier wastage.

Keywords Glacier · Debris cover · Elevation change · UAV · Ice thickness · Supraglacial lakes

Introduction controls on glacier mass balance is pivotal for recognizing

Except for a very few limited areas (e.g., Karakoram range
and the western Kunlun Shan glaciated regions), in almost
all glacierized regions in high mountains Asia, a significant
glacier mass loss is reported over recent years (Bhushan
et al. 2018; Gardelle et al. 2013; Kääb et al. 2012; Brun et al.
2017; Wang et al. 2015). Today all researchers agree that
the retreat of glaciers is certainly recognized as a sign of the
changing global climate (Rossini et al. 2018). Several studies
have shown significant anomalies in the mass balance of gla-
ciers, even within a single basin, which is controlled by dif-
ferent local factors. Detailed characterization of these local
* Neamat Karimi
n.karimi@wri.ac.ir
1
Department of Water Resources Study and Research, Water
Research Institute, Tehran, Iran
the status of debris-cover glaciers and for characterizing
dissimilarity in glacier dynamics and mass budget, which
have important implications for climate change projections
and calibration of hydrologic and glaciological models and
assessment of melt-water contributions to river discharge
(Jouvet et al. 2018).
While regional-scale studies provide exquisite insights
into the climatic conditions driving glacier mass loss, but
such studies only present a large picture of global impacts
on glacier dynamics as a whole, and information about the
influence of local factors on glacier dynamics is ignored.
However, the role of such local factors in glacier mass loss
may be even greater than the impacts of climatic factors.
Besides climate change factors (e.g., changes in atmos-
pheric temperature and precipitation amounts and phase),
supraglacial debris and several morphological and local
factors complicate the mass balance state of mountain and

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debris-covered glaciers (Huang et al. 2018) and this question
is always asked that what are the main factors that control
the heterogeneous responses of debris-covered glaciers to
climate change (Salerno et al. 2017)? Debris-covered gla-
ciers are characterized by huge amounts of supraglacial
debris covers and a little amount of clean ice outcrop. This
cover behavior makes it difficult to assess the influence of
climate change on those glaciers. Because many researchers
believe that this layer insulates the glacier surface from the
atmosphere especially when it reaches a sufficient thickness
and the little changes in the surface of clean ice regions
(which in many cases remain unchanged) cannot reflect the
effect of climate change/variations properly compared to
clean ice glaciers (Salerno et al. 2017; Kirkbride and Deline
2013; Vincent et al. 2016). But this rule is not always true,
and in some cases, it has been observed that the surface
lowering rates of some debris-covered glacier areas may be
similar to those of clean ice glaciers even in the same alti-
tude and climate range (e.g., in the Hindu Kush Himalaya)
(Kääb et al. 2012; Nuimura et al. 2012; Ragettli et al. 2016).
Ice cliffs and supraglacial lakes are other associated fac-
tors that play an important role in catalyzing ice melting
in the glaciers (Huang et al. 2018). Because the ice cliffs
increased the unprotected area exposed to the air and also
supraglacial lakes transmit the short-wave solar energy into
the glacier and accelerate the melting process (Miles et al
2016). The role of these parameters in the changes of debris-
covered glaciers are not quantified distinctly, but some stud-
ies concluded that the rate of ice melting near the ice cliffs
and supraglacial lakes is 7–10 times more than the debris
cover areas (Reid and Brock 2017; Buri et al. 2016).
Measuring area changes of glaciers is of great value, but
this analysis cannot reflect the actual changes of debris-cov-
ered glaciers. In debris-covered glaciers, elevation change
analysis is the most important indicator of debris-covered
glacier changes and it has always been used instead of gla-
cier surface changes analysis. Conventionally, changes in
glacier elevation, are interpreted as glacier mass budget
changes, indicative of changes in the climatological condi-
tions (Wendt et al. 2017; Bliss et al. 2014). Digital elevation
model (DEM) subtraction which can be derived from remote
sensing and direct land survey is an accurate and commonly
used method to estimate glacier mass balance and volume
change (Wang et al. 2018; Paul et al. 2015; Salerno et al
2017; Ragettli et al., 2016; Nuimura et al. 2012; Immerzeel
et al. 2014). Taking into account the unaffordable nature of
glacial environments, remote sensing technology is the only
effective and practical tool to obtain continuous spatial and
temporal glaciers surface elevation changes (Berthier et al.
2014; Lo Vecchio et al. 2018).
DEMs are generated mainly from three types of remote
sensing datasets using completely different methods: inter-
ferometry for Synthetic Aperture Radar data (e.g., SRTM),
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Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577
photogrammetry for optical stereo images (e.g., SPOT,
ASTER), and LiDAR scanning. Each of these approaches
has different types of uncertainties in the glacier setting that
must be considered separately. Researchers have repeatedly
used the products of these data to study the elevation changes
of glaciers. It is important to keep in mind that the quality
and accuracy of each DEM were considerably dependent on
glacier type. Such that, all space-borne remote sensing data
show a similar deficiency in studying small mountain gla-
ciers (Bhardwaj et al. 2016). The low spatial resolution and
low accuracy of these data have greatly limited their use in
the study of small and alpine glaciers (Berthier et al. 2006).
Therefore, in glaciers that are in arid and semi-arid regions
(like many glaciers in the Middle East) and their size does
not exceed a few square kilometers, the most important issue
in estimating their elevation changes, is to access DEMs
with great accuracy and high spatial resolution. Briefly,
some of the space-born remote sensing data limitations in
monitoring small alpine glaciers are as follows (Bhardwaj
et al. 2016): (I) low spatial resolution of most space-born
DEM data to study of small mountain glaciers, (II) the low
temporal resolution of space-born data and their restriction
on obtaining required data on specific dates or at a specific
time, (III) the high costs involved in data acquisition espe-
cially in the case of obtaining stereo images for elevation
change analysis and (IV) obtaining cloud-free data on opti-
cal sensors is a great challenge over glacial areas. Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can generate frequent high-reso-
lution aerial photos at low cost over glacial regions. So, to
overcome the drawbacks associated with satellite remote
sensing, UAV-based images are gaining pace in recent years
due to their advantages over conventional remote sensing
platforms in glaciological studies. Recent advances in hard-
ware and software development have led to the introduction
of UAVs also known as drones for accurate 3D mapping and
ortho-images with favorite spatial and temporal resolution
in various earth sciences.
Despite all the advantages of UAV data, high-elevated
mountain glaciers are sparsely studied using UAVs in com-
parison to polar or sub-polar regions. Because UAVs have
some limitations in the case of maintenance of flight eleva-
tion in low air pressure conditions and poor reception of GPS
satellite signals in mountains (Bhardwaj et al. 2016). Nev-
ertheless, the application of UAVs in glaciological studies
is rapidly growing over the last 10 years (e.g., Rossini et al.,
2018; Immerzeel et al. 2014; Kraaijenbrink et al. 2016a, b).
Based on the sensors utilized in UAVs (includes imaging
sensors, non-imaging sensors, and air samplers), some of the
common applications of UAVs equipped with imaging sen-
sors over alpine glaciers are: generates multi-temporal high-
resolution DEM and elevation change detection, monitoring
the progress or retreat of the terminus regions, feature track-
ing and glacier surface movement calculations, dynamics of
Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577
ice cliffs and supraglacial lakes, studies supraglacial drain-
age pathways and energy-balance modeling of a supraglacial
pond and debris cover areas (Kraaijenbrink et al. 2016a, b;
Rippin et al. 2015; Immerzeel et al. 2014; Whitehead et al.
2013; Clayton 2012).
The main goals of this study are to provide: (i) the accu-
rate and high-resolution elevation change measurement of
the Alamkouh glacier in Iran through remote sensing data
from 2010 to 2018 as one of the main indicators of debris-
covered glacier change under the recent global warming; and
(ii) assess the relationship between elevation change with
different local and morphological properties of Alamkouh
glacier. On the other hand, this study aims at contributing
to a better understanding of the Alamkouh glacier dynam-
ics and changes and the interactions among its physical and
local processes. The candidate predictors are surface tem-
perature, surface albedo, supraglacial ponds, and ice thick-
ness. The question we pose here is. “How much of the ice
thickness has decreased between 2010 and 2018 and what
are the main local factors controlling the observed eleva-
tion change response of Alamkouh debris-covered glacier to
climate change in Iran?” We attempt to answer this question
using very high-resolution LiDAR and UAV digital eleva-
tion model data for elevation change analyses besides using
Landsat-8 data for glacier surface temperature and albedo
measurement. Also, ground penetration radar (GPR) data
were used for measuring ice thickness. The novel contribu-
tion of this study is that it combines a wide range of morpho-
logical data to identify the main factors of debris-covered
elevation change and using a new unmanned remote sensing
technology for mountain glaciers change analysis. Besides
analyzing some common morphological factors, we provide
some new data to better understand the changes in the Alam-
kouh glacier. These data include a temperature of debris
cover surfaces as a proxy of debris thickness, debris cover
albedo as a measure of the amount of solar energy absorbed
in heterogeneous debris, ice thickness, and supraglacial pond
density.
Data and methods
Study area
The name of the Middle East and West Asia has always
been associated with war and bloodshed. But very few have
heard about the existence of glaciers and the impact of cli-
mate change on them in this part of the earth. Iran, as one of
the countries located in the Middle East region, is located
in arid and semi-arid climate conditions, and the existence
of glaciers in this country may seem somewhat strange for
the earth scientists. But because of the very high mountain
ranges and their special geomorphological conditions, there
Page 3 of 19 577
are at least five major glaciated areas in this country. The
current study is focused on the Alamkouh glacier, which is
the largest glacier in Iran and is located in the western part
of the Alburz mountain in the north of Iran called Takht-e
Suleyman Massif (Fig. 1). Takht-e Suleyman is the largest
and highest glaciated region of Iran with an average eleva-
tion of 4050 m (Karimi et al. 2012b). Alamkouh is the most
typical glacier of this region that survived from the Quater-
nary era in Iran.
As shown in Fig. 1C, about 88% of the total area of 3.8
­km2 of Alamkouh glacier surface is covered by a wide range
of debris (from a few centimeters to more than several
meters) and only a few amounts of glacier surface which are
located in the cirques are debris-free (Karimi et al. 2012a).
This debris mainly results from physical weathering in rock
walls, which periodically release blocks of rock and they fall
onto talus slopes and glacier surface. Based on the sources
of this debris, they can be classified into two main categories
based on their albedo. Indeed, most parts of the debris cov-
ers over the Alamkouh glacier surface are originated from
high albedo rock walls, while some of this debris which is
located in the easternmost part of the glacier is also derived
from the dark rocks (Fig. 5C illustrate the amounts of albedo
over the Alamkouh glacier). This has led to significant
reflectance and albedo differences between the two types
of debris covers on satellite imagery as well as direct field
observations. This issue is very important because the dif-
ference between albedo values will lead to a difference in the
amount of solar energy absorbed and thus the amount of ice
melting. In recent climate modeling studies, because of the
deposition of dust and black carbon on accumulation areas
of glaciers; more attention is paid to the ice-albedo feedback
and its action in the changes of the total energy balance
at the glacier surface. But an understanding of how debris
cover albedo varies in response to changes in the state of the
underneath ice is a crucial component in modeling ice melt
and glacier change analysis which has almost been deceived.
Unlike many other parts of the world where a lot of
research has been done on their glaciers (e.g., Tibetan
Plateau, Tienshan Mountain, Himalaya, Alps, etc.), much
research has not yet been done on Iran’s glaciers, and many
features of Iran's glaciers have not been identified. While;
the study of Iran’s glaciers is of great importance due to its
arid climate and low latitude compared to the other parts of
the world’s glaciated areas. Major studies on Iran’s glaciers
(especially on Alamkouh glacier) have focused mainly on
mapping the actual area of glaciers (Karimi et al. 2012a),
area change analysis (Farajzadeh and Karimi 2014; Karimi
et al. 2014), and elevation change analysis (Karimi et al
2012a). Using different remote sensing data (e.g., aerial
photo, ASTER, and Worldview-2 stereo images) Karimi
(2012a) founds that the thickness of the Alamkouh glacier
has decreased by about 1.39 m/year between 1955 and 2010
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577 Page 4 of 19
Fig. 1  Overview of the Alamkouh glacier, A it is location, B the satellite image of glacier (acquired on August 17, 2016 in the middle of ablation
season) and C the distribution of supraglacial lakes, debris cover and clean ice areas
which the maximum thinning rate (about − 4.5 ± 0.32 m/
year) was happened in high-elevated areas and fell down to
about − 0.5 ± 0.06 m/year toward the tongue of the glacier
(Karimi et al. 2012a).
Data used
LiDAR and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data
In this study, two high-resolution DEM data were used for
the elevation change analysis of Alamkouh glacier. First,
light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data acquisition cam-
paigns were carried out with the Riegl LMS-Q560 sensor
on September 7, 2010. The LiDAR high-density data (1
point/m2) was used by Karimi et al (2012a) for the measur-
ing of Alamkouh glacier elevation change (between 1955
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Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577
and 2010), and here it was used as a 2010 elevation data.
Using standard interpretation routines, the high point density
LiDAR data allowed for generating high-resolution DEM
with a spatial resolution of about 1 m. To evaluate the accu-
racy of LiDAR DEM, several ground control points (GCPs)
were measured on the surface of the glacier using Trimble-
R8 DGPS in Oct 2010. These assessments indicate that the
mean vertical accuracy of LiDAR data is about 0.5 m with
R2 = 0.99 in comparison to the GPS measurements (Karimi
et al. 2012a). Although this analysis shows very high accu-
racy of LiDAR data, it seems that some parts of this uncer-
tainty are related to the time interval between ground data
and the LiDAR survey. Because the mean uncertainty of
LiDAR data over the non-glaciated stable area is less than
0.2 m while in combination with GCPs measured over the
glacier surface it reached to 0.5 m. It should be noted that
Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577
there was a time gap of about 2 months between the LiDAR
survey and field measurements and a significant part of this
error is related to the elevation changes of the glacier in the
time interval between LiDAR collection and ground control
point measurements. LiDAR data and it is accuracy over
the glacier and non-glaciated areas was described in Karimi
et al. (2012b) in more detail and further explanations are not
provided here.
UAV survey was conducted in September 2018, approxi-
mately corresponding to the end of the ablation season. This
season is choosing to avoid any interannual variation of the
glacier and make sure only annual changes will be moni-
tored. In the UAV survey, the Phantom 4 PRO V2.0 system
from DJI was used. This UAV equipped with onboard cam-
era features a 1-inch 20MP CMOS sensor. Phantom 4 PRO
V2.0 is a small cost-effective fixed-wing system. It is also
one of the cheapest systems with a simple structure, easy
maintenance, and more operational in glacial areas in com-
parison to the rotary wings systems. Because rotary systems
need appropriate take-off and landing sites, which are diffi-
cult to find in rugged glaciated areas (Bhardwaj et al. 2016).
The flight path was pre-programmed into the UAV autopi-
lot to fly a grid pattern at approximately 150 m above ground
level over the glacier to be able to take an image with a
spatial resolution of about 5 cm. Taking aerial images with
the same spatial resolution in mountainous areas is a big
challenge. Because the altitude is fluctuated sharply in alpine
areas (the altitude of Alamkouh glacier varies from 3800 to
4850 m) and with a fixed flight altitude from the point of
flight, the UAV had to adapt its flight altitude to maintain a
constant height above the glacier surface to take a similar
spatial resolution image. To solve this problem the whole
area of Alamkouh glacier was divided into 25 homogene-
ous elevation blocks, and in each of these blocks, imaging
was performed separately to preserving a constant spatial
resolution of about 5 cm. Forward and side overlaps were set
to 70% to ensure stereoscopic imaging. Also, to avoid any
bidirectional effects caused by sun zenith angels, all images
were acquired between 11:00 and 15:00 and atmospheric
cloud-free conditions. UAV survey took about 5 days using
six batteries. It should be noted that due to the high risk of
UAV flight near the vertical walls of the glacier, some lim-
ited areas inside the glacier circus were not photographed.
Because the probability of the UAV crashing in these areas is
very high. The common coverage of both UAV and LiDAR
data was shown in conjunction with the actual area of the
glacier in Fig. 3A.
Images collected from the UAV survey were processed
based on the workflow implemented in the commercial soft-
ware Agisoft PhotoScan and GCPs survived in filed meas-
urements (http://​www.​agiso​ft.​com). The algorithm used in
PhotoScan software for DEM generation involves different
orientations (relative, interior, and absolute orientations) and
Page 5 of 19 577
the generation of 3D models from the 2D acquired image
overlapped images using Structure from Motion (SfM) pho-
togrammetric range imaging technique. This algorithm was
described in Verhoeven (2011) in more detail and further
explanations are not provided here. As a result, a 15 cm
resolution DEM and ortho-image of the Alamkouh glacier
were generated.
The DEMs generated were re-project based on the com-
monly used Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projec-
tion system (Datum: WGS84 and Zone = 39). Also, due to
the different spatial resolutions of DEMs, they are re-sam-
pled to 1 m to make them congruent. To avoid any horizontal
misalignment between datasets (which is created using some
resampling methods (e.g., nearest neighbor algorithm)), the
bi-cubic algorithm was used for resampling.
Landsat‑8 image
The use of Landsat series imagery in the study of glaciers
has a very long history and has provided invaluable ser-
vices for recognizing glaciers and their behavior over time.
Landsat images were used frequently for an inventory of
glaciers, glacier surface change monitoring, glacier velocity
measurement, estimating glacier surface temperature, char-
acterizing glacier facies, glacier darkening, etc. (Bolch et al.
2010; Karimi et al. 2012a; Fugazza et al. 2019; Rosenau
et al. 2015; Bhardwaj et al. 2016; Wu et al. 2015; Wu et al.
2019). Spatiotemporal variations in land surface tempera-
ture (LST) and surface albedo can be derived from Landsat
satellite observations, particularly for remote high-elevated
mountain glaciers. Orthorectified Landsat-8 OLI images
acquired in 2018 and 2019 with a spatial resolution of 30 m
(for the VNIR/SWIR and the thermal bands) were used for
calculating brightness temperature (BT) and albedo over the
Alamkouh glacier. Images were obtained from the USGS
website (http://​glovis.​usgs.​gov). To prevent any possible
fluctuations in BT and albedo (due to rainfall as well as
air temperature fluctuations), two Landsat images with no
clouds and minimal seasonal snow cover were used in late
summers.
Ground control points (GCPs)
GCPs are very important for accurate georeferencing of the
UAV images (for precise alignments), and also for qualita-
tive analysis of the generated DEM. Before conducting the
flight mission of UAV, 93 pre-marked GCPs were coordi-
nated over the accessible areas. 63 of the 93 GCPs (about
60%) were used for DEM generation (named as GCPs) and
the remaining 40% (about 30 points) used for carrying out
an independent validation of the generated model (named
as ground validation points (GVPs)). The Location of GCPs
and GVPs was illustrated in Fig. 3 as yellow and violet
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577 Page 6 of 19
circles respectively. All GCPs and GVPS were measured
on the surface of the glacier (over recognizable debris on
UAV images) using two differential Trimble-R8 DGPS (one
serving as a base station while the other was roving over the
GCPs), in which a Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) measure-
ment technique was used. The maximum distance between
the base station and the rover is approximately 6 km. All
points were deployed on the glacier surface as red circles
drawn on large pebbles, such that they could be seen on the
acquired images. The GNSS survey on the glacier is exactly
temporally coincident with the acquisition dates of the UAV
images without any time interval.
Ground penetration radar (GPR)
Ground penetration radar (GPR) is one of the geophysical
techniques to monitor the state and evolution of glaciers
(Santin et al. 2019). GPR provides images of the internal
structure of glaciers and allows calculation of the glacier
ice thickness and quantification of glacier mass balance in
Fig. 2  A Spatial distribution of ice thickness interpreted from GPR data, B results of GPR visual interpretation and C the landscape and GPR
survey conducted at the surface of study area
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Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577
the case with multiple surveys. GPR surveys are performed
using ground-based systems or airborne-based surveys.
Besides the differences in logistical challenges, the perfor-
mance of these two strategies and their products are com-
parable. In the present study, MALÅ rough terrain antenna
(RTA) was used for ice thickness measurement in September
2016. The GPR set is equipped with a 25-MHz antenna that
is suitable for investigations requiring the maximum pos-
sible depth penetration. The flexible “snake” like the design
of this antenna allows the antenna to be maneuvered easily
and efficiently through the glacier surfaces without affect-
ing ground contact, providing optimum results in the most
difficult of environments. A total of 11 km of profiles were
measured on the accessible surface of the Alamkouh glacier
(Fig. 2A). Because of dangerous crevasses and also steep
slopes of some areas, the spatial distribution of the profile
measured is not homogeneous and it is not possible to inter-
polate profiles to produce a continuous map of ice thickness.
Measurements were positioned using an onboard GPS
mouse and a GPR signal was collected every 10 cm. GPR
Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577
Fig. 3  A Spatial distribution of ground control points (GCPs) and ground validation points (GVPs) over the Alamkouh glacier and their associ-
ated elevation differences with UAV generated DEM, B correlation between GCPs and ­UAVDEM and C correlation between GVPs and ­UAVDEM
profiles obtained along the Alamkouh glacier were inter-
preted visually (Fig. 2B). As shown in Fig. 2A, based on the
obtained results from the GPR data, the maximum ice depth
in the Alamkouh glacier is about 120 m, while the mean ice
thickness is about 55 m. As the altitude increases, the thick-
ness of the ice usually increases but not as a general rule.
Because some inconsistencies can be seen in high-elevated
areas especially in cirques.
Accuracy assessment and bias correction
In the present study, three independent processes have been
done individually for generating a precis and trustworthy
elevation change map. First, individual accuracy analysis was
assessed for UAV DEM using both GCPs and GVPs meas-
ured over the glacier. Second, systematic biases in the two
generated DEMs (LiDAR and UAV DEMs) were evaluated
Page 7 of 19 577
and corrected over non-glaciated stable areas and finally any
DEMs horizontal shifts were checked.
For accuracy assessment, the absolute vertical accuracy
of the UAV DEM to the dependent and independent GPS
measurements over the glacier surface was compared. Here,
30 GVPs collected in field measurements were used (yellow
circles in Fig. 3). Also, the mean error, RMSE, and stand-
ard deviation between DEM generated and GCPs used for
DEM generation and GVPs used for independent accuracy
assessment were measured. In addition, a normalized median
absolute deviation (NMAD) metric which was recommended
frequently to describe the quality of the DEMs (Ke et al. 2020)
was calculated. NMAD describes the dispersion of the data
that is not as sensitive to outliers as the other similar metrics.
NMAD was described as follow:
| |
NMAD = 1.4826 × median (|Δhj − mΔh |),
| | (1)
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577 Page 8 of 19 Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577

where Δhj indicates the individual differences and mΔh is the
mean of differences.
Figure 3B, C summarizes the results of the evaluation of
the UAV DEM with both GCPs and GVPs over the glacier
surface. Results reveal that the correlation coefficient (R2)
for both GCPs and GVPs is very high (equal to 1) and the
mean vertical differences of UAV DEM using GCPs and
GVPs were about 0.15 and 0.18 m, respectively. Also, the
RMSE of elevation differences were about 0.24 and 0.35 m
for GCPs and GVPs, respectively, which indicates the good
correspondence between derived DEM and control points.
Additionally, the vertical precision (NMAD) is about 0.16
and 0.27 m for both GCPs and GVPs used, respectively.
Finally, the standard deviation of the elevation differences
between UAV DEM and GVPs (± 0.3 m) was used as the
error estimate for the elevation change results.
Co-registration and correction of potential biases have
been highly recommended before any elevation change
analysis. Because even sub-pixel horizontal misalignment
between datasets can cause large errors in elevation change
estimates (Nuth and Kääb 2011; Paul et al. 2015). After
accuracy assessment, the two DEMs are co-registered based
on their attached and relevant ortho-mosaics generated
images to each other using open-source Automated Regis-
tration and Orthorectification Package (AROP) (Gao et al.
2009). In this package, the cross-correlation technique was
used for automatic tie point selection between master and
slave datasets. All of the automatically detected tie points
are examined, and the feature points falling on the glacier
surface are eliminated and only points over the non-glaciated
stable area are used. Around 150, precis, and well-distrib-
uted tie points are collected with an overall RMSE less than
the 2 m in-ground coordinate. Using the tie points, the slave
image (UAV image) is warped to the master image (LiDAR
image). Finally, the registration accuracy is checked to be
less than one pixel.
In calculating elevation changes, non-glaciated areas are
commonly used to validate and bias correction of the results
because they are considered to be stable over the observa-
tional period (Nuth and Kääb 2011). In this study, stable
non-glaciated stable areas were selected from an elevation of
3600 to 4100 m to perform validation. The terrain character-
istics (e.g., slope, aspect, and elevation range) of the glacier
area and the selected non-glaciated region are quite similar.
After masking out the outliers (large elevation differences),
any differences in elevation between the LiDAR and UAV
DEMs in this stable region are considered to represent sys-
tematic biases and this value is eliminated from the glacier
surface areas directly. As shown in Fig. 4B, the co-registered
LiDAR, and UAV DEMs are well aligned without significant
elevation-dependent biases. While, a systemic offset exists
for the LiDAR–UAV pair according to the median values of
non-glaciated elevation differences (Fig. 4A). Indeed, the
histogram of the elevation differences over the non-glaciated
areas shows a nearly Gaussian distribution, with a median of
− 0.25 m (errors vary from − 1 to + 1). This error is possibly

1800 Elevation (m)

3550 3650 3750 3850 3950 4050 4150
2
1600 Before Correction After bias-Correction
Elevation Differences (m)

1.5 Min Max Mean

RMSE= 0.30 RMSE= 0.17
1
1400
0.5
0
1200
-0.5
Frequency

-1
1000 y = 0.0004 x - 1.46
-1.5
(B) -2
R² = 0.14
800
150
600
100
Δh/tan(slope)

400 50

0
200
-50

0 -100
0

1
-1

0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
-0.8
-0.7
-0.6
-0.5
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
-0.9

-150

(A) Elevation Difference (m) 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
(C) Aspect (degree)

Fig. 4  A The deviation histograms of the DEMs in non-glaciated blue lines represent distribution of non-glaciated elevation differences
stable areas before and after bias correction, B elevation differences in each 1-m bin, C plot of slope normalized elevation differences by
between Lidar and UAV DEM in relation to elevation. The red and aspect after co-registration and bias correction

13
Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577
related to data processing, distribution of GCPs used for
DEM generation, etc. The present error was subtracted
from UAV DEM linearly and a new corrected DEM was
generated. After correcting present bias, the DEMs are well
aligned without visible bias and the non-glaciated eleva-
tion difference is centered around zero with RMSE of about
0.17 m. This correction improves the RMSE of stable terrain
by about 43%.
For analyzing the relationship between elevation differ-
ences and both slope and aspect, the methodology proposed
by Nuth and Kääb (2011) was used. Based on this method,
if two DEMs are not precisely aligned, show an explicit rela-
tionship between elevation differences and the direction of
the terrain. This bias can be easily and visually identifiable
in elevation difference maps. Because if the elevation dif-
ference map resembles the terrain (e.g., DEM hillshade),
then there is a horizontal misalignment between the DEMs.
While, based on the elevation difference map obtained
(Fig. 6), the elevation change map does not bear the resem-
blance to the hillshade map of the study area. Also, based on
the proposed method, the scatter plot of elevation differences
between LiDAR and UAV over non-glaciated areas (Fig. 4C)
are showing no systematic relationship between the vertical
differences normalized by the slope tangent (y-axis) and the
terrain aspect (x-axis). However, if there was a significant
incorrect adjustment, elevation differences results are more
on sharper slopes because of the relationship of the magni-
tude of the shift vector and the elevation differences to the
tangent of the slope of the terrain.
After bias correction, the glacier elevation change map
was measured by differencing the UAV DEM of 2018 with
corresponding LiDAR 2010 DEM.
Estimating brightness temperature (BT) and albedo
Several studies confirm that debris cover thickness is one of
the main controls on the debris cover glacier ablation rate
(Brock et al. 2017; Mihalcea et al. 2008). But estimating the
spatial and pattern variation of debris thickness with suf-
ficient accuracy has proved difficult in field measurements.
While the ground- and remotely sensed temperatures cor-
relate strongly over debris-covered areas (usually more than
r = 0.8), and the temperature of the glacier surface directly
depends on the thickness of its debris cover (Mihalcea et al.
2008). Therefore, in the present study, due to the lack of
appropriate field data on debris thickness, debris surface
temperature was used as a function and representative of
debris thickness.
Given the uncertainty of many unknowns in algorithms
used for estimating land surface temperature (e.g., Jiménez-
Muñoz and Sobrino model (2003)), in the present study,
only brightness temperature (BT) was calculated using
Planck’s law over debris-covered and clean ice areas. This
Page 9 of 19 577
law describes the maximum thermal radiation that can be
emitted as a function of wavelength from any object at a
temperature T over both debris-free and debris cover areas.
Therefore, Planck’s law assumes both clean ice and debris-
covered areas as a black body without any differences in
their emissivity. The BT is not an actual temperature as ordi-
narily understood. It characterizes radiation and depending
on the mechanism of debris cover and debris-free radiations
can differ considerably from the physical temperatures.
However, due to the lack of additional information, it is
inevitable to estimate the BT instead of surface temperature
in this study to approximate the effects of debris cover thick-
ness in the ablation rate of the Alamkouh glacier. Figure 5A
shows the mean BT of the Alamkouh glacier.
Albedo determines the amount of solar radiation absorbed
at the glacier surface and is one of the main drivers of abla-
tion (Oerlemans et al. 2009). Mountain glacier surface
darkening over time has been reported for some glaciers
(Fugazza et al. 2019), but these studies have focused mainly
on albedo change of clean ice surfaces and this is not the
case with the Alamkouh glacier. Rather, the main issue is
the albedo fluctuations of the debris cover on the Alamkouh
glacier surface due to their different origins.
For calculating albedo, first, the Landsat digital numbers
are converted to top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance, using
the constant coefficients found in the metadata. Second, by
considering the incident angle of direct solar radiation as
well as radiation reflected from neighboring areas reach-
ing the glacier surface (using generated DEM from LiDAR
data), the TOA was corrected for the effects of topography.
Thirdly, using an empirical parametrization, a single broad-
band albedo was produced. specific details on this process
can be found in Fugazza et al. (2019). Figure 5B shows the
spatial distribution of Alamkouh glacier albedo.
Results and discussion
Elevation change of the glacier
The elevation change result of the Alamkouh glacier from
2010 to 2018 is shown in Fig. 6. Also, statistics on the
mean glacier elevation changes in different flow units
and the whole glacier area are listed in Table 1. Results
revealed that the maximum, minimum, and mean elevation
change of the whole Alamkouh glacier are + 7, − 20, and
− 1.6 ± 0.2 m, respectively. Supposing the ice density is
850 kg ­m−3, the Alamkouh glacier loses 5331 tonnes from
2010 to 2018. Results reveal that the glacier thinned at a
mean rate of − 0.2 ± 0.05 m from 2010 to 2018. Maxi-
mum surface lowering (about − 20 m) occurred around
3600 m at the tongue of the glacier (Fig. 6B). Indeed, in
2014 a huge glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) occurred
13
577 Page 10 of 19
Fig. 5  Spatial distribution of A brightness surface temperature and B surface albedo over the study area
at the terminus of the glacier, and several tons of debris
covers were transported into the valley at the end of the
glacier. Melt-water and ice cracking occurring on the snout
have led to significant instability and dramatic elevation
changes in this region.
Also, major elevation changes can be found in high-ele-
vated areas of flow unit 1, in which more significant glacier
melting occurred in the accumulation area with high alti-
tudes, whereas glacier elevation change was less at a lower
elevation. This could be interpreted as the result of suprag-
lacial lakes and clean ice regions that were accumulated in
this region. Also, we examine variations in elevation change
of the study area with respect to the hypsometry (Fig. 7).
We averaged elevation change over 5 m bands and plotted
their relationship with elevation for the entire glacier. This
plot shows how the elevation changes (secondary Y-axis)
from ~ 3500 to 4300 m. Results revealed that for the Alam-
kouh glacier, the elevation change over the debris-covered
area is much less to the elevation change obtained over clean
ice areas. Over the debris-covered areas, there is no clear
trend between altitude and elevation changes. However, due
to the varying spatial distribution of supraglacial lakes over
the debris-covered areas, some local fluctuations of eleva-
tion change can be found. Also, fluctuation and deviations of
elevation changes increase toward the middle of the glacier
because all three flow units collide with each other and this
has caused various positive and negative elevation changes.
13
Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577
There might be only a few glaciers in the world that have
a reduced melt in the ablation zone (Bandyopadhyay et al.
2019). Usually, elevation changes in the ablation zone are
higher than the accumulation area. Unlike many other gla-
ciers (e.g., Himalaya and Alps), the maximum ice thinning
in Alamkouh glacier have occurred in the accumulation area
and the rate of elevation changes was much less in the abla-
tion zone. Therefore, it seems that the role of other drivers
in the elevation changes of our study glacier is much more
prominent than the elevation. This can be attributed to the
insulation effect of thick debris cover in the ablation zone in
comparison to the clean ice unprotected in the accumulation
area. Figure 7 demonstrates that the elevation change curves
of the Alamkouh glacier are best explained by the existence
of debris cover and the corresponding insulating effect. Con-
sequently, the most negative elevation changes occur at the
clean ice (in the accumulation area) and surrounding areas of
supraglacial lakes. Also, a significant elevation change can
be found in the transition zone of debris-covered and clean
ice areas (at the end of the red column in Fig. 7 between
4169 and 4230 m altitude), where the debris thickness is
expected to be minimum. Because several measurements
taken at the surface of glaciers show that where debris cov-
ering the ice surface is thin, the rate of melting rises and
as debris cover thickness increased, the rate of ice melting
decreased exponentially (Nicholson and Benn 2017). Con-
sequently, the albedo of the transition zone is lower than
Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577 Page 11 of 19 577

Fig. 6  A Map of elevation change derived by differentiation of the unit 3 in more detail, (P1), (P2) and (P3) cross-sectional and longi-
LiDAR and UAV DEMs, B maximum elevation change area at the tudinal elevation change profiles (the position of these profiles are
tongue of glacier, C the area where the three flow units of the glacier shown in Fig. 6A)
collide and their elevation changes, D elevation change of the flow

Table 1  Statistics of the glacier Area ­(km2) Mean Mean elevation Standard deviation of Rate of elevation
area, mean elevation change, the elevation change (m) elevation change (m) change (m/year)
standard deviation of elevation (m)
change, and the rate of elevation
change for different flow units Flow unit 1 2.24 4006 − 2.5 0.31 − 0.31
of Alamkouh glacier
Flow unit 2 0.68 4056 − 0.48 0.06 − 0.06
Flow unit 3 1 3892 − 0.37 0.04 − 0.04
All glacier area 3.92 3985 − 1.6 0.20 − 0.20

13
 577 Page 12 of 19
Fig. 7  Hypsometric elevation 0.08
change plot for the entire area of
0.07
Alamkouh glacier. The red and
blue columns represent the area
of debris-covered and clean ice, 0.06
respectively. The gray line is the
mean elevation change in each 0.05
Area (km2)
5 m elevation bin
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0 -5
3519
3569
3619
3669
3719
clean ice and they observed more incoming radiation, and
on the other hand, the insulation effect of debris on surface
melting was lost due to their small thickness. This result can
prove this theory that with a debris cover greater than 1 m,
the insulating effect of debris is not much different and no
significant elevation changes occurred.
In Fig. 6 the cross-sectional elevation changes are shown
in three different sections. In profile-1 (P1) the thinning
occurred about zero in the marginal parts, but this change
rose to about − 4 m in the middle of the profile. This pattern
can be found again in profile-3 (P3) with slight differences.
Such that the elevation changes from zero at the marginal
areas to about − 12 m in the middle of the profile. It means
that as the elevation change continued, the amount of ice
thinning decreased toward the sides of the glacier. Unlike
cross-sectional profiles, the longitudinal profile (P2) of glow
unit 2 shows a relatively constant trend of elevation changes.
Because at a distance of 1 km, except for some elevation
changes that reach a maximum of -2 m, the other parts of
the glacier are relatively constant and no significant change
is observed. This can be attributed to the thickness of debris
cover in this region. Because based on our field observation,
the largest and thickest debris covers can be found in flow
unit 2.
Besides negative elevation changes, some positive
changes are noticeable at the surface of the glacier. For
more information, an example of such positive change was
shown in Fig. 8. Based on our findings, all positive eleva-
tion changes are the results of debris cover displacement
over the surface of the glacier. Indeed, when some massive
debris covers moved to lower altitudes, it makes a large neg-
ative elevation change in their originated areas and positive
changes in their new deployed locations. As illustrated in
Fig. 8, marked debris covers, move down rapidly (from 18
to 21 m) from 2010 to 2018 and this makes an unrealistic
positive thickness in glacier surface at the lower and newly
13
Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577
0
-0.5
-1
Elevaon Change (m)
-1.5
-2
-2.5
-3
-3.5
-4
-4.5
3769
3819
3869
3919
3969
4019
4069
4119
4169
4219
4269
Elevaon (m)
deployed areas. These changes were not detectable if other
low-resolution elevation data have been used (e.g., SRTM
or ASTER DEMs). Because in low-resolution datasets,
detecting such features is impossible, and positive eleva-
tion changes could be found rarely. Such positive changes
are mainly found in the middle of the glacier where all flow
units have collided (shown in Fig. 6C). Because in this
region a huge amount of debris covers carried by each flow
unit and gradual replacement of debris covers caused several
positive elevation differences.
The elevation changes differ greatly from debris-covered
areas to clean ice regions. There are also high elevation
change fluctuations on debris-covered areas. The glacier can
be greatly divided into two parts according to the amount
of elevation change. These parts are the areas with mini-
mal change and the high elevation change regions. As illus-
trated in Fig. 6A, the Alamkouh glacier consists of three
different flow units (nominated as flow units 1–3). Results
show that although slight increases and decreases in eleva-
tion are observed in both flow units 2 and 3, the average
elevation changes in these units have been negligible. The
mean elevation changes of flow units 2 and 3 from 2010 to
2018 are about − 0.48 and − 0.37 m, respectively. While
the mean elevation change of flow unit 1 is about 5.2 and
6.7 times greater than the flow units 2 and 3, respectively.
In other words, the elevation changes of Alamkouh glaciers
have occurred more in the flow unit 1 and other units have
changed less.
In flow units 2 and 3, glacier elevation displays minimal
changes from 2010 to 2018. As mentioned earlier, these
units are covered by huge debris with a thickness of approxi-
mately more than 1 m. It has been reported on some glaciers
in Europe that the melting rate is equal to zero where the
debris thickness exceeds 1 m (Reid and Brock 2017). While
the thickness of debris covers in units 2 and 3 are always
more than 1 m and it is rare to find a clean ice area.
Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577
Fig. 8  Debris cover displacements from high-elevated areas to the new deployed lower elevated region from A 2010 to B 2018 and C the posi-
tive elevation changes occurred due to this displacement. D Swipe images of 2010 and 2018 which show the displacement of debris covers
Elevation change and glacier surface BT
In our field visits, we found that the debris thickness differs
greatly across the Alamkouh glacier from a few centimeters
to more than 10 m. As measuring debris thickness across
glaciers is more challenging, debris surface temperature was
used as a function and representative of debris thickness.
The BT distribution for the study area is shown in Fig. 5A.
The BT falls in the range of 273 °k over clean ice areas to
297 °k over the thick debris covers at the tongue of the gla-
cier. On the other hand, the zones with clean ice reported the
lowest temperatures throughout the whole glacier. Figure 5A
suggests that the greater the amount of debris thickness, the
higher the temperature observed. Additionally, the BT pat-
tern showed a gradient inversely related to the elevation vari-
ations. Thus, the glacier ablation and terminus areas showed
the highest BT in comparison to the high-elevated areas irre-
spective of the thickness of their debris covers.
Figure 9A shows the correlation of glacier elevation
changes to the glacier BT over debris-covered areas (orange
circles), clean ice zone (blue circle), and the entire parts of
the glacier (black solid line). Correlation analysis reveals
that glacier elevation change shows a moderate reverse cor-
relation with glacier surface BT (R2 = 0.42). It means as BT
decreased, the elevation change of the glacier was increased.
Page 13 of 19 577
As can be deduced from this figure, the relationship between
BT and elevation changes is not strong enough to infer that
elevation change occurred as a function of debris cover
thickness. Because over the debris-covered areas, the corre-
lation coefficient between BT and elevation change is much
lower than the whole glacier area (R2 = 0.19). This may be
due to the thickness of the debris covers. Because most parts
of the debris and moraines over the Alamkouh glacier have
a considerable thickness (from 1 to about 10 m) and as the
thickness of moraines exceeds 1 m, their effects on reducing
or increasing the melting rate of underneath ice are greatly
reduced. That is why at BT above 280 °k, where the debris
exists, the relationship between BT and elevation changes
is greatly reduced.
For more accurate assessments of such relation, statistics
on the distribution of glacier elevation change for different
glacier surface types (includes high and low albedo areasand
clean ice area) of glaciers are shown in Table 2. Results
reveal a clear contrast of BT between debris-cover and clean
ice areas, as well as highly variable elevation change within
each type. Based on elevation change data, the mean BT of
debris-covered areas is about 5.6 °k warmer than the clean
ice areas (with a mean BT of about 278.8 °k), as well as
the mean elevation change of clean ice areas, was 1.8 times
more negative than the debris-covered areas. Also, results
13
 577 Page 14 of 19 Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577

300
show that the mean elevation change of supraglacial lakes
y (debris) = 0.95x + 289 y (ice) = 0.35x + 280 and their associated surrounding areas is 3.68 times greater
Brightness Temperature (k)

295
R² = 0.19 R² = 0.23 than the debris-covered areas.
290
y (all)= 1.42x + 289
R² = 0.42
285
Elevation change and ice thickness

280 In Fig. 9B, the elevation changes spatial pattern that is

275 highlighted by the DEM differencing was discussed in rela-
tion to the spatial variations in ice thickness, which were
270
-12 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2
derived from the GPR survey. Results revealed that an over-
all with very low coefficient correlation (R2 = 0.1) between
(A) Elevaon Change (m)
the ice thickness and the elevation change was observed in
8
y = -0.024x - 1.24
Alamkouh glacier, but the interpretation of the dependen-
6 cies between the ice thickness and elevation change is not
R² = 0.10
4
straightforward. As illustrated in Fig. 2, contrary to expec-
Elevaon Change (m)

2
0 tations, although the maximum ice thickness can be found
-2 in high-elevated accumulation areas, moving towards the
-4 glacier accumulation area, ice thickness was not increased
-6
clearly. Indeed, a clear heterogeneity in the ice thickness has
-8
-10
existed in our study area. In which in the middle of the gla-
-12 cier, where all flow units collide, the ice thickness is much
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 greater than the lower and upper parts of the glacier. While,
(B) Ice Thickness (m)
in this region, some part of the ice thinning is compensated
by the flow of debris covers and that is why a clear rela-
0.40
y = -0.002x + 0.15 tionship cannot find between these two variables. Also, the
0.35
R² = 0.003 maximum thickness of ice is not observed in the highest part
0.30
of the glacier, but it is located in the middle of the glacier
0.25
cirque, whereas the maximum elevation change was found
Albedo

0.20
over the clean ice areas located in the high elevation of the
0.15
glacier.
0.10
The most important achievement of this part of the
0.05 research is that the insulating and protective effect of debris
0.00 cover is an irrelevance to the volume and thickness of ice
-12 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2
beneath them. In fact, the ice protected beneath the debris
(C) Elevaon Change (m)
covers, whether it is 5 m or 100 m, always decreases in thick-
ness by the same amount over time. And this is one of the
Fig. 9  Scatter plots between Alamkouh glacier elevation change and aspects of the protective and insulating effects of debris cov-
A glacier surface brightness temperature (orange and blue circles rep- ers that is less discussed.
resent the debris cover and clean ice areas, respectively), B ice thick-
ness and C glacier surface albedo

Table 2  Statistics of the Debris cover area Supraglacial lakes Debris-free (Ice)
elevation change, slope, BT,
and albedo for different glacier Low albedo High albedo All
surface types
Elevation Change − 2.36 − 1.38 − 1.717 − 6.30 − 3.10
BT 287.6 283.2 284.4 –* 278.8
Albedo 0.12 0.18 0.16 –* 0.16

*Because of the low spatial resolution of the thermal band (100 m) and albedo data (30 m) in compari-
­ 2) the mean BT and
son to the small areas of supraglacial lakes (with the maximum area of about 3600 m
albedo were not calculated for the glacial lake areas

13
Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577
Elevation change and glacier surface albedo
The behavior in the elevation changes may be related to
the albedo of the debris cover and clean ice because any
changes in glacier surface albedo will affect the solar radi-
ance reflected by the glacier and this can make changes in
ice melting rate. Figure 9C shows the correlation between
glacier surface albedo and elevation change that occurred.
To eliminate the effect of shaded areas in our analysis (due
to their low albedo), all pixels with an albedo value less than
0.1 were removed from the graph. The glacier surface albedo
varies from 0.1 to about 0.33 over the clean ice regions.
In Fig. 9C, we notice that as the amount of debris cover
albedo decreased, there is no pattern to the behavior of ice
thinning including visible increases or decreases in values
(R2 = 0.003). Consequently, we can say that that there is
essentially no association between the albedo and elevation
change.
For more accurate assessments of such relation, debris-
covered areas were classified into the two different classes
based on their albedo (illustrated in Fig. 5C) and the amount
of elevation changes were calculated for each class sepa-
rately (Table 2). The results showed that over the high albedo
debris-covered areas (with a mean albedo of about 0.16) the
mean elevation change was about − 1.38 m from 2010 to
2018. While in areas with low albedo (with a mean albedo of
about 0.12), the mean elevation change was about − 2.38 m.
These results indicate that although there is no relationship
between elevation change and albedo on a pixel-by-pixel
comparison, the mean elevation change of areas with low
albedo is about 70% higher than areas with high albedo. The
effects of albedo on the elevation changes of glaciers are
also confirmed by the amount of BT. As shown in Table 2,
the mean BT of low albedo area was about 4.4 °k warmer
than the high albedo areas. This confirmed that as an albedo
of debris-covered area decreased, they absorb more incom-
ing short-wave radiation, and this increases the amount of
energy that is essential for melting.
Elevation change and supraglacial lakes
Overall, the supraglacial lakes occupy approximately 0.5%
of the Alamkouh glacier area. Most of the lakes are small
and they appear or disappear during the 8 years monitored.
To analyze the changes in supraglacial lakes, elevation
change results are superimposed on the UAV and aerial
images (Fig. 10), and the elevation changes associated with
all lakes were extracted (Table 2). As illustrated in Fig. 10A,
B as an example, all supraglacial lakes are corresponding
well with the areas of serious elevation change. Often,
the maximum values of elevation changes are observed in
over and surrounding areas of supraglacial lakes. So, the
amount of elevation change over the supraglacial lakes is
Page 15 of 19 577
approximately 2 and 3.7 times greater than the changes in
clean ice and debris-covered areas, respectively.
On the spatial scale, supraglacial lakes are mainly located
on flow unit 1 which has also experienced the most elevation
change. While there are fewer supraglacial lakes exist in the
flow units 2 and 3 (in unit 2 no supraglacial lakes can be
observed). These results proved that supraglacial lakes play
an important role in glacier elevation change and indicates
that these lakes are one of the most important influential
factors in the Alamkouh elevation change.
The causal relationships regarding glacier elevation
change and the development of supraglacial lakes are not
clear, however, supraglacial lakes and other thermokarst fea-
tures such as ice cliffs act as a hotspot of glacier ablation.
These features accelerate the negative elevation change and
mass balance of glaciers and have been proved in several
studies (Huang et al. 2018; Pellicciotti et al. 2017; Brun
et al. 2018). More information about the effect of supragla-
cial lakes on glacier mass loss and how they exacerbate the
overall wreckage of glaciers can be found in Ke et al (2020).
Plotting the area and elevation of supraglacial lakes ver-
sus the glacier elevation change (Fig. 11) reveal that gla-
cier elevation change tended to be more negative with the
increase of glacial area (R2 = 0.56) but no strong correlation
can be found to confirm that the elevation change of suprag-
lacial lakes is related to their elevations (R2 = 0.39). How-
ever, the correlation between elevation change and glacial
lake areas confirmed (Fig. 11A) that the fastest thinning rate
occurs in the later stages of lake development.
Conclusion
Measuring changes in glacier elevation is the most fre-
quently approach for estimating the volume change and mass
balance of glaciers. Because elevation change measurements
are free of related hypotheses and can thus be independently
converted to glacier mass balance (Paul et al. 2015). Also,
detailed mass balance measurement of glaciers is impor-
tant for glacier dynamics monitoring and assessing the local
scale drivers in influencing their changes.
Based on two LiDAR and UAV-based geodetic datasets
of independent measurement principles, this study pro-
vides estimates of glacier elevation changes from 2010 to
2018 over the Alamkouh glacier, which represents one of
the most challenging glaciers in the Middle East and west
of Asia. Alamkouh glacier is the largest and representa-
tive debris-covered glacier in Iran. In addition to elevation
change analysis of Alamkouh debris-cover glacier, different
influential factors (the debris surface temperature, debris
albedo, ice thickness, and supraglacial lakes) were analyzed.
For elevation changes analysis, two high-resolution precis
DEM data were used. To estimate accurate glacier elevation
13
577 Page 16 of 19
Fig. 10  Samples of elevation changes from 2010 to 2018 over and surrounding areas of supraglacial lakes
change, a systemic DEM differential approach including
accuracy assessment, co-registration, bias correction, and
elevation-dependent analysis was applied. Our evaluation of
UAV DEM over the glacial environments demonstrates that
despite the difficulties that exists in collecting these images,
UAV stereo image is a promising and cost-effective tool for
the monitoring of glacier topography and elevation changes.
Results reveal moderate elevation change of the Alamk-
ouh glacier and characterize the heterogeneity in ice thin-
ning patterns among the different types of glacier surface
cover. The geodetic datasets we examined achieved an esti-
mate of − 1.6 ± 0.2 m elevation change for the study region
from 2010 to 2018. Results revealed that elevation change
of study area has been negative but the pattern of elevation
13
Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577
changes is complicated by several subregional factors. The
highest elevation change was found at the glacier terminus
as the result of GLOF in 2014. Indeed, ice thinning is
maximum at the tongue of the glacier because of the land-
slides and GLOFs that occurred frequently, while similar
changes occur several kilometers upstream in the case of
supraglacial lakes and clean ice in accumulation areas.
By analyzing the main local driving factors, our study
provides keys that help in explaining the glacier elevation
changes. Based on obtained results, the elevation change
of Alamkouh glacier is the result of at least one of the fol-
lowing three drivers: the existence of supraglacial lakes,
the insulation effect of debris cover, unprotected clean ice
Environmental Earth Sciences (2021) 80:577
Fig. 11  Supraglacial lake elevation changes in relation to the area and elevation. The solid red lines and formulas represent the linear fitting of
the variables
areas, and debris cover low albedo (and consequently high
surface BT).
From the results obtained, it can be concluded that the
supraglacial lakes play an important role in glacier elevation
changes. Our estimates report that clean ice area showed sig-
nificant thinning rates to that of debris-covered areas (about
82% greater than debris-covered areas), while supraglacial
lakes areas showed remarkably stronger wastage to the other
parts of the glacier (about 103% and 270% greater than the
clean ice and debris-covered area, respectively). This study
also highlights important differences in the characteris-
tics of clean ice and debris-covered areas. We found that
supraglacial lakes experienced markedly stronger elevation
change (− 6.3 m), while the clean ice and debris-covered
areas showed about − 1.7 and − 3.1 m, respectively. Also,
the size and elevation of supraglacial lakes seem an indi-
cator of more negative elevation change. Additionally, the
thin debris-covered (which can be found in the transition
zone of debris-covered and clean ice areas) with lower BT
experience heavy thinning in comparison to the thick debris-
covered areas.
This study confirmed the insulation effect of debris cover
on ice surface melting. It means debris covers forms a bar-
rier between the glacier and the atmosphere, reducing the
amount of energy that reaches the ice surface and, conse-
quently, insulating the ice from melting. Also, debris cover
albedo is another factor that has a significant effect on the
insulation effects of debris covers. However, the impact rate
of debris covers and albedo on increasing and decreasing
the ice melt depends on the thickness of debris at the glacier
surface. Our results indicated that the albedo effect has a
greater influence on ice melting where the debris cover is
sparse or small, whereas the insulation effect is more critical
where the debris cover is thick.
Other thermokarst features like ice cliffs which are nor-
mally associated with the development of supraglacial lakes
Page 17 of 19 577
are not analyzed in this study. Because of the small size of
such features in our study region, founding and detecting
their temporal and spatial changes comes with a lot of uncer-
tainties and it was omitted in the present study.
Our evaluation over the Alamkouh debris-covered gla-
cier demonstrates that UAV image is a promising and cost-
effective tool for the qualitative and quantitative monitoring
of such small glacier topography and elevation changes at a
centimeter-scale spatial resolution. Such performance allows
the detection of annual/interannual and any minimal changes
of glaciers, which are related to the local drivers. Also, UAV
has been able to resolve some of the weaknesses of radar and
optical space-born imagine (e.g., the absence of penetration
into snow and ice in radar images and the independence for
clear sky conditions in optical images). However, to carry
out accurate annual and interannual mass balance studies,
it is necessary to do aerial photography several times a year
before and after the ablation season. Although this can be
very difficult for large and inaccessible glaciers.
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge funding from the Water
Research Institute (WRI) for the ministration of datasets and for provid-
ing the computational and fieldwork facilities. Valuable discussions
with Dr. Mortaza Eftekhari and Dr. Reza Roozbahani both from Water
Research Institute. We would also like to thank for Landsat data that
was freely available from USGS. Finally, we want to thank Maryam
Rashtbari and Hossein Dehban for their help in the work field.
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