Assessing the Accuracy of LiDAR Surveys for Geodetic MassBalances in Glaciers of Chilean Central Andes
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Repeat high-resolution (1m2) airborne light radio detection and ranging (LiDAR) laser altimetry data (2009-2015) for geodetic mass balances on five mountain glaciers, and its near-time ground-control points (GCPs) surveyed by global positioning system (GPS) on glacier surface (2015), were firstly used for accuracy assessment of elevation changes (dh/dt) in Chilean Central Andes. The inverse distance weighting algorithm (IDW) reproduced the glacier surface topography with the minimum root mean square error (RMSE) when a digital elevation model (DEM) is created. High thinning rates in meter water equivalent (mw.e.) were found at Echaurren Norte and San Francisco glaciers, two partially covered low-elevation glaciers, with -1.69 ± 0.14 m and -1.3 ± 0.19 m, respectively, while at Yeso and Bello, two high-altitude clean-ice glaciers, a more moderate rate of -0.65 ± 0.24 m and -0.66 ± 0.14 m was derived. Likewise, Pirámide is a debris-covered glacier with a negligible elevation change. Although systematic and random errors using glacierized and non-glacierized terrain shows neglected differences, inaccuracies induced by pre-processing interpolation parameters yield positive and negatives differences of up to 2.04 m which leads to 3% biases in the geodetic mass balances.
Institutions: Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Gobierno de Chile
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Awards: G3818181321, INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL COMPARTMENTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE ANDEAN ECOHYDROSPHERE UNDER CLIMATE CHANGE CONDITION, AMPLIACION DE LA COLABORACION NACIONAL E INTERNACIONAL PARA EL FORTALECIMIENTO DE LAS CAPACIDADES DE FORMACION E INVESTIGACION PARA LA EVALUACION DEL IMPACTO DE LA CONTAMINACION ATMOSFERICA Y EL CAMBIO CLIMATICO SOBRE LA CRIOSFERA, NOVEL EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL APPROACH TO BETTER UNDERSTAND CORRELATE AND EVALUATE THE ROLE OF ATMOSPHERIC BC DEPOSITION IN SNOW AND ITS IMPACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE
OpenAlex ID: W4409867458
