Page 44 - World Airnews Magazine January 2020 Edition
P. 44
DRONES
DRONES HELP MAP ICELAND'S
DISAPPEARING GLACIERS
By Dominic Glasgow University of Dundee
mate change is physically and visibly affecting Dr. Tomas Johannesson, co-ordinator of
the region. To do this, we developed a novel Glaciological Research at the Icelandic Me-
new 3-D process which in- process based on principles that are used by teorological Office, said, "Outreach about
Avolves old aerial photos and glaciologists to measure ice-volume loss. changes in the climate and the on-going
"This method allows us to compose
modern-day drone photography has shed unique aerial views of past landscapes and downwasting of glaciers of Iceland has
light on accelerated ice loss from some of to see how they have changed over the last become increasingly important in our glaci-
ological work at the Icelandic Meteorolog-
Iceland's largest glaciers. 30 to 40 years. This period, which is within ical Office in recent years. We have limited
Dr. Kieran Baxter from the University of living memory for many people, has seen background and expertise in the creation
Dundee has created composite images that accelerated melt in Southeast Iceland. of effective visual outreach material that
compare views from 1980s aerial surveys "While we have a fantastic resource of map- shows the dramatic changes of the glaciers.
to modern day photos captured with the ping photographs from the 1980s, this method Our collaboration with Kieran Baxter and
help of state-of-the-art technology. can also be applied to aerial photographs that the University of Dundee is important for
This revolutionary technique has allowed Dr. are even older. The archives are huge and we our public outreach and has proved effective
Baxter to document the dramatic ice-loss on a have barely scratched the surface in terms of to explain the changes that have occurred in
group of outlet glaciers on the south side of Vat- using them to better show how the warming recent decades. It is also important for our
najökull, one of the largest ice caps in Europe. climate is revealed in our landscapes." collaboration with the Vatnajökull National
Aerial mapping photographs taken by Vatnajökull ice cap, which covers an area Park and other organizations and agencies
the National Land Survey of Iceland were of 7,700 km², has lowered by around 20 for the creation of educational material and
modelled in 3-D using photogrammetry metres on average in the last 30 years. exhibits about glaciers and glacier changes."
software. While this process is routinely The height of the outlet glaciers pictured Dr. Thorvardur Arnason, Director of
used by scientists to measure the historical in the image comparisons has dropped even the University of Iceland's Horna�ordur
ice surface, here the models are aligned with more, up to 100 to 150 metres in some areas Research Centre said, "Dr. Baxter's highly
current day drone photographs to highlight near the termini, during that time. The glacier innovative work adds new dimensions
the impact of climate change on the region. ice margins are now retreating tens of metres, both to the monitoring of glacier recession
Dr. Baxter, a researcher from the and in some areas hundreds of metres, every and to the communication of the severe
3DVisLab at the University's Duncan of year. The area of the icecap has been reduced impacts caused by catastrophic climate
Jordanstone College of Art and Design, led by over 400 km² since the turn of the century. change on sensitive environments. The de-
the two-year project in collaboration with The images produced by Dr. Baxter were velopment of such novel vehicles for public
the University of Iceland and the Icelandic shared by the Icelandic Meteorological outreach- where science and art essentially
Meteorological Office, who conduct glacier Office to coincide with the IPCC's "Special share a common platform - is of great
monitoring in the country. Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a importance in our attempts to understand
He said, "We have been working to produce Changing Climate." It is hoped that they will and address the unprecedented scale,
images that are both engaging and easy to help promote public outreach for climate diversity and complexity of the ongoing
understand. It is important to show how cli- science and glaciology in Iceland. climate crisis." Q
World Airnews | January 2020
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