Evolution of Himalayan Glaciers Dynamic with the use of SAR Interferometry
Dehecq, Amaury1; Gourmelen, Noel2; Trouve, Emmanuel1
1Université de Savoie, FRANCE; 2University of Edinburgh, UNITED KINGDOM

Climate warming over the 20th century has caused drastic changes in mountain glaciers globally, and of the Himalayan glaciers in particular. The stakes are high; mountain glaciers are the largest contributor to the increase in the mass of the world's oceans, and the Himalayas play a key role in the hydrology of the region, impacting on the economy, food safety and flood risk to a large population. Partial monitoring of the Himalayan glaciers has revealed a mixed picture; while many of the Himalayan glaciers are retreating, in some cases locally stable or advancing glaciers in this region have also been observed. Recent controversies around the future of the Himalayan glaciers, fuelled by projections reproduced in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, have highlighted our limited knowledge of the evolution of Himalayan glaciers, and our limited understanding of the relationship between climate change and Himalayan glaciers' change.

Remote sensing and in particular radar imagery represent a chance to monitor changes in glaciers dynamic at the scale of the mountain range and over a long time span. Here, we present ice flow maps constructed from a set of radar and optical sensors and discuss seasonal and decadal evolution of glacier flow.