Our EOR hub team member Sebastian Buchelt just published a new paper analysing current seasonal dynamics of rock glaciers in the Central European Alps using Differential SAR Interferometry (DInSAR). Within this research, 5 years of Sentinel-1 DInSAR time series are processed and analysed using open-source tools (SNAP by ESA, pyrate by GeoScience Australia) to derive East-West displacement and elevation change with a ground sampling distance of 5 m. Comparison with annual movement derived from orthophotos and unpiloted aerial vehicle (UAV) data shows that DInSAR covers about one third of the total movement, which represents the proportion of the year suited for DInSAR. Further, results show good spatial agreement (Pearson R: 0.42–0.74, RMSE: 4.7–11.6 cm/a) except for areas with phase unwrapping errors. Moreover, the DInSAR time series unveils spatio-temporal variations and distinct seasonal movement dynamics related to different drivers and processes as well as internal structures of rock glaciers (excerpt from abstract).

The paper was published in the Special Issue Advances in Remote Sensing in Glacial and Periglacial Geomorphology of MDPI Remote Sensing and co-authored by Jan Henrik Blöthe, Claudia Kuenzer, Andreas Schmitt, Tobias Ullmann, Marius Philipp and Christof Kneisel.

You can find the full abstract and open-access publication here:

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/12/2982