Event Title
Resources for past and present mapping of glaciers in the Western Cordillera
Description
The Western Canadian Cryospheric Network (WC2N) is funded by the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (CFCAS) until 2010 to study the glaciers of the Western Canadian Cordillera, under three themes focusing on past and present glacier extent and climate variability, meteorological and climate processes, and modelling changes in glacier cover and runoff. The co-investigators and collaborators are located in six western Canadian universities along with the Universities of Washington, Western Washington, and federal institutions. This talk will present the data sources we have used in monitoring glacier extents since the Little Ice Age Maximum. These involve a combination of aerial photography, historic mapping, satellite imagery and digital map datasets, to establish both glacier extents, and elevations from contours and digital terrain models. This work has incorporated the scanning of several thousand aerial photographs from provincial and federal archives, the acquisition of early twentieth century maps, Landsat, SPOT and ASTER satellite imagery covering the cordillera over multiple dates, and both provincial and national topographic data.
Document Type
Event
Start Date
8-3-2008 8:00 AM
Subject - LCSH
Glaciers--Canadian Cordillera; Glaciers--Climatic factors--Canadian Cordilera
End Date
8-3-2008 5:00 PM
Session
Glacial Studies: Inventory, Resources, Applications
Genre/Form
abstracts (summaries)
Type
event
Geographic Coverage
Canadian Cordillera
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Keywords
glaciers topographic mapping, remote sensing
Resources for past and present mapping of glaciers in the Western Cordillera
The Western Canadian Cryospheric Network (WC2N) is funded by the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (CFCAS) until 2010 to study the glaciers of the Western Canadian Cordillera, under three themes focusing on past and present glacier extent and climate variability, meteorological and climate processes, and modelling changes in glacier cover and runoff. The co-investigators and collaborators are located in six western Canadian universities along with the Universities of Washington, Western Washington, and federal institutions. This talk will present the data sources we have used in monitoring glacier extents since the Little Ice Age Maximum. These involve a combination of aerial photography, historic mapping, satellite imagery and digital map datasets, to establish both glacier extents, and elevations from contours and digital terrain models. This work has incorporated the scanning of several thousand aerial photographs from provincial and federal archives, the acquisition of early twentieth century maps, Landsat, SPOT and ASTER satellite imagery covering the cordillera over multiple dates, and both provincial and national topographic data.