Alpine glaciers flow velocity mapping from satellite observations

Combining a high spatial resolution (10 m) and a revisiting period of 5 days, the optical satellite data from Sentinel-2 (ESA, Copernicus) have a strong potential to document changes at the Earth surface. We applied an optimized cross-correlation method on image pairs embedded in an automatized processing chains that also encompasses modules of post-processing for data filtering and aggregation, to produce annual glacier surface flow velocity maps at the European Alps scale over the period 2015-2021.

Although the covered time period is rather short, the 50 m resolution maps we produce allow documenting significant changes in glacier flow velocity, a paramount information for documenting the state of mountain glaciers in the current context of environmental changes.