A consistent glacier inventory for Karakoram and Pamir derived from Landsat data: distribution of debris cover and mapping challenges

A comprehensive glacier inventory for the Karakoram and Pamir mountain ranges, including Tajik National Park (Mountains of the Pamirs), reveals that debris-covered glaciers account for 10% of the total glacierized area, with larger glaciers showing up to 20% coverage. This study, contributing to global databases like RGI and GLIMS, mapped over 27,800 glaciers covering 35,520±1948 km² using Landsat data from around the year 2000, combined with ALOS-1 PALSAR-1 coherence images for enhanced accuracy. Challenges such as shadows and debris cover were addressed through manual corrections and uncertainty assessments, providing critical data for modeling glacier dynamics, runoff, and volume changes in High Mountain Asia.

Mölg, N., Bolch, T., Rastner, P., Strozzi, T., & Paul, F. (2018). A consistent glacier inventory for Karakoram and Pamir derived from Landsat data: distribution of debris cover and mapping challenges. Earth System Science Data, 10(4), 1807–1827. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-1807-2018