Changes in the area of the Canin (Italy) and Triglav glaciers (Slovenia) since 1893 based on archive images and aerial laser scanning

Abstract

Three very small Alpine glaciers in the Julian Alps are presented: the Eastern and the Western Canin glaciers in Italy and the Triglav glacier in Slovenia. The history of measurements using a measuring tape and via geodetic means on Canin glaciers is presented in brief; the majority of the paper deals with the acquisition of glacier boundaries from archive non-metrical images. The acquisition is based on interactive orientation method (mono-plotting) using lidar DTM. Seven archive non-metrical images of Mount Canin from 1893 to the mid-1970s and two aero-photogrametric images from periodic aerial photogrammetric surveys of Slovenia from 2000 and 2011 were used to determine the glaciers’ areas. In addition, a map of Canin glaciers from 1908 was geo-referenced. Five archive non-metrical images of Triglav glacier from 1897 to 1962 were used to determine the glacier area. Problems with obstructed areas are presented, and possible solutions are also given for deriving areas behind the obstructions. The usefulness of archival imagery for long-time monitoring of glaciers is presented, and the importance of old mountaineering publications as a source of such images is emphasized.

Keywords

• small Alpine glaciers
• geodetic measurements
• photogrammetric measurements
• lidar
• Canin glaciers
• Triglav glacier
• Italy
• Slovenia