Repeat UAV Observations of the Calving Front of Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Abstract:

New results from the UAV monitoring program of the calving front of Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland, will be presented. In addition to newly acquired high-resolution data (ground pixel size of about 20 cm) from the 2015 summer season, the focus will be placed on a new, open-hardware based L1 phase GNSS UAV positioning system. High resolution plane locations collected by the new system enables processing of aerial photos and subsequent high quality DEM creation by SfM without a ground control point network. Such capabilities are very convenient for monitoring very hard to access study sites at which establishing a stable ground control point network is almost impossible. The accuracy of the acquired data is assessed by comparison with a LiDAR reference DEM for both cases, processing with and without utilising a ground control point network.