UAV-Based Remote Sensing of Immediate Changes in Geomorphology Following a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood at the Zackenberg River, Northeast Greenland

Authors

Aleksandra M. Tomcyzk, Utah State UniversityFollow
Marek W. Ewertowski, Utah State University

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Journal of Maps

Volume

16

Issue

1

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Publication Date

4-9-2020

First Page

86

Last Page

100

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Abstract

Two detailed geomorphological maps (1:2000) depicting landscape changes as a result of a glacial lake outburst flood were produced for the 2.1-km-long section of the Zackenberg river, NE Greenland. The maps document the riverscape before the flood (5 August 2017) and immediately after the flood (8 August 2017), illustrating changes to the riverbanks and morphology of the channel. A series of additional maps (1:800) represent case studies of different types of riverbank responses, emphasising the importance of the lateral thermo-erosion and bank collapsing as significant immediate effects of the flood. The average channel width increased from 40.75 m pre-flood to 44.59 m post-flood, whereas the length of active riverbanks decreased from 1729 to 1657 m. The new deposits related to 2017 flood covered 93,702 m². The developed maps demonstrated the applicability of small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for investigating the direct effects of floods, even in the harsh Arctic environment.

Recommended Citation

Aleksandra M. Tomczyk & Marek W. Ewertowski (2020) UAV-based remote sensing of immediate changes in geomorphology following a glacial lake outburst flood at the Zackenberg river, northeast Greenland, Journal of Maps, 16:1, 86-100, https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2020.1749146