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Abstract:
Data from Landsat satellite sensors are used to obtain an inventory of 165 Austrian glaciers and their
temporal change. Applications and modifications of existing remote sensing algorithms for glacier clas-
sification are discussed. A trend analysis of the glacier area from a Landsat MSS scene (208/27, Sep.
13, 1973) and two TM scenes (193/27, Sep. 30, 1985 and Sep. 17,1992) reveals:
- Glaciers with areas below l km2, usually excluded from direct observations, shrank significantly by
25 percent between 1973 and 1992.
-- There is a strong decrease of glacier area between 1985 and 1992 for glaciers of all sizes.
- Decrease depends on exposition, with highest values found for glaciers exposed to the south and east.
- Accumulation and ablation zones of glaciers are distinguishable by remote sensing, so that the annual
net mass balance may be estimated remotely.
