Geographers are studying Russia's fastest-melting glacier with drones
A group of Tomsk State University geographers has developed a new method for studying the process of melting glaciers. Scientists use unmanned aerial vehicles to obtain information on the nature and dynamics of change. On the basis of aerial photography materials, geographers, using special software, build detailed maps and three-dimensional models of the retreating glacier tongues of the Waterfall, Big and Small Aktru glaciers, located in the Altai Mountains.
— Research in the highlands is complex and interesting at the same time, because this is where the fastest landscape response to climate change takes place, — said Alexander Erofeev, the head of the research project, Associate Professor at the TSU Faculty of Geology and Geography. — One of the main indicators of global environmental transformation is the melting of glaciers. We are observing several large objects that are located in the mountains of Altai - the Waterfall, Big and Small Aktru glaciers. The rate of melting of the latter is very high. Over the year, it retreats tens of meters, in the near future, the Small Aktru can put on an anti-record and retreat a hundred meters or more.
Read more: http://en.tsu.ru/news/geographers-are-studying-russia-s-fastest-melting-glacier-with-drones/
