Boletín de Geología

Vol. 44 No. 1 (2022): Boletín de Geología
Artículos científicos

Assessment of glacier retreat in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Colombia based on multisensor image classification

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  • Sergio Mauricio Molano,
  • Diana Paola Cardenas,
  • Howard Snaider Gómez,
  • Dayana Mairely Alvarado,
  • Andrés Fernando Galindo,
  • Jeisson Fabian Sanabria,
  • Juan Sebastian Gómez-Neita
Sergio Mauricio Molano
Universidade Federal do Pará
Diana Paola Cardenas
Universidade Federal do Pará
Howard Snaider Gómez
Universidade Federal do Pará
Dayana Mairely Alvarado
Universidade Federal do Pará
Andrés Fernando Galindo
Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia
Jeisson Fabian Sanabria
Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia
Juan Sebastian Gómez-Neita
Universidade Federal do Pará
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18273/revbol.v44n1-2022002

Published 2022-01-25

Keywords

  • Andes,
  • Climate change,
  • Climate variability,
  • Accuracy,
  • Supervised classification

How to Cite

Molano, S. M. ., Cardenas, D. P., Gómez, H. S., Alvarado, D. M., Galindo, A. F., Sanabria, J. F., & Gómez-Neita, J. S. (2022). Assessment of glacier retreat in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Colombia based on multisensor image classification. Boletín De Geología, 44(1), 49–73. https://doi.org/10.18273/revbol.v44n1-2022002

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Abstract

The Andean glaciers represent one of the most important water sources in South America. They have been significantly reduced in recent decades because of climate change and climate variability. The most extensive snow-capped peak in the Colombian Andes Mountains corresponds to the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy (SRC), a mountain range located toward the northeast of the Eastern Cordillera with snow at altitudes ranging from approximately 4800 to 5345 meters above sea level (masl). From Landsat-4 (1987), Landsat-5 (1991, 1997, 2009), Landsat-7 (2000, 2003), Landsat-8 (2014, 2016, 2017), and Sentinel-2 (2019, 2021) satellite imagery, a pixel-oriented classification was performed using the PCI Geomatics software, defining four cover types: glacier area, soil-rock, vegetation, and water. For accuracy validation, high spatial resolution satellite imagery (Google Earth ~1.0 m and Planet’s high-resolution, analysis-ready mosaics of the world’s tropics ~4.7 m) and field control points were used as reference data. Overall accuracy values (all coverages) ranged from 86-99%, with accuracy for glacier area coverage between 97-100%. The decrease in the glacier area is of 1099.59 ha over 34 years (1987-2021). This analysis revealed that the glacier area decreased by approximately 37.92% regarding the first scene (1987). According to this trend, the SRC glacier would be extinct by 2048. The rate of glacier retreat is mainly influenced by factors related to global warming, such as the increase in mean annual temperature and the decrease in precipitation rates and climate variability factors such as the El Niño phenomenon.

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