Unprecedented Observation of Hourly Rock Glacier Velocity With Ground-Based SAR

Abstract

The kinematic acceleration of rock glaciers observed in recent decades shows that the behavior of these landforms is related to climate change. Velocity variations on yearly to seasonal time scales are frequently investigated, but velocity changes measured on shorter time scales (i.e., on hourly resolutions) are as yet poorly investigated. We used a ground based synthetic aperture radar to investigate, on an hourly time scale, the displacement of a rock glacier located in Val Senales (European Alps, northern Italy). We observed velocity fluctuations occurring at a very regular pace, characterized by phases of sharp acceleration (up to 0.9 mm/hr) lasting 4–11 hr followed by long phases of stagnation lasting 13–20 hr. This study describes an unprecedented observation of an hourly velocity rhythm of an active rock glacier and opens up new perspectives in the analysis and interpretation of rock glacier kinematics.