A Rapid GeoSAM-Based Workflow for Multi-Temporal Glacier Delineation: Case Study from Svalbard

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autore principale: Hegyi, Alexandru
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866917172431814656
author Hegyi, Alexandru
author_facet Hegyi, Alexandru
contents Consistent glacier boundary delineation is essential for monitoring glacier change, yet many existing approaches are difficult to scale across long time series and heterogeneous environments. In this report, we present a GeoSAM-based, semi-automatic workflow for rapid glacier delineation from Sentinel-2 surface reflectance imagery. The method combines late-summer image compositing, spectral-index-based identification of candidate ice areas, prompt-guided segmentation using GeoSAM, and physically based post-processing to derive annual glacier outlines. The workflow is demonstrated in the Ny-Alesund and Kongsfjorden region of western Svalbard across multiple years of the Sentinel-2 era. Results show that the approach produces spatially coherent and temporally consistent outlines for major glacier bodies, while most errors are associated with small features affected by water bodies, terrain shadows, or high surface variability. The reliance on derived RGB imagery makes the method flexible and transferable to other optical datasets, with improved performance expected at higher spatial resolution. Although user inspection remains necessary to filter incorrect polygons and adjust thresholds for local conditions, the workflow provides a fast and practical alternative for multi-temporal glacier mapping and ice-loss assessment.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_22855
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Rapid GeoSAM-Based Workflow for Multi-Temporal Glacier Delineation: Case Study from Svalbard
Hegyi, Alexandru
Geophysics
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Consistent glacier boundary delineation is essential for monitoring glacier change, yet many existing approaches are difficult to scale across long time series and heterogeneous environments. In this report, we present a GeoSAM-based, semi-automatic workflow for rapid glacier delineation from Sentinel-2 surface reflectance imagery. The method combines late-summer image compositing, spectral-index-based identification of candidate ice areas, prompt-guided segmentation using GeoSAM, and physically based post-processing to derive annual glacier outlines. The workflow is demonstrated in the Ny-Alesund and Kongsfjorden region of western Svalbard across multiple years of the Sentinel-2 era. Results show that the approach produces spatially coherent and temporally consistent outlines for major glacier bodies, while most errors are associated with small features affected by water bodies, terrain shadows, or high surface variability. The reliance on derived RGB imagery makes the method flexible and transferable to other optical datasets, with improved performance expected at higher spatial resolution. Although user inspection remains necessary to filter incorrect polygons and adjust thresholds for local conditions, the workflow provides a fast and practical alternative for multi-temporal glacier mapping and ice-loss assessment.
title A Rapid GeoSAM-Based Workflow for Multi-Temporal Glacier Delineation: Case Study from Svalbard
topic Geophysics
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.22855