What can remote sensing tell us about the St. Elias Orogen?

Andrew Ford, Ronald Bruhn* and Richard Forster

Department of Geography and Department of Geology & Geophysics*

University of Utah

Salt Lake City

Utah 84112

e-mail: andrew.ford@geog.utah.edu

Our poster considers the application of remote sensing techniques to the study of various aspects of the St. Elias Orogen.  We pose the following three questions: 1) How can remote sensing be used to monitor active tectonics?; 2) Can remote sensing be used to reveal structural geology?; and 3) What can remote sensing tell us about erosion?  We suggest answers to these questions, illustrated with examples of SAR imagery, InSAR deformation maps (inc. the deployment of corner reflectors), Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) from airborne LiDAR and optical satellite imagery from Landsat’s ETM and Terra’s ASTER and MODIS instruments.  The applications we present include seismology, structural mapping (inc. under forest canopies), glacier velocities (and derived ice flux/erosion), quantifying coastal sediment outwash and mapping moraine source areas.