Exploring Antarctic Lake Expansion with UAV Data Processing for Mapping Changes and Implications of Climate Research

In recent years, there has been some concern about the potential impact of climate change and the Antarctic ice sheet, as the presence of meltwater on the surface of the ice sheet can accelerate melting and contribute to ice loss and a rise in sea levels. Increased melting can lead to the formation of melt ponds and glacial lakes. These melt ponds and glacial lakes can vary in size & depth and depend on various factors such as the amount of meltwater and the local climate, which transpire during the Austral summer months. The present study is to investigate the expansion of Adi Shankara Lake (ASL) which is a proglacial lake ( \(70^\circ 46^{{\prime }} 22.13^{ {\prime \prime }} \,{\text{S}}\) , \(11^\circ 45^{ {\prime }} 11.62^{ {\prime \prime }} \,{\text{E}}\) ) in central Dronning Maud land (cDML), East Antarctica using real-time kinematics enabled Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) data over a short duration of 4 days during 20/12/2022–24/12/2022 (austral summer). Research findings show that the area of the proglacial lake expanded more than 2X during the short period. The results obtained are validated using the ground data collected during the field visit Nov 2022–Feb 2023 at Schrimacher oasis, cDML, East Antarctica. This type of lake expansion on the ice sheet over a short period is alarming as an indication of rapid melting of the ice. So, monitoring melt ponds and glacial lakes of Antarctica is an important aspect of understanding and predicting the effects of climate change on the continent’s ice sheet.