Advances in Remote Sensing, 2015, 4, 270-279 Published Online December 2015 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/ars http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ars.2015.44022 How to cite this paper: Dixon, L. and Ambinakudige, S. (2015) Remote Sensing Study of Glacial Change in the Northern Pa- tagonian Icefield. Advances in Remote Sensing, 4, 270-279. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ars.2015.44022 Remote Sensing Study of Glacial Change in the Northern Patagonian Icefield Lucy Dixon, Shrinidhi Ambinakudige Department of Geosciences, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, USA Received 23 October 2015; accepted 27 November 2015; published 30 November 2015 Copyright © 2015 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Abstract The Patagonian Icefield has the largest temperate ice mass in the southern hemisphere. Using re- mote sensing techniques, this study analyzed multi-decadal glacial retreat and expansion of glaci- er lakes in Northern Patagonia. Glacial boundaries and glacier lake boundaries for 1979, 1985, 2000, and 2013 were delineated from Chilean topographic maps and Landsat satellite images. As- ter stereo images were used to measure mass balance from 2007 to 2012. The highest retreat was observed in San Quintin glacier. The area of glacier lakes increased from 13.49 km 2 in 1979 to 65.06 km 2 in 2013. Four new glacier lakes formed between 1979 and 2013. Between 2007 and 2012, significant glacial thinning was observed in major glaciers, including HPN1, Pared Norte, Strindberg, Acodado, Nef, San Quintin, Colonia, HPN4, and Benito glaciers. Generally, ablation zones lost more mass than accumulation zones. Keywords Patagonia, Glaciers, South America, ASTER 1. Introduction Glaciers are key indicators for assessing climate change [1]-[3]. Beginning in the nineteenth century, glaciers in many parts of the world retreated significantly, which was a clear indicator of climate warming [3]-[7]. There- fore, an accurate estimation of mass balance, glacial retreat, and glacier lake expansion in mountain glaciers will contribute to the understanding of the global impacts of climate change. Such data will also help develop an early warning system for Glacier Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF), which can devastate vulnerable downstream localities. Further, documentation of glacier measurements in major glacial regions is not comprehensive. For example, the European Alpine glaciers have been well documented using both in situ and remote sensing methods. The