Abstract
In this Chapter we present how satellite data were applied in four countries of the European Alps (Austria, France, Italy, and Switzerland) to better understand glaciers in this region and their changes since the Little Ice Age. By combining remote sensing data with field observations and numerical modelling, several important results have been obtained. Fields of research include creation of glacier inventories and analysis of glacier-specific area changes, determination of elevation changes and flow velocity, mapping of snow lines and mass balance assessment, as well as studying supra-glacial lakes, thermal properties of debris-cover, and components of the surface energy balance. The regional studies and field evidence confirm that glacier area loss in the Alps was widespread and massive over the past decades and accompanied by strong losses in glacier volume.
Paul, Frank