Annual Glacier-Wide Mass Balance (2000–2016) of the Interior Tibetan Plateau Reconstructed from MODIS Albedo Products

Abstract

Glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) play a crucial role in regulating agriculture irrigation, river discharge and the regional/global climate system. However, mass balance records of TP glaciers have remained scarce due to challenging mountainous terrain and harsh weather conditions, which limits our understanding of the influence of melting glaciers on local water resources and responses to climate change. Here, we present and assess an albedo-based method to derive annual mass balance for three glaciers in the interior TP from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) albedo data during 2000-2016. A strong linear correlation (R 2 = 0.941, P < 0.001) is found between annual minimum-averaged glacier-wide albedo (AMGA) values and annual mass balance measurements on the Xiao Dongkemadi glacier. Furthermore, the 17-year-long annual mass balance series of the Xiao Dongkemadi glacier and the Geladandong mountain region glaciers, and the Purogangri ice cap are reconstructed for the first time, with a mass loss rate of 535 ± 63 mm w.e.a −1 , 243 ± 66 mm w.e.a −1 and 113 ± 68 mm w.e.a −1 , respectively. The results are verified by geodetic estimates, with relative error ranging from 4.55% to 11.80%, confirming that the albedo-based method can be used to estimate specific mass budgets for interior TP glaciers. A strong correlation between the mass balance series and air temperature infers that increasing summer air temperature may be one of main reasons for glacier shrinkage of the three studied glaciers.

Accelerated glacier mass loss in the largest river and lake source regions of the Tibetan Plateau and its links with local water balance over 1976–2017

“…Over 2000–17, the contribution of glacier excess meltwater to lake volume change was 20.2%, which should be slightly larger as the Puruogangri Glacier (20% of total glacier area in CC-DC basin) is excluded. Using mass-balance data from 2000 to 2016 from Zhang and others (2018), Qiao and others (2019) suggest that the contribution over 2003–14 is 19.3%.…”

Spatial Difference of Terrestrial Water Storage Change and Lake Water Storage Change in the Inner Tibetan Plateau

“…Glacier mass balance has been widely researched based on different methods, e.g., glaciological methods from in situ observation, geodetic methods from multi-temporal DEMs or altimetry data, albedo-based methods from MODIS data, and physical modelbased methods [80]. Data on glacier mass balance based on in situ observations are lacking, due to complex conditions and remote locations with small coverage, and altimetry data only cover some regions of the glacier surface.…”

Anisotropy Parameterization Development and Evaluation for Glacier Surface Albedo Retrieval from Satellite Observations

“…Net shortwave radiation is the main driver of the glacier energy balance and largely controls the seasonal and daily variability of glacier melt energy [2][3][4][5][6][7]. Glacier surface albedo directly determines the net shortwave radiation at the surface, thus driving glacier melt, and can therefore be used as a proxy to estimate glacier mass balance [8][9][10]. Previous studies have demonstrated that remote sensing techniques are an efficient means to derive glacier albedo at different spatial and temporal resolutions and can provide an improved understanding of its spatio-temporal evolution over ground observations that are often limited in space and time [11][12][13].…”