Annual ice volume changes 1976–2008 for the New Zealand Southern Alps

Chinn, Trevor; Fitzharris, B. B.; Willsman, Andrew; Salinger, M. J.

doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2012.04.002

Cited by 82 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 69 publications

(88 reference statements)

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“…Only a few direct SMB studies have been made in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, bringing relatively short-term observations [43]. In lieu of direct glaciological monitoring, annual aerial surveys have been conducted since 1977.…”

Section: Application Of the Albedo Methods On New Zealand Southern Alpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annual and Seasonal Glacier-Wide Surface Mass Balance Quantified from Changes in Glacier Surface State: A Review on Existing Methods Using Optical Satellite Imagery

et al. 2017

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Glaciers are one of the terrestrial essential climate variables (ECVs) as they respond very sensitively to climate change. A key driver of their response is the glacier surface mass balance that is typically derived from field measurements. It deserves to be quantified over long time scales to better understand the accumulation and ablation processes at the glacier surface and their relationships with inter-annual changes in meteorological conditions and long-term climate changes. Glaciers with in situ monitoring of surface mass balance are scarce at the global scale, and satellite remote sensing provides a powerful tool to increase the number of monitored glaciers. In this study, we present a review of three optical remote sensing methods developed to quantify seasonal and annual glacier surface mass balances. These methodologies rely on the multitemporal monitoring of the end-of-summer snow line for the equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) method, the annual cycle of glacier surface albedo for the albedo method and the mapping of the regional snow cover at the seasonal scale for the snow-map method. Together with a presentation of each method, an application is illustrated. The ELA method shows promising results to quantify annual surface mass balance and to reconstruct multi-decadal time series. The other two methods currently need a calibration on the basis of existing in situ data; however, a generalization of these methods (without calibration) could be achieved. The two latter methods show satisfying results at the annual and seasonal scales, particularly for the summer surface mass balance in the case of the albedo method and for the winter surface mass balance in the case of the snow-map method. The limits of each method (e.g., cloud coverage, debris-covered glaciers, monsoon-regime and cold glaciers), their complementarities and the future challenges (e.g., automating of the satellite images processing, generalization of the methods needing calibration) are also discussed.

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Section: Application Of the Albedo Methods On New Zealand Southern Alpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annual and Seasonal Glacier-Wide Surface Mass Balance Quantified from Changes in Glacier Surface State: A Review on Existing Methods Using Optical Satellite Imagery

et al. 2017

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“…"The photograph being interpolated is then carefully compared and inserted into its appropriate place in the sequence" (Willsman et al, 2015, p. 15). Despite such subjectivity, Chinn et al (2012) estimated the uncertainty on the mean annual SLA departure from the 50 index glacier to be ±5 m at the 95 % confidence level. This would correspond to an estimated standard error for an individual SLA to be ±18 m. In the context of this study, we used an uncertainty of ±30 m, which we believe to be conservative for this data set.…”

Section: Eoss Programmementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, ELA measurements from remotely sensed data have been used as a substitute for direct mass balance monitoring (Chinn et al, 2005). This is the approach currently used in New Zealand to infer the mass balance variability of 50 "index" glaciers situated in the Southern Alps, including Brewster Glacier (Chinn et al, 2012). For these glaciers, the position of the end-of-summer snowline (EOSS, an approximation of the ELA) is identified from oblique photographs obtained from annual aerial surveys conducted since 1977.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For these glaciers, the position of the end-of-summer snowline (EOSS, an approximation of the ELA) is identified from oblique photographs obtained from annual aerial surveys conducted since 1977. Positive or negative mass balances are inferred by comparing the annual EOSS altitude (hereafter referred to as SLA) to the steady-state ELA 0 with assumptions on regional mass balance gradients at the ELA (Rabatel et al, 2008;Chinn et al, 2012). While the EOSS monitoring programme has provided an exceptional amount of data on the behaviour and climate response of New Zealand's glaciers (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reconstructing the mass balance of Brewster Glacier, New Zealand, using MODIS-derived glacier-wide albedo

et al. 2016

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Abstract. In New Zealand, direct measurements of mass balance are sparse due to the inaccessibility of glaciers in the Southern Alps and the logistical difficulties associated with maintaining a mass balance record. In order to explore the benefit of remotely sensed imaging to monitor mass balance in the Southern Alps, this research assesses the relationship between measurements of glacier surface albedo derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and mass balance observations using the glaciological method on Brewster Glacier over the 2005-2013 period. We confirm that minimum glacier-wide albedo is a reliable predictor for annual mass balance in this maritime environment (R 2 = 0.93). Furthermore, we show that regular monitoring of glacier-wide albedo enables a new metric of winter accumulation to be derived, namely the cumulative winter albedo, which is found to correlate strongly with winter mass balance (R 2 = 0.88), thus enabling the reconstruction of separate winter and summer mass balance records. This allows the mass balance record for Brewster Glacier to be extended back to the start of MODIS observations in 2000 and to confirm that the annual balance of Brewster Glacier is largely controlled by summer balance (R 2 = 92 %). An application of the extended record is proposed whereby the relationship between mass balance and the photographic record of the end-of-summer snowline altitude is assessed. This allowed the annual balance record of Brewster Glacier to be reconstructed over the period 1977-2013, thus providing the longest record of mass balance for a glacier in New Zealand.Over the 37-year period, our results show that Brewster Glacier gained a significant mass of up to 14.5 ± 2.7 m w.e. by 2007. This gain was offset by a marked shift toward negative balances after 2008, yielding a loss of 5.1 ± 1.2 m w.e., or 35 % of the gain accumulated over the previous 30 years. The good correspondence between mass balance of Brewster Glacier and the phase of the Pacific (Inter-)Decadal Oscillation (PDO/IPO), associated with the fast terminus retreat observed between 1978 and 1998, strongly suggests that the observed mass gain of Brewster Glacier since 1977 is only offsetting a longer sequence of dominantly negative balances.

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“…It has been applied in many different mountain ranges (Kulkarni, 1992;Rabatel et al, 2008;Chinn et al, 2012;Stumm, 2011), and it is often used to relate temperature and precipitation with mass balance (Kuhn, 1984;Ohmura et al, 1992). Generally, ELA and the annual mass balance are well correlated (Rabatel et al, 2005(Rabatel et al, , 2012.…”

Section: Snow Line Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-establishing glacier monitoring in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, Central Asia

Hoelzle

Azisov

Barandun

et al. 2017

Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst.

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Abstract. Glacier mass loss is among the clearest indicators of atmospheric warming. The observation of these changes is one of the major objectives of the international climate monitoring strategy developed by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). Long-term glacier mass balance measurements are furthermore the basis for calibrating and validating models simulating future runoff of glacierised catchments. This is essential for Central Asia, which is one of the driest continental regions of the Northern Hemisphere. In the highly populated regions, water shortage due to decreased glacierisation potentially leads to pronounced political instability, drastic ecological changes and endangered food security. As a consequence of the collapse of the former Soviet Union, however, many valuable glacier monitoring sites in the Tien Shan and Pamir Mountains were abandoned. In recent years, multinational actors have re-established a set of important in situ measuring sites to continue the invaluable long-term data series. This paper introduces the applied monitoring strategy for selected glaciers in the Kyrgyz and Uzbek Tien Shan and Pamir, highlights the existing and the new measurements on these glaciers, and presents an example for how the old and new data can be combined to establish multi-decadal mass balance time series. This is crucial for understanding the impact of climate change on glaciers in this region.

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Annual ice volume changes 1976–2008 for the New Zealand Southern Alps

Cited by 82 publications

References 69 publications

Annual and Seasonal Glacier-Wide Surface Mass Balance Quantified from Changes in Glacier Surface State: A Review on Existing Methods Using Optical Satellite Imagery

Annual and Seasonal Glacier-Wide Surface Mass Balance Quantified from Changes in Glacier Surface State: A Review on Existing Methods Using Optical Satellite Imagery

Reconstructing the mass balance of Brewster Glacier, New Zealand, using MODIS-derived glacier-wide albedo

Re-establishing glacier monitoring in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, Central Asia

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