Energy and Mass Balance of Forni Glacier (Stelvio National Park, Italian Alps) from a Four-Year Meteorological Data Record

Senese, Antonella; Diolaiuti, Guglielmina; Mihalcea, Claudia; Smiraglia, Claudio

doi:10.1657/1938-4246-44.1.122

Cited by 35 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Contributing factors might include the suboptimal distribution and density of GCPs (Gindraux et al, 2017), the delay between the UAV surveys as well as between the UAV and TLS, and the lack of coincidence between GCP placement and the UAV flights. This means the UAV photogrammetric reconstruction was affected by ice ablation and glacier flow, which on Forni Glacier range between 3 and 5 cm day −1 (Senese et al, 2012) and between 1 and 4 cm day −1 , respectively (Urbini et al, 2017). We thus expect a combined 3-day uncertainty on the 2016 UAV data set between 10 and 20 cm and lower on GCPs, considering reduced ablation due to their placement on boulders.…”

Section: Point Cloud and Dem Uncertaintymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Combination of UAV and terrestrial photogrammetry to assess rapid glacier evolution and map glacier hazards

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et al. 2018

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Tourists and hikers visiting glaciers all year round face hazards such as sudden terminus collapses, typical of such a dynamically evolving environment. In this study, we analyzed the potential of different survey techniques to analyze hazards of the Forni Glacier, an important geosite located in Stelvio Park (Italian Alps). We carried out surveys in the 2016 ablation season and compared point clouds generated from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) survey, closerange photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). To investigate the evolution of glacier hazards and evaluate the glacier thinning rate, we also used UAV data collected in 2014 and a digital elevation model (DEM) created from an aerial photogrammetric survey of 2007. We found that the integration between terrestrial and UAV photogrammetry is ideal for mapping hazards related to the glacier collapse, while TLS is affected by occlusions and is logistically complex in glacial terrain. Photogrammetric techniques can therefore replace TLS for glacier studies and UAV-based DEMs hold potential for becoming a standard tool in the investigation of glacier thickness changes. Based on our data sets, an increase in the size of collapses was found over the study period, and the glacier thinning rates went from 4.55 ± 0.24 m a −1 between 2007 and 2014 to 5.20 ± 1.11 m a −1 between 2014 and 2016.

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Section: Point Cloud and Dem Uncertaintymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, we investigated a rapidly downwasting glacier (almost 5 m a −1 water equivalent; Senese et al, 2012) in a protected area and highly touristic sector of the Italian Alps, Stelvio National Park. We focused on the glacier terminus and the hazards identified there, i.e., the formation of normal faults and ring faults.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combination of UAV and terrestrial photogrammetry to assess rapid glacier evolution and map glacier hazards

Fugazza

Scaioni

Corti

et al. 2018

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…High ice thinning rates, up to -5 m w.e. a −1 at 2700 m a.s.l, have been measured on the eastern sector of the tongue (Senese, Diolaiuti, Mihalcea, & Smiraglia, 2012). Forni glacier used to be composed of three separate accumulation basins, joining into a single tongue and separated by medial moraines but in 2015, ice flow was interrupted at the base of the Vioz icefall on the eastern tongue (see Figures 1(B) and 2) and the glacier can now be actually viewed as split into two separate ice bodies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent structural evolution of Forni Glacier tongue (Ortles-Cevedale Group, Central Italian Alps)

et al. 2017

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Structural glaciology yields important details about the evolution of glacier dynamics in response to climate change. The maps provided here document the occurrence and evolution of brittle and ductile structures on the tongue of Forni Glacier, Ortles-Cevedale Group, Central Italian Alps, between 2003 and 2014. Through the remote sensing-based analysis of structures, we found evidence of brittle fractures such as crevasses, faults and ring faults, and ductile structures such as ogives at the base of the icefall in the eastern glacier tongue. Although each of the three glacier tongues have evolved differently, a reduction in flow-related dynamics and an increase in the number of collapse structures occurred over the study period. Analysis of the glacier structural evolution based on the numbers and the locations of different structures, suggest a slowdown of glacier flow on the eastern tongue. The recent evolution of the glacier also suggests that the occurrence of a disintegration scenario is likely to worsen over the next decades.ARTICLE HISTORY

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“…Melting processes at glaciers occur when the surface temperature is equal to 0 • C and the surface energy budget is positive (see, among others, Hock, 2005;Senese et al, 2012a). It is, however, very difficult to assess these conditions, especially if no supraglacial automatic weather station (AWS) is installed and in operation at the glacier surface; thus, simple models are generally adopted which assume empirical relationships between air temperature and snow or ice melting rates (i.e., T -index or degree-day models; see Braithwaite, 1985;Cazorzi and Dalla Fontana, 1996;Hock, 1999;Pellicciotti et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using daily air temperature thresholds to evaluate snow melting occurrence and amount on Alpine glaciers by <i>T</i>-index models: the case study of the Forni Glacier (Italy)

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Glacier melt conditions (i.e., null surface temperature and positive energy budget) can be assessed by analyzing data acquired by a supraglacial automatic weather station (AWS), such as the station installed on the surface of Forni Glacier (Italian Alps). When an AWS is not present, the assessment of actual melt conditions and the evaluation of the melt amount is more difficult and simple methods based on T -index (or degree days) models are generally applied. These models require the choice of a correct temperature threshold. In fact, melt does not necessarily occur at daily air temperatures higher than 0 • C. In this paper, we applied both energy budget and T -index approaches with the aim of solving this issue.We start by distinguishing between the occurrence of snowmelt and the reduction in snow depth due to actual ablation (from snow depth data recorded by a sonic ranger). Then we find the daily average temperature thresholds (by analyzing temperature data acquired by an AWS on Forni Glacier) which, on the one hand, best capture the occurrence of significant snowmelt conditions and, on the other, make it possible, using the T -index, to quantify the actual snow ablation amount. Finally we investigated the applicability of the mean tropospheric lapse rate to reproduce air temperature conditions at the glacier surface starting from data acquired by weather stations located outside the glacier area.We found that the mean tropospheric lapse rate allows for a good and reliable reconstruction of glacier air temperatures and that the choice of an appropriate temperature threshold in T -index models is a very important issue. From our study, the application of the +0.5 • C temperature threshold allows for a consistent quantification of snow ablation while, instead, for detecting the beginning of the snow melting processes a suitable threshold has proven to be at least −4.6 • C.

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Energy and Mass Balance of Forni Glacier (Stelvio National Park, Italian Alps) from a Four-Year Meteorological Data Record

Cited by 35 publications

References 42 publications

Combination of UAV and terrestrial photogrammetry to assess rapid glacier evolution and map glacier hazards

Combination of UAV and terrestrial photogrammetry to assess rapid glacier evolution and map glacier hazards

Recent structural evolution of Forni Glacier tongue (Ortles-Cevedale Group, Central Italian Alps)

Using daily air temperature thresholds to evaluate snow melting occurrence and amount on Alpine glaciers by <i>T</i>-index models: the case study of the Forni Glacier (Italy)

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Energy and Mass Balance of Forni Glacier (Stelvio National Park, Italian Alps) from a Four-Year Meteorological Data Record

Cited by 35 publications

References 42 publications

Combination of UAV and terrestrial photogrammetry to assess rapid glacier evolution and map glacier hazards

Combination of UAV and terrestrial photogrammetry to assess rapid glacier evolution and map glacier hazards

Recent structural evolution of Forni Glacier tongue (Ortles-Cevedale Group, Central Italian Alps)

Using daily air temperature thresholds to evaluate snow melting occurrence and amount on Alpine glaciers by &lt;i&gt;T&lt;/i&gt;-index models: the case study of the Forni Glacier (Italy)

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Using daily air temperature thresholds to evaluate snow melting occurrence and amount on Alpine glaciers by <i>T</i>-index models: the case study of the Forni Glacier (Italy)