GIS Applications to Glaciology: Construction of the Mount Rainier Glacier Database

Mennis, Jeremy

doi:10.15760/etd.7221

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Changes in glacier areas may refl ect retreat or advance or simply changes in glacier boundaries on ice surfaces due to changes in ice fl ow directions. Nylen (2004) calculated glacier volumes from radar surveys (Driedger and Kennard, 1984) and empirical estimation methods (Bahr et al, 1997;Mennis, 1997;Mennis and Fountain, 2001). Accuracy of the outlines was limited by less accurate fi eld mapping in hazardous terrain, and errors in distinguishing debris-covered ice from debris-covered ice-free areas, seasonal snow from snow-covered glaciers, active glacier ice from stagnant glacier ice, and glacier ice from permanent bodies of snow or ice, both in the fi eld and with aerial photographs.…”

Section: Data: Initiation Sites Glacier Recession and Topographymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We present here an initial attempt to model the currently identifi ed Mount Rainier debrisfl ow initiation sites and thereby predict the relative probability of debris-fl ow initiation at similar locations across the DEM when exposed to the same conditions as are considered in the model. This work should be viewed as a demonstration of the data-modeling concept, rather than as a fi nal word on the prediction of future debris-fl ow initiation sites, as the choice of variables and combinations of variables used (Driedger and Kennard, 1984) and empirical methods (Bahr et al, 1997;Mennis, 1997;Mennis and Fountain, 2001).…”

Section: Data Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Periglacial debris-flow initiation and susceptibility and glacier recession from imagery, airborne LiDAR, and ground-based mapping

Lancaster¹,

Nolin²,

Copeland³

et al. 2012

Geosphere

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Climate changes in the Pacifi c Northwest, USA, may cause both retreat of alpine glaciers and increases in the frequency and magnitude of storms delivering rainfall at high elevations absent signifi cant snowpack, and both of these changes may affect the frequency and severity of destructive debris fl ows initiating on the region's composite volcanoes. A better understanding of debrisfl ow susceptibility on these volcanoes' slopes is therefore warranted. Field mapping and remote sensing data, including airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR), were used to locate and characterize initiation sites of six debris fl ows that occurred during an "atmospheric river" event (warm wet storm) on Mount Rainier, Washington, in November 2006, and data from prior studies identifi ed six more debris fl ows that occurred in 2001-2005. These 12 debris fl ows had initiation sources at the heads of 17 gullies distributed over seven distinct initiation zones near the termini of glaciers, and all debris-fl ow initiation sites were located within areas exposed by glacier retreat in the past century. Gully locations were identifi ed by their steep walls and heads on a 1-m digital elevation model (DEM) from LiDAR data collected in 2007-2008. Gullies in which debris fl ows initiated were differentiated from numerous non-initiating gullies primarily by the greater upslope contributing areas of the former. Initiation mechanisms were inferred from pre-and post-2006 gully width measurements from aerial photos and the LiDAR DEM, respectively, fi eld observations of gully banks, and elevation changes calculated from repeated LiDAR, and these data indicate that debris fl ows were initiated by distributed sources, including bank mass failures, related to ero-sion by overland fl ow of water. Using gullyhead initiation sites for debris fl ows that occurred during 2001-2006, a data model was developed to explore the viability of the method for characterization of debris-fl ow initiation susceptibilities on Mount Rainier. The initiation sites were found to occupy a restricted part of the four-dimensional space defi ned by mean and standard deviation of simulated glacial meltwater fl ow, slope angle, and minimum distance to an area of recent (1994-2008) glacier retreat. The model identifi es the heads of most gullies, including all sites of known debris-fl ow initiation, as highsusceptibility areas, but does not appear to differentiate between areas of varying gullyhead density or between debris-fl ow and no-debris-fl ow gullies. The model and fi eld data, despite limitations, do provide insight into debris-fl ow processes, as well as feasible methods for mapping and assessment of debris-fl ow susceptibilities on periglacial areas of the Cascade Range.

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Section: Data: Initiation Sites Glacier Recession and Topographymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Data Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%