Implications of climate change on Glacier de la Plaine Morte, Switzerland

Abstract

Abstract. Changes in Switzerland's climate are expected to have major impacts on glaciers, the hydrological regime and the natural hazard potential in mountainous regions. Glacier de la Plaine Morte is the largest plateau glacier in the European Alps and thus represents a particularly interesting site for studying rapid and far-reaching effects of atmospheric warming on Alpine glaciers. Based on detailed field observations combined with numerical modelling, the changes in total ice volume of Glacier de la Plaine Morte since the 1950s and the dynamics of present glacier mass loss are assessed. Future ice melt and changes in glacier runoff are computed using climate scenarios, and a possible increase in the natural hazard potential of glacier-dammed lakes around Plaine Morte over the next decades is discussed. This article provides an integrative view of the past, current and future retreat of an extraordinary Swiss glacier and emphasizes the implications of climate change on Alpine glaciers.

Cross-Comparison of Albedo Products for Glacier Surfaces Derived from Airborne and Satellite (Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8) Optical Data

“…In contrast, Glacier de la Plaine Morte was almost entirely snow-free by the beginning of August over the last five years, resulting in a strongly negative mean mass balance of −1.4 m w.e. a −1 on average [39]. In the following, we use FG and PM as abbreviations for Findelengletscher and Glacier de la Plaine Morte, respectively.…”

Imaging spectroscopy to assess the composition of ice surface materials and their impact on glacier mass balance

“…the equilibrium line was above the glacier, indicating a strongly negative mass balance and causing a significant ice-albedo feedback. Based on a ground-penetrating radar survey, a mean ice thickness of 104 m, a maximum ice thickness of 226 ± 18 m, and a glacier volume of 0.82 ± 0.1 km 3 was obtained for the year 2011 (Huss, Voinesco, & Hoelzle, 2013). Towards the north, a small glacier tongue, the Rezligletscher, forms the only active outlet flow feature compared to the rest of the glacier where ice flow is very limited.…”

Assessing the sustainability of water governance systems: the sustainability wheel

“…Research on the status of the current system was based on hydrometeorological and land use measurements and modeling (for more details see Huss, Voinesco, and Hoelzle 2013;Finger et al 2013), as well as participatory observation, qualitative interviews, and analysis of existing reports and statistical data (see Bonriposi 2013;Reynard and Bonriposi 2012;Schneider and Homewood 2013). Research on possible future situations was based on visioning techniques, modeling, and calculations (Reynard et al 2014).…”

“…These visions were then translated to water use scenarios as a basis for simulating future water demands (see Bonriposi 2013). For modeling future water use, as well as resource availability, we used International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) A1B climate change scenarios (CH2011 2011) (see also Huss, Voinesco, and Hoelzle 2013;Reynard et al 2014). …”

“…Hydroelectricity production depends on abundant precipitation and the meltwater from the glacier and snow. Snowmelt varies significantly from one year to the other, whereas glacier melting is more regular, and is predicted to increase due to climate warming until about 2050 when it will reach its maximum (Huss, Voinesco, and Hoelzle 2013). While hydropower production could be developed even further, in the last 20 years it has been considered to have been fully profitable from an economic point of view (La Lienne SA 2012).…”