Reanalysing glacier mass balance measurement series

Zemp, Michael; Thibert, Emmanuel; Huss, Matthias; Stumm, D.; Denby, C. Rolstad; Nuth, C.; Nussbaumer, Samuel U.; Moholdt, Geir; Mercer, Andrew; Mayer, Christoph; Joerg, Philip C.; Jansson, Peter; Hynek, Bernhard; Fischer, Andrea; Escher‐Vetter, Heidi; Elvehøy, Hallgeir; Andreassen, Liss M.

doi:10.5194/tc-7-1227-2013

Cited by 246 publications

(362 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…The combination of the different approaches allows producing accurate mass balance estimates with a high temporal and spatial resolution (e.g. Zemp et al, 2013). An important advantage of the described strategy is that all different components can be used independently (e.g.…”

Section: Monitoring Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from different sources such as topographic maps, GPS surveys, aerial photographs, satellite images, synthetic-aperture radar or Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) are compared to each other, and the elevation differences over the glacier can be converted into the glacier's mass change over a given time interval (e.g. Bauder et al, 2007;Thibert and Vincent, 2009;Zemp et al, 2013). In general, multi-annual time periods are needed to reach an acceptable level of accuracy .…”

Section: Geodetic Mass Balancementioning

confidence: 99%

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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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Section: Monitoring Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geodetic Mass Balancementioning

confidence: 99%

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

Hoelzle

Azisov

Barandun

et al. 2017

Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…At this stage, the validation and possibly correction of the mass balance series using geodetic estimates of volume change is crucial and could follow the framework outlined by Zemp et al (2013).…”

Section: Brewster Mass Balance Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…Although a systematic bias may exist between the geodetic mass balance and B a obtained with the glaciological method used to calibrate the albedo method (e.g., Zemp et al, 2013), this comparison allows us to check the order of magnitude of our results. The average reconstructed mass balance on Chhota Shigri Glacier was found to be −0.68 ± 0.10 m.w.e.…”

Section: Mass Balance Reconstruction 1999-2013mentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal changes in surface albedo of Himalayan glaciers from MODIS data and links with the annual mass balance

et al. 2015

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Abstract. Few glaciological field data are available on glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Karakoram-Himalayan (HKH) region, and remote sensing data are thus critical for glacier studies in this region. The main objectives of this study are to document, using satellite images, the seasonal changes of surface albedo for two Himalayan glaciers, Chhota Shigri Glacier (Himachal Pradesh, India) and Mera Glacier (Everest region, Nepal), and to reconstruct the annual mass balance of these glaciers based on the albedo data. Albedo is retrieved from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images, and evaluated using ground based measurements. At both sites, we find high coefficients of determination between annual minimum albedo averaged over the glacier (AMAAG) and glacier-wide annual mass balance (B a ) measured with the glaciological method (R 2 = 0.75). At Chhota Shigri Glacier, the relation between AMAAG found at the end of the ablation season and B a suggests that AMAAG can be used as a proxy for the maximum snow line altitude or equilibrium line altitude (ELA) on winteraccumulation-type glaciers in the Himalayas. However, for the summer-accumulation-type Mera Glacier, our approach relied on the hypothesis that ELA information is preserved during the monsoon. At Mera Glacier, cloud obscuration and snow accumulation limits the detection of albedo during the monsoon, but snow redistribution and sublimation in the post-monsoon period allows for the calculation of AMAAG. Reconstructed B a at Chhota Shigri Glacier agrees with mass balances previously reconstructed using a positive degreeday method. Reconstructed B a at Mera Glacier is affected by heavy cloud cover during the monsoon, which systematically limited our ability to observe AMAAG at the end of the melting period. In addition, the relation between AMAAG and B a is constrained over a shorter time period for Mera Glacier (6 years) than for Chhota Shigri Glacier (11 years). Thus the mass balance reconstruction is less robust for Mera Glacier than for Chhota Shigri Glacier. However our method shows promising results and may be used to reconstruct the annual mass balance of glaciers with contrasted seasonal cycles in the western part of the HKH mountain range since the early 2000s when MODIS images became available.

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Reanalysing glacier mass balance measurement series

Cited by 246 publications

References 67 publications

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

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

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

Seasonal changes in surface albedo of Himalayan glaciers from MODIS data and links with the annual mass balance

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