The GLIMS geospatial glacier database: A new tool for studying glacier change

Raup, B. H.; Racoviteanu, A.; Khalsa, S. S.; Helm, Christopher; Armstrong, R. L.; Arnaud, Yves

doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2006.07.018

Cited by 408 publications

(287 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Regarding applications to other regions, digital glacier outlines can be found for example in the Global Land Ice Measurement from Space (GLIMS) glacier database (Raup et al, 2007). To study the crevasse pattern of glaciers, the panchromatic channel with a resampled spatial resolution of 10 m from two scenes of the Indian Remote Sensing satellite (IRS-1C) from September 1997 were used.…”

Section: Input Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

A multi-level strategy for anticipating future glacier lake formation and associated hazard potentials

Frey

Haeberli

Linsbauer

et al. 2010

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

176

136

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Abstract. In the course of glacier retreat, new glacier lakes can develop. As such lakes can be a source of natural hazards, strategies for predicting future glacier lake formation are important for an early planning of safety measures. In this article, a multi-level strategy for the identification of overdeepened parts of the glacier beds and, hence, sites with potential future lake formation, is presented. At the first two of the four levels of this strategy, glacier bed overdeepenings are estimated qualitatively and over large regions based on a digital elevation model (DEM) and digital glacier outlines. On level 3, more detailed and laborious models are applied for modeling the glacier bed topography over smaller regions; and on level 4, special situations must be investigated in-situ with detailed measurements such as geophysical soundings. The approaches of the strategy are validated using historical data from Trift Glacier, where a lake formed over the past decade. Scenarios of future glacier lakes are shown for the two test regions Aletsch and Bernina in the Swiss Alps. In the Bernina region, potential future lake outbursts are modeled, using a GIS-based hydrological flow routing model. As shown by a corresponding test, the ASTER GDEM and the SRTM DEM are both suitable to be used within the proposed strategy. Application of this strategy in other mountain regions of the world is therefore possible as well.

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Section: Input Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

A multi-level strategy for anticipating future glacier lake formation and associated hazard potentials

Frey

Haeberli

Linsbauer

et al. 2010

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

176

136

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Glaciers in the tropical Andes have witnessed a strong retreat during the last decades (e.g. Kaser et al, 1990;Hastenrath and Ames, 1995;Kaser and Georges, 1997;Georges, 2004;Mark and Seltzer, 2005;Silverio and Jaquet, 2005;Raup et al, 2007;Vuille et al, 2008a;Rabatel et al, 2013;Salzmann et al, 2013). Small glaciers in the tropical Andes at low altitudes show a more pronounced retreat, as the current equilibrium line altitude (ELA) climbed up towards the upper reaches causing a reduction or even loss of the accumulation area (Rabatel et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate trends and glacier retreat in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, revisited

Schauwecker

Rohrer

Acuña

et al. 2014

Global and Planetary Change

122

108

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The total glacial area of the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, has shrunk by more than 30% in the period of 1930 to the present with a marked glacier retreat also in the recent decades. The aim of this paper is to assess local air temperature and precipitation changes in the Cordillera Blanca and to discuss how these variables could have affected the observed glacier retreat between the 1980s and present. A unique data set from a large number of stations in the region of the Cordillera Blanca shows that after a strong air temperature rise of about 0.31°C per decade between 1969 and 1998, a slowdown in the warming to about 0.13°C per decade occurred for the 30 years from 1983 to 2012. Additionally, based on data from a long-term meteorological station, it was found that the freezing line altitude during precipitation days has probably not increased significantly in the last 30 years. We documented a cooling trend for maximum daily air temperatures and an increase in precipitation of about 60 mm/decade since the early 1980s. The strong increase in precipitation in the last 30 years probably did not balance the increase of temperature before the 1980s. It is suggested that recent changes in temperature and precipitation alone may not explain the glacial recession within the thirty years from the early 1980s to 2012. Glaciers in the Cordillera Blanca may be still reacting to the positive air temperature rise before 1980. Especially small and low-lying glaciers are characterised by a serious imbalance and may disappear in the near future.

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“…We use a parameterization scheme based on Haeberli and Hoelzle (1995) to predict elevation-distributed glacierization for the mid-21st century. This glacier model was set up with the help of past and recent glacier inventories (WGMS, 1989;Raup et al, 2007) and digital elevation models (ASTER-GDEM).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glacier and runoff changes in the Rukhk catchment, upper Amu-Darya basin until 2050

Hagg

Hoelzle

Wagner³

et al. 2013

Global and Planetary Change

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A conceptual hydrological model was set up in the upper Panj catchment, the main tributary of Amu-Darya river. After a manual calibration procedure involving model runs with different restrictions, the model reproduced both daily hydrographs of Tanimas river at the Rukhk gauging station (NSE = 0.86) and the snow water equivalent of the Irkht station (R 2 = 0.85) in a very satisfactory way. Based on two glacier inventories from the mid-20th century (WGI, World Glacier Inventory) and from 2003 (GLIMS, Global Land Ice Measurements from Space), a simple parameterization scheme based on steady state conditions was applied to infer the ice volumes and glacier areas for these different time periods. Assuming temperature rises of 2.2°C and 3.1°C, which mark the extreme values of regional climate scenarios, the same method was used to extrapolate glacierization to the year 2050. The results show that these temperature rises will reduce the current glacier extent of 431 km 2 by 36% and 45%, respectively. To assess future changes in water availability, the hydrological model input was modified according to the regional climate scenarios and the resulting glacier changes. The use of an elevation distributed deglacierization pattern is a clear improvement over methods used previously, where the impact on runoff was tested by excluding either the lower half or the total glacier area. The runoff scenarios reveal only a slight reduction in annual runoff, because the glacier area decrease is almost balanced out by enhanced melt rates. However, there is an important seasonal shift of water resources from summer to spring, unfavorably affecting agriculture and irrigation in the lowlands.

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The GLIMS geospatial glacier database: A new tool for studying glacier change

Cited by 408 publications

References 12 publications

A multi-level strategy for anticipating future glacier lake formation and associated hazard potentials

A multi-level strategy for anticipating future glacier lake formation and associated hazard potentials

Climate trends and glacier retreat in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, revisited

Glacier and runoff changes in the Rukhk catchment, upper Amu-Darya basin until 2050

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