A modelling approach to reconstruct Little Ice Age climate from remote-sensing glacier observations in southeastern Tibet
We use numerical modelling of glacier mass balance combined with recent and past glacier extents to obtain information on Little Ice Age (LIA) climate in southeastern Tibet. We choose two glaciers that have been analysed in a previous study of equilibrium-line altitudes (ELA) and LIA glacier advance...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2016-01-01
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| Series: | Annals of Glaciology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0260305500000379/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1811157322213359616 |
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| author | Eva Huintjes David Loibl Frank Lehmkuhl Christoph Schneider |
| author_facet | Eva Huintjes David Loibl Frank Lehmkuhl Christoph Schneider |
| author_sort | Eva Huintjes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We use numerical modelling of glacier mass balance combined with recent and past glacier extents to obtain information on Little Ice Age (LIA) climate in southeastern Tibet. We choose two glaciers that have been analysed in a previous study of equilibrium-line altitudes (ELA) and LIA glacier advances with remote-sensing approaches. We apply a physically based surface energy- and mass-balance model that is forced by dynamically downscaled global analysis data. The model is applied to two glacier stages mapped from satellite imagery, modern (1999) and LIA. Precipitation scaling factors (PSF) and air temperature offsets (ATO) are applied to reproduce recent ELA and glacier mass balance (MB) during the LIA. A sensitivity analysis is performed by applying seasonally varying gradients of precipitation and air temperature. The calculated glacier-wide MB estimate for the period 2000–12 is negative for both glaciers (–992±366 kgm–2 a–1 and –1053±258 kgm–2 a–1). Relating recent and LIA PSF/ATO sets suggests a LIA climate with ~8–25% increased precipitation and ~1–2.5°C lower mean air temperature than in the period 2000–12. The results only provide an order of magnitude because deviations in other input parameters are not considered. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:05:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e83bab62f4a446a0bb8dc0ba16e19445 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0260-3055 1727-5644 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:05:21Z |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Annals of Glaciology |
| spelling | doaj.art-e83bab62f4a446a0bb8dc0ba16e194452023-03-09T12:27:31ZengCambridge University PressAnnals of Glaciology0260-30551727-56442016-01-015735937010.3189/2016AoG71A025A modelling approach to reconstruct Little Ice Age climate from remote-sensing glacier observations in southeastern TibetEva Huintjes0David Loibl1Frank Lehmkuhl2Christoph Schneider3Department of Geography, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Geography, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Geography, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Geography, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyWe use numerical modelling of glacier mass balance combined with recent and past glacier extents to obtain information on Little Ice Age (LIA) climate in southeastern Tibet. We choose two glaciers that have been analysed in a previous study of equilibrium-line altitudes (ELA) and LIA glacier advances with remote-sensing approaches. We apply a physically based surface energy- and mass-balance model that is forced by dynamically downscaled global analysis data. The model is applied to two glacier stages mapped from satellite imagery, modern (1999) and LIA. Precipitation scaling factors (PSF) and air temperature offsets (ATO) are applied to reproduce recent ELA and glacier mass balance (MB) during the LIA. A sensitivity analysis is performed by applying seasonally varying gradients of precipitation and air temperature. The calculated glacier-wide MB estimate for the period 2000–12 is negative for both glaciers (–992±366 kgm–2 a–1 and –1053±258 kgm–2 a–1). Relating recent and LIA PSF/ATO sets suggests a LIA climate with ~8–25% increased precipitation and ~1–2.5°C lower mean air temperature than in the period 2000–12. The results only provide an order of magnitude because deviations in other input parameters are not considered.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0260305500000379/type/journal_articleenergy balanceglacier mass balanceglacier modellingmountain glacierspaleoclimate |
| spellingShingle | Eva Huintjes David Loibl Frank Lehmkuhl Christoph Schneider A modelling approach to reconstruct Little Ice Age climate from remote-sensing glacier observations in southeastern Tibet Annals of Glaciology energy balance glacier mass balance glacier modelling mountain glaciers paleoclimate |
| title | A modelling approach to reconstruct Little Ice Age climate from remote-sensing glacier observations in southeastern Tibet |
| title_full | A modelling approach to reconstruct Little Ice Age climate from remote-sensing glacier observations in southeastern Tibet |
| title_fullStr | A modelling approach to reconstruct Little Ice Age climate from remote-sensing glacier observations in southeastern Tibet |
| title_full_unstemmed | A modelling approach to reconstruct Little Ice Age climate from remote-sensing glacier observations in southeastern Tibet |
| title_short | A modelling approach to reconstruct Little Ice Age climate from remote-sensing glacier observations in southeastern Tibet |
| title_sort | modelling approach to reconstruct little ice age climate from remote sensing glacier observations in southeastern tibet |
| topic | energy balance glacier mass balance glacier modelling mountain glaciers paleoclimate |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0260305500000379/type/journal_article |
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