Disaggregating geodetic glacier mass balance to annual scale using remote-sensing proxies
Decadal-scale, high-resolution geodetic measurements of glacier thinning have transformed our understanding of glacier response to climate change. Annual glacier mass balance can be estimated using remote-sensing proxies like snow-line altitude. These methods require field data for calibration, whic...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Journal of Glaciology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022000892/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1797770580091469824 |
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| author | Argha Banerjee Ujjwal Singh Chintan Sheth |
| author_facet | Argha Banerjee Ujjwal Singh Chintan Sheth |
| author_sort | Argha Banerjee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Decadal-scale, high-resolution geodetic measurements of glacier thinning have transformed our understanding of glacier response to climate change. Annual glacier mass balance can be estimated using remote-sensing proxies like snow-line altitude. These methods require field data for calibration, which are not available for most glaciers. Here we propose a method that combines multiple remotely-sensed proxies to obtain robust estimates of the annual glacier-wide balance using only remotely-sensed decadal-scale geodetic mass balance for calibration. The method is tested on Chhota Shigri, Argentière and Saint-Sorlin glaciers in the Himalaya and the Alps between 2001 and 2020, using four remotely-sensed proxies – the snow-line altitude, the minimum summer albedo over the glacier and two statistics of normalised difference snow index over the off-glacier area around the ablation zone. The reconstructed mass balance compares favourably with the corresponding glaciological field data (correlation coefficient 0.81 − 0.90, p < 0.001; root mean squared error 0.38 − 0.43 m w.e. a−1). The method presented may be useful to study interannual variability in mass balance on glaciers where no field data are available. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:24:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fad94ff6afdc44ca8302c5c088b1e227 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:24:15Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Glaciology |
| spelling | doaj.art-fad94ff6afdc44ca8302c5c088b1e2272023-07-28T10:47:45ZengCambridge University PressJournal of Glaciology0022-14301727-56522023-08-016968369210.1017/jog.2022.89Disaggregating geodetic glacier mass balance to annual scale using remote-sensing proxiesArgha Banerjee0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6007-0719Ujjwal Singh1Chintan Sheth2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2411-9850Earth and Climate Science, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, Dr Homi Bhabha Road, Pune 411008, Maharashtra, IndiaFaculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Praha-Suchdol 16500, Czech RepublicEarth and Climate Science, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, Dr Homi Bhabha Road, Pune 411008, Maharashtra, IndiaDecadal-scale, high-resolution geodetic measurements of glacier thinning have transformed our understanding of glacier response to climate change. Annual glacier mass balance can be estimated using remote-sensing proxies like snow-line altitude. These methods require field data for calibration, which are not available for most glaciers. Here we propose a method that combines multiple remotely-sensed proxies to obtain robust estimates of the annual glacier-wide balance using only remotely-sensed decadal-scale geodetic mass balance for calibration. The method is tested on Chhota Shigri, Argentière and Saint-Sorlin glaciers in the Himalaya and the Alps between 2001 and 2020, using four remotely-sensed proxies – the snow-line altitude, the minimum summer albedo over the glacier and two statistics of normalised difference snow index over the off-glacier area around the ablation zone. The reconstructed mass balance compares favourably with the corresponding glaciological field data (correlation coefficient 0.81 − 0.90, p < 0.001; root mean squared error 0.38 − 0.43 m w.e. a−1). The method presented may be useful to study interannual variability in mass balance on glaciers where no field data are available.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022000892/type/journal_articleGlacier mass balancemass-balance reconstructionmountain glaciers |
| spellingShingle | Argha Banerjee Ujjwal Singh Chintan Sheth Disaggregating geodetic glacier mass balance to annual scale using remote-sensing proxies Journal of Glaciology Glacier mass balance mass-balance reconstruction mountain glaciers |
| title | Disaggregating geodetic glacier mass balance to annual scale using remote-sensing proxies |
| title_full | Disaggregating geodetic glacier mass balance to annual scale using remote-sensing proxies |
| title_fullStr | Disaggregating geodetic glacier mass balance to annual scale using remote-sensing proxies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Disaggregating geodetic glacier mass balance to annual scale using remote-sensing proxies |
| title_short | Disaggregating geodetic glacier mass balance to annual scale using remote-sensing proxies |
| title_sort | disaggregating geodetic glacier mass balance to annual scale using remote sensing proxies |
| topic | Glacier mass balance mass-balance reconstruction mountain glaciers |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143022000892/type/journal_article |
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