scholarly journals A modelling approach to reconstruct Little Ice Age climate from remote-sensing glacier observations in southeastern Tibet

2016 ◽  
Vol 57 (71) ◽  
pp. 359-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Huintjes ◽  
David Loibl ◽  
Frank Lehmkuhl ◽  
Christoph Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
Analysis Data ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Southeastern Tibet

AbstractWe 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.

scholarly journals Recent Climatic Mass Balance of the Schiaparelli Glacier at the Monte Sarmiento Massif and Reconstruction of Little Ice Age Climate by Simulating Steady-State Glacier Conditions

Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 272
Author(s):  
Stephanie Suzanne Weidemann ◽  
Jorge Arigony-Neto ◽  
Ricardo Jaña ◽  
Guilherme Netto ◽  
Inti Gonzalez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Similar Rate ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Recent Climate

The Cordillera Darwin Icefield loses mass at a similar rate as the Northern and Southern Patagonian Icefields, showing contrasting individual glacier responses, particularly between the north-facing and south-facing glaciers, which are subject to changing climate conditions. Detailed investigations of climatic mass balance processes on recent glacier behavior are not available for glaciers of the Cordillera Darwin Icefield and surrounding icefields. We therefore applied the coupled snow and ice energy and mass balance model in Python (COSIPY) to assess recent surface energy and mass balance variability for the Schiaparelli Glacier at the Monte Sarmiento Massif. We further used COSIPY to simulate steady-state glacier conditions during the Little Ice Age using information of moraine systems and glacier areal extent. The model is driven by downscaled 6-hourly atmospheric data and high resolution precipitation fields, obtained by using an analytical orographic precipitation model. Precipitation and air temperature offsets to present-day climate were considered to reconstruct climatic conditions during the Little Ice Age. A glacier-wide mean annual climatic mass balance of −1.8 ± 0.36 m w.e. a − 1 was simulated between between April 2000 and March 2017. An air temperature decrease between −0.9 ° C and −1.7 ° C in combination with a precipitation offset of up to +60% to recent climate conditions is necessary to simulate steady-state conditions for Schiaparelli Glacier in 1870.

scholarly journals Relation between recent glacier variations and climate in the Tien Shan mountains, central Asia

1992 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 11-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liu Chaohai ◽  
Han Tianding
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
General Trend ◽  
Summer Temperature ◽  
Tien Shan ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Tien Shan Mountains

Since the Little Ice Age, most glaciers in the Tien Shan mountains have been retreating. Owing to an increase in precipitation in most parts of the mountains during the late 1950s to early 1970s, the percentage of receding glaciers and the speed of retreat have tended to decrease in the 1970s. However, the general trend of continuous glacier retreat remains unchanged, in part because the summer air temperature shows no tendency to decrease.In the Tien Shan mountains, as the degree of climatic continentality increases the mass balance becomes more dependent on summer temperature, and accumulation and ablation tend to be lower. Therefore, the responses of glaciers to climatic fluctuations in more continental areas are not synchronous with those in less continental areas, and the amplitude of the glacier variations becomes smaller.

scholarly journals Atmosphere Driven Mass-Balance Sensitivity of Halji Glacier, Himalayas

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 426
Author(s):  
Anselm Arndt ◽  
Dieter Scherer ◽  
Christoph Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Reanalysis Dataset ◽  
Monsoon Index ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Ice Surface ◽  
Precipitation Increase ◽  
Precipitation Changes

The COupled Snowpack and Ice surface energy and mass balance model in PYthon (COSIPY) was employed to investigate the relationship between the variability and sensitivity of the mass balance record of the Halji glacier, in the Himalayas, north-western Nepal, over a 40 year period since October 1981 to atmospheric drivers. COSIPY was forced with the atmospheric reanalysis dataset ERA5-Land that has been statistically downscaled to the location of an automatic weather station at the Halji glacier. Glacier mass balance simulations with air temperature and precipitation perturbations were executed and teleconnections investigated. For the mass-balance years 1982 to 2019, a mean annual glacier-wide climatic mass balance of −0.48 meters water equivalent per year (m w.e. a−1) with large interannual variability (standard deviation 0.71 m w.e. a−1) was simulated. This variability is dominated by temperature and precipitation patterns. The Halji glacier is mostly sensitive to summer temperature and monsoon-related precipitation perturbations, which is reflected in a strong correlation with albedo. According to the simulations, the climate sensitivity with respect to either positive or negative air temperature and precipitation changes is nonlinear: A mean temperature increase (decrease) of 1 K would result in a change of the glacier-wide climatic mass balance of −1.43 m w.e. a−1 (0.99m w.e. a−1) while a precipitation increase (decrease) of 10% would cause a change of 0.45m w.e. a−1 (−0.59m w.e. a−1). Out of 22 circulation and monsoon indexes, only the Webster and Yang Monsoon index and Polar/Eurasia index provide significant correlations with the glacier-wide climatic mass balance. Based on the strong dependency of the climatic mass balance from summer season conditions, we conclude that the snow–albedo feedback in summer is crucial for the Halji glacier. This finding is also reflected in the correlation of albedo with the Webster and Yang Monsoon index.

scholarly journals Modelling the evolution of Vadret da Morteratsch, Switzerland, since the Little Ice Age and into the future

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (224) ◽  
pp. 1155-1168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Zekollari ◽  
Johannes Jakob Fürst ◽  
Philippe Huybrechts
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Flow Model ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Monthly Precipitation ◽  
Initial State ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
The Future

AbstractWe use a 3-D higher-order glacier flow model for Vadret da Morteratsch, Engadin, Switzerland, to simulate its strong retreat since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA) and to project its future disintegration under a warming climate. The flow model, coupled to a 2-D energy-balance model, is initialized with the known maximum glacier extent during the LIA and subsequently forced with mean monthly precipitation and temperature records. To correctly reproduce the observed retreat of the glacier front for the period 1864–2010, additional mass-balance perturbations are required to account for uncertainties in the initial state, the mass-balance model and climate variations not captured by the ambient meteorological records. Changes in glacier volume and area are in good agreement with additional information from historical topographic maps. Under constant 2001–10 climate conditions, a strong retreat and mass loss continue and Vadret da Morteratsch disconnects from its main tributary, Vadret Pers, before 2020. The future glacier evolution is analysed in detail to understand the timing and rate of retreat, and to assess the role of ice dynamics. Assuming a linearly increasing warming of >3°C by 2100, only isolated and largely stagnant ice patches remain at high elevation.

scholarly journals Influence of atmospheric circulation on glacier mass balance in western Tibet: an analysis based on observations and modeling

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-55
Author(s):  
Meilin Zhu ◽  
Lonnie G. Thompson ◽  
Huabiao Zhao ◽  
Tandong Yao ◽  
Wei Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Average Mass

AbstractGlacier changes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) have been spatially heterogeneous in recent decades. The understanding of glacier mass changes in western Tibet, a transitional area between the monsoon-dominated region and the westerlies-dominated region, is still incomplete. For this study, we used an energy-mass balance model to reconstruct annual mass balances from October 1967 to September 2019 to explore the effects of local climate and large-scale atmospheric circulation on glacier mass changes in western Tibet. The results showed Xiao Anglong Glacier is close to a balanced condition, with an average value of -53±185 mm w.e. a-1 for 1968-2019. The interannual mass balance variability during 1968-2019 was primary driven by ablation-season precipitation, which determined changes in the snow accumulation and strongly influenced melt processes. The interannual mass balance variability during 1968-2019 was less affected by ablation-season air temperature, which only weakly affected snowfall and melt energy. Further analysis suggests that the southward (or northward) shift of the westerlies caused low (or high) ablation-season precipitation, and therefore low (or high) annual mass balance for glaciers in western Tibet. In addition, the average mass balance for Xiao Anglong Glacier was 83±185, -210±185, and -10±185 mm w.e. a-1 for 1968-1990, 1991-2012, and 2013-2019, respectively. These mass changes were associated with the variations in precipitation and air temperature during the ablation season on interdecadal time scales.

Tree-ring-based reconstructions of North American glacier mass balance through the Little Ice Age — Contemporary warming transition

2013 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan L. Malcomb ◽  
Gregory C. Wiles
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Climate Forcing ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Western North America ◽  
Regional Patterns

AbstractGlacier mass-balance reconstructions provide a means of placing relatively short observational records into a longer-term context. In western North America, mass-balance records span four to five decades and capture a relatively narrow window of glacial behavior over an interval that was dominated by warming and ablation. We use temperature- and moisture-sensitive tree-ring series to reconstruct annual mass balance for six glaciers in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Mass-balance models rely on the climatic sensitivity of tree-ring chronologies and teleconnection patterns in the North Pacific. The reconstructions extend through the mid to latter portions of the Little Ice Age (LIA) and explore the role of climate variability in forcing mass balance across multiple environmental gradients. Synchronous positive mass-balance intervals coincide with regional moraine building and solar minima, whereas differences in LIA glacier behavior are related to synoptic climate forcing. Secular warming in the late 19th century to present corresponds with the only multi-decadal intervals of negative mass balance in all glacier reconstructions. This suggests that contemporary retreat in western North America is unique with respect to the last several centuries and that regional patterns of glacier variability are now dominated by global climate forcing.

scholarly journals Energy balance model of mass balance and its sensitivity to meteorological variability on Urumqi River Glacier No.1 in the Chinese Tien Shan

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanjun Che ◽  
Mingjun Zhang ◽  
Zhongqin Li ◽  
Yanqiang Wei ◽  
Zhuotong Nan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Tien Shan ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Net Energy ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Precipitation Seasonality

Abstract Energy exchanges between atmosphere and glacier surface control the net energy available for snow and ice melt. Based on the meteorological records in Urumqi River Glacier No.1 (URGN1) in the Chinese Tien Shan during the period of 2012–2015, an energy-mass balance model was run to assess the sensitivity of glacier mass balance to air temperature (T), precipitation (P), incoming shortwave radiation (Sin), relative humidity (RH), and wind speed (u) in the URGN1, respectively. The results showed that the glacier melting was mainly controlled by the net shortwave radiation. The glacier mass balance was very sensitivity to albedo for snow and the time scale determining how long the snow albedo approaches the albedo for firn after a snowfall. The net annual mass balance of URGN1 was decreased by 0.44 m w.e. when increased by 1 K in air temperature, while it was increased 0.30 m w.e. when decreased by 1 K. The net total mass balance increased by 0.55 m w.e. when increased precipitation by 10%, while it was decreased by 0.61 m w.e. when decreased precipitation by 10%. We also found that the change in glacier mass balance was non-linear when increased or decreased input condition of climate change. The sensitivity of mass balance to increase in Sin, u, and RH were at −0.015 m w.e.%−1, −0.020 m w.e.%−1, and −0.018 m w.e.%−1, respectively, while they were at 0.012 m w.e.%−1, 0.027 m w.e.%−1, and 0.017 m w.e.%−1 when decreasing in those conditions, respectively. In addition, the simulations of coupled perturbation for temperature and precipitation indicated that the precipitation needed to increase by 23% could justly compensate to the additional mass loss due to increase by 1 K in air temperature. We also found that the sensitivities of glacier mass balance in response to climate change were different in different mountain ranges, which were mainly resulted from the discrepancies in the ratio of snowfall to precipitation during the ablation season, the amount of melt energy during the ablation season, and precipitation seasonality in the different local regions.

scholarly journals Downscaled precipitation applied in modelling of mass balance and the evolution of southeast Vatnajökull, Iceland

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (228) ◽  
pp. 799-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hrafnhildur Hannesdóttir ◽  
Guðfinna Ađalgeirsdóttir ◽  
Tómas Jóhannesson ◽  
Sverrir Guđmundsson ◽  
Philippe Crochet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Ice Volume ◽  
Precipitation Increase ◽  
Annual Balance ◽  
Measured Mass

AbstractSimulations of the post-Little Ice Age evolution of three outlet glaciers of southeast Vatnajökull, Iceland – Skálafellsjökull, Heinabergsjökull and Fláajökull – are presented. A coupled shallow-ice-approximation ice-flow and degree-day mass-balance model is applied that is calibrated with a 14 year record of in situ mass-balance measurements. The measured mass balance cannot be realistically represented by constant horizontal and vertical precipitation gradients. High-resolution (1 km) precipitation fields, derived from downscaled orographic atmospheric circulation models of precipitation, are required to capture the spatial variation of the winter mass balance. The observed ice volume around 1890 (15–30% larger than in 2000) can be simulated with 1°C lower temperatures and a 20% reduction in the annual precipitation, relative to the reference climate period, 1980–2000. The sensitivity of each glacier’s annual balance to a change in temperature is −1.51 to −0.97 m w.e. a−1 °C−1 and +0.16 to +0.65 m w.e. a−1 for a 10% increase in precipitation. A steady-state experiment applying a step increase in temperature of 2°C (3°C), and precipitation increase of 10%, results in a >50% (80–90%) decrease in ice volume.

scholarly journals Relation between recent glacier variations and climate in the Tien Shan mountains, central Asia

1992 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 11-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liu Chaohai ◽  
Han Tianding
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
General Trend ◽  
Summer Temperature ◽  
Tien Shan ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Tien Shan Mountains

Since the Little Ice Age, most glaciers in the Tien Shan mountains have been retreating. Owing to an increase in precipitation in most parts of the mountains during the late 1950s to early 1970s, the percentage of receding glaciers and the speed of retreat have tended to decrease in the 1970s. However, the general trend of continuous glacier retreat remains unchanged, in part because the summer air temperature shows no tendency to decrease.In the Tien Shan mountains, as the degree of climatic continentality increases the mass balance becomes more dependent on summer temperature, and accumulation and ablation tend to be lower. Therefore, the responses of glaciers to climatic fluctuations in more continental areas are not synchronous with those in less continental areas, and the amplitude of the glacier variations becomes smaller.

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