Mass balance study of the Znosko glacier, Antarctica, using remote sensing and in situ measurements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cinthya Bello ◽  
Wilson Suarez ◽  
Fabian Brondi ◽  
Gilbert Gonzales
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Austral Summer ◽  
In Situ Measurements ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Balance Study

<p>Glaciers are a key indicator of climate change. Since the second half of the 20th century several glaciers in Antarctica have retreated. In situ measurements of glacier mass balance in the Antarctic Peninsula and its surrounding islands are very scarce because this area is inaccessible due to rough terrain and inhospitable atmospheric conditions, but there is a necessity in study peripheral glaciers dynamics to know their future contribution to sea level rise. To fill this gap, remote sensing is an alternative tool to enable timely monitoring of dynamic glaciers and quantifying spatial-temporal changes. Here we combine remote sensing (satellite imaginary and aerial photos) and in situ measurements to calculate mass balance for the Znosko glacier (King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula) and compare the accuracy of this methods. Two field campaigns were carried out during the XXVI and XXVII Peruvian Antarctic Operation (austral summer 2018/19 and 2019/20). 19 stakes were fixed on the glacier surface, in situ mass balance data were collected from yearly stake measurements. Also, digital elevation models were generated through aerial photogrammetry and auxiliary data from the ICESat-2 mission were included into the analysis.  We find that mass balances estimated with these methods are consistent and confirm the mass loss (heterogeneous pattern between accumulation and ablation zone) and retreat of Znosko glacier. We illustrate how participatory mapping (interdisciplinary team) can complement initial remote sensing land cover classification and assist ground checks.</p>

scholarly journals 10 year mass balance by glaciological and geodetic methods of Glaciar Bahía del Diablo, Vega Island, Antarctic Peninsula

2015 ◽  
Vol 56 (70) ◽  
pp. 141-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastián Marinsek ◽  
Evgeniy Ermolin
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Field Survey ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Mass Change ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Digital Elevation

AbstractWe present new glacier mass-balance field data from Glaciar Bahía del Diablo, Vega Island, northeastern Antarctic Peninsula. The results provided here represent glacier mass-balance data over a 10 year period (2001–11) obtained by the glaciological and geodetic methods relying on field measurements. Glacier surface digital elevation models (DEMs) were obtained in 2001 and 2011 from a kinematic GPS field survey with high horizontal and vertical accuracies. In situ mass-balance data were collected from yearly stake measurements. The results attained by the two methods agree, which may be considered a measure of their accuracy. A cumulative mass change of –1.90 ± 0.31 m w.e. over the 10 year period was obtained from the annual mass-balance field surveys. The total mass change derived from DEM differencing was –2.16 ± 0.23 m w.e.

scholarly journals Mass balance of Trambau Glacier, Rolwaling region, Nepal Himalaya: in-situ observations, long-term reconstruction and mass-balance sensitivity

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (252) ◽  
pp. 605-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
SOJIRO SUNAKO ◽  
KOJI FUJITA ◽  
AKIKO SAKAI ◽  
RIJAN B. KAYASTHA
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Balance Study ◽  
Nepal Himalaya ◽  
In Situ Data

ABSTRACTWe conducted a mass-balance study of debris-free Trambau Glacier in the Rolwaling region, Nepal Himalaya, which is accessible to 6000 m a.s.l., to better understand mass-balance processes and the effect of precipitation on these processes on high-elevation Himalayan glaciers. Continuous in situ meteorological and mass-balance observations that spanned the three melt seasons from May 2016 are reported. An energy- and mass-balance model is also applied to evaluate its performance and sensitivity to various climatic conditions. Glacier-wide mass balances ranging from −0.34 ± 0.38 m w.e. in 2016 to −0.82 ± 0.53 m w.e. in 2017/18 are obtained by combining the observations with model results for the areas above the highest stake. The estimated long-term glacier mass balance, which is reconstructed using the ERA-Interim data calibrated with in situ data, is −0.65 ± 0.39 m w.e. a−1for the 1980–2018 period. A significant correlation with annual precipitation (r= 0.77,p< 0.001) is observed, whereas there is no discernible correlation with summer mean air temperature. The results indicate the continuous mass loss of Trambau Glacier over the last four decades, which contrasts with the neighbouring Mera Glacier in balance.

scholarly journals Application of infrared remote sensing to constrain in-situ estimates of ice crystal particle size during SPartICus

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 3055-3081
Author(s):  
S. J. Cooper ◽  
T. J. Garrett
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
In Situ Measurements ◽  
Ice Crystals ◽  
Cirrus Cloud ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Airborne Measurements ◽  
Remote Sensing Technique ◽  
Infrared Remote Sensing ◽  
Retrieval Scheme

Abstract. In a prior paper (Cooper and Garrett, 2010), an infrared remote sensing technique was developed that quantifies the effective radius re of ice crystals in cirrus clouds. By accounting for a broad range of expected inversion uncertainties, this retrieval scheme isolates those radiometric signatures that can only occur if the cirrus has nominally "small" values of re below 20 μm. The method is applicable only for specific cloud and atmospheric conditions. However, it can be particularly useful in constraining in-situ estimates of cirrus cloud re obtained from aircraft. Recent studies suggest that airborne measurements may be compromised by the shattering of ice crystals on airborne instrument inlets, so robust, independent confirmation of these measurements is needed. Here, we expand the Cooper and Garrett (2010) retrieval scheme to identify ice clouds that are likely to have "large" values of re greater than 20 μm. Using MODIS observations, we then compare assessments of cirrus cloud re with in-situ measurements obtained during three test cases from the 2010 SpartICus campaign. In general, there is good agreement between retrievals and in-situ measurements for a "small" and "large" crystal case. For a more ambiguously "small" re case, the 2D-S cloud probe indicates values of re that are slightly larger than expected from infrared retrievals, possibly indicating a slight bias in the 2D-S results towards large particles. There is no evidence to support that an FSSP-100 with unmodified inlets produces measurements of re in cirrus that are strongly biased low, as has been claimed.

scholarly journals ICESat laser altimetry over small mountain glaciers

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Treichler ◽  
A. Kääb
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Srtm Dem ◽  
Elevation Change ◽  
Laser Altimetry ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Southern Norway ◽  
Spatially Varying

Abstract. Using sparsely glaciated southern Norway as a case study, we assess the potential and limitations of ICESat laser altimetry for analysing regional glacier elevation change in rough mountain terrain. Differences between ICESat GLAS elevations and reference elevation data are plotted over time to derive a glacier surface elevation trend for the ICESat acquisition period 2003–2008. We find spatially varying biases between ICESat and three tested digital elevation models (DEMs): the Norwegian national DEM, SRTM DEM and a high resolution LiDAR DEM. For regional glacier elevation change, the spatial inconsistency of reference DEMs – a result of spatio-temporal merging – has the potential to significantly affect or dilute trends. Elevation uncertainties of all three tested DEMs exceed ICESat elevation uncertainty by an order of magnitude, and are thus limiting the accuracy of the method, rather than ICESat uncertainty. After correction of reference elevation bias, we find that ICESat provides a robust and realistic estimate of a moderately negative glacier mass balance of around −0.30 m &amp;pm; 0.06 ice per year. This regional estimate agrees well with the heterogeneous but overall negative in-situ glacier mass balance observed in the area. ICESat matches glacier size distribution of the study area well and measures also small ice patches not commonly monitored in-situ. The sample is large enough for spatial and thematic subsetting. Vertical offsets to ICESat elevations vary for different glaciers in southern Norway due to spatially inconsistent reference DEM age. We introduce a per-glacier correction that removes these spatially varying offsets, and considerably increases trend significance. Only after application of this correction do individual campaigns also fit to observed in-situ glacier mass balance. Our correction has the potential to improve glacier trend significance also for other causes of spatially varying vertical offsets, for instance due to radar penetration into ice and snow for the SRTM DEM, or as a consequence from mosaicking and merging that is common for national or global DEMs.

scholarly journals Detecting Short-Term Surface Melt on an Arctic Glacier Using UAV Surveys

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor Bash ◽  
Brian Moorman ◽  
Allison Gunther
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Surface Change ◽  
Glacier Ice ◽  
Arctic Glacier ◽  
Surface Changes

Current understanding of glacier mass balance changes under changing climate is limited by scarcity of in situ measurements in both time and space, as well as resolution of remote sensing products. Recent innovations in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as well as structure-from-motion photogrammetry (SfM), have led to increased use of digital imagery to derive topographic data in great detail in many fields, including glaciology. This study tested the capability of UAV surveys to detect surface changes over glacier ice during a three-day period in July 2016. Three UAV imaging missions were conducted during this time over 0.185 km 2 of the ablation area of Fountain Glacier, NU. These were processed with the SfM algorithms in Agisoft Photoscan Professional and overall accuracies of the resulting point clouds ranged from 0.030 to 0.043 m. The high accuracy of point clouds achieved here is primarily a result of a small ground sampling distance (0.018 m), and is also influenced by GPS precision. Glacier surface change was measured through differencing of point clouds and change was compared to ablation stake measurements. Surface change measured with the UAV-SfM method agreed with the coincident ablation stake measurements in most instances, with RMSE values of 0.033, 0.028, and 0.042 m for one-, two-, and three-day periods, respectively. Total specific melt over the study area measured with the UAV was 0.170 m water equivalent (w.e.), while interpolation of ablation measurements resulted in 0.144 m w.e. Using UAVs to measure small changes in glacier surfaces will allow for new investigations of distribution of mass balance measurements.

scholarly journals Sensitivity of geodetic glacier mass balance estimation to DEM void interpolation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert McNabb ◽  
Christopher Nuth ◽  
Andreas Kääb ◽  
Luc Girod
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Southeast Alaska ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Regional Basis ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Glacier mass balance is a direct expression of climate change, with implications for sea level, ocean chemistry, oceanic and terrestrial ecosystems, and water resources. Traditionally, glacier mass balance has been estimated using in-situ measurements of changes in surface height and density at select locations on the glacier surface, or by comparing changes in surface height using repeat, full-coverage digital elevation models (DEMs), also called the geodetic method. DEMs often have gaps in coverage (voids) based on the nature of the sensor used and the surface being measured. The way that these voids are accounted for has a direct impact on the estimate of geodetic glacier mass balance, though a systematic comparison of different proposed methods has been heretofore lacking. In this study, we determine the impact and sensitivity of void-filling methods on estimates of volume change. Using two spatially complete, high-resolution DEMs over Southeast Alaska, USA, we compare 11 different void-filling methods on a glacier-by-glacier and regional basis. We find that a few methods introduce biases of up to 20 % in the regional results, while other methods give results very close (

scholarly journals Airborne remote sensing and in-situ measurements of atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> to quantify point source emissions

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Krings ◽  
Bruno Neininger ◽  
Konstantin Gerilowski ◽  
Sven Krautwurst ◽  
Michael Buchwitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
In Situ Measurements ◽  
Emission Rates ◽  
Airborne Remote Sensing

Abstract. Reliable techniques to infer greenhouse gas emission rates from localised sources require accurate measurement and inversion approaches. In this study airborne remote sensing observations by the MAMAP instrument and airborne in-situ measurements are used to infer emission estimates of carbon dioxide released from a cluster of coal fired power plants. For the analysis of in-situ data, a mass balance approach is described and applied. Whereas for the remote sensing observations an inverse Gaussian plume model is used in addition to a mass balance technique. A comparison between methods shows that results for all methods agree within a few percent for cases where in-situ measurements were made for the complete vertical plume extent. Even though the power plants are partly in close proximity and the associated carbon dioxide plumes are overlapping it is possible to derive emission rates from remote sensing data for individual power plants that agree well with results derived from emission factors and energy production data for the time of the overflight.

scholarly journals Reconstructing the annual mass balance of the Echaurren Norte glacier (Central Andes, 33.5° S) using local and regional hydroclimatic data

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 927-940 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariano H. Masiokas ◽  
Duncan A. Christie ◽  
Carlos Le Quesne ◽  
Pierre Pitte ◽  
Lucas Ruiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Monthly Precipitation ◽  
Mass Balances ◽  
Positive Mass ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
The Andes

Abstract. Despite the great number and variety of glaciers in southern South America, in situ glacier mass-balance records are extremely scarce and glacier–climate relationships are still poorly understood in this region. Here we use the longest (>  35 years) and most complete in situ mass-balance record, available for the Echaurren Norte glacier (ECH) in the Andes at  ∼  33.5° S, to develop a minimal glacier surface mass-balance model that relies on nearby monthly precipitation and air temperature data as forcing. This basic model is able to explain 78 % of the variance in the annual glacier mass-balance record over the 1978–2013 calibration period. An attribution assessment identified precipitation variability as the dominant forcing modulating annual mass balances at ECH, with temperature variations likely playing a secondary role. A regionally averaged series of mean annual streamflow records from both sides of the Andes between  ∼  30 and 37° S is then used to estimate, through simple linear regression, this glacier's annual mass-balance variations since 1909. The reconstruction model captures 68 % of the observed glacier mass-balance variability and shows three periods of sustained positive mass balances embedded in an overall negative trend over the past 105 years. The three periods of sustained positive mass balances (centered in the 1920s–1930s, in the 1980s and in the first decade of the 21st century) coincide with several documented glacier advances in this region. Similar trends observed in other shorter glacier mass-balance series suggest that the Echaurren Norte glacier reconstruction is representative of larger-scale conditions and could be useful for more detailed glaciological, hydrological and climatological assessments in this portion of the Andes.

scholarly journals ICESat laser altimetry over small mountain glaciers

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 2129-2146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Désirée Treichler ◽  
Andreas Kääb
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Srtm Dem ◽  
Elevation Change ◽  
Laser Altimetry ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Southern Norway ◽  
Spatially Varying

Abstract. Using sparsely glaciated southern Norway as a case study, we assess the potential and limitations of ICESat laser altimetry for analysing regional glacier elevation change in rough mountain terrain. Differences between ICESat GLAS elevations and reference elevation data are plotted over time to derive a glacier surface elevation trend for the ICESat acquisition period 2003–2008. We find spatially varying biases between ICESat and three tested digital elevation models (DEMs): the Norwegian national DEM, SRTM DEM, and a high-resolution lidar DEM. For regional glacier elevation change, the spatial inconsistency of reference DEMs – a result of spatio-temporal merging – has the potential to significantly affect or dilute trends. Elevation uncertainties of all three tested DEMs exceed ICESat elevation uncertainty by an order of magnitude, and are thus limiting the accuracy of the method, rather than ICESat uncertainty. ICESat matches glacier size distribution of the study area well and measures small ice patches not commonly monitored in situ. The sample is large enough for spatial and thematic subsetting. Vertical offsets to ICESat elevations vary for different glaciers in southern Norway due to spatially inconsistent reference DEM age. We introduce a per-glacier correction that removes these spatially varying offsets, and considerably increases trend significance. Only after application of this correction do individual campaigns fit observed in situ glacier mass balance. Our correction also has the potential to improve glacier trend significance for other causes of spatially varying vertical offsets, for instance due to radar penetration into ice and snow for the SRTM DEM or as a consequence of mosaicking and merging that is common for national or global DEMs. After correction of reference elevation bias, we find that ICESat provides a robust and realistic estimate of a moderately negative glacier mass balance of around −0.36 ± 0.07 m ice per year. This regional estimate agrees well with the heterogeneous but overall negative in situ glacier mass balance observed in the area.

scholarly journals Airborne remote sensing and in situ measurements of atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> to quantify point source emissions

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 721-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Krings ◽  
Bruno Neininger ◽  
Konstantin Gerilowski ◽  
Sven Krautwurst ◽  
Michael Buchwitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽  
In Situ Measurements ◽  
Emission Rates ◽  
Airborne Remote Sensing ◽  
In Situ Data

Abstract. Reliable techniques to infer greenhouse gas emission rates from localised sources require accurate measurement and inversion approaches. In this study airborne remote sensing observations of CO2 by the MAMAP instrument and airborne in situ measurements are used to infer emission estimates of carbon dioxide released from a cluster of coal-fired power plants. The study area is complex due to sources being located in close proximity and overlapping associated carbon dioxide plumes. For the analysis of in situ data, a mass balance approach is described and applied, whereas for the remote sensing observations an inverse Gaussian plume model is used in addition to a mass balance technique. A comparison between methods shows that results for all methods agree within 10 % or better with uncertainties of 10 to 30 % for cases in which in situ measurements were made for the complete vertical plume extent. The computed emissions for individual power plants are in agreement with results derived from emission factors and energy production data for the time of the overflight.

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