scholarly journals Meltwater run-off from Haig Glacier, Canadian Rocky Mountains, 2002–2013

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 5181-5200 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Canadian Rocky Mountains ◽  
Ice Melt ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Specific Discharge

Abstract. Observations of high-elevation meteorological conditions, glacier mass balance, and glacier run-off are sparse in western Canada and the Canadian Rocky Mountains, leading to uncertainty about the importance of glaciers to regional water resources. This needs to be quantified so that the impacts of ongoing glacier recession can be evaluated with respect to alpine ecology, hydroelectric operations, and water resource management. In this manuscript the seasonal evolution of glacier run-off is assessed for an alpine watershed on the continental divide in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The study area is a headwaters catchment of the Bow River, which flows eastward to provide an important supply of water to the Canadian prairies. Meteorological, snowpack, and surface energy balance data collected at Haig Glacier from 2002 to 2013 were analysed to evaluate glacier mass balance and run-off. Annual specific discharge from snow- and ice-melt on Haig Glacier averaged 2350 mm water equivalent from 2002 to 2013, with 42% of the run-off derived from melting of glacier ice and firn, i.e. water stored in the glacier reservoir. This is an order of magnitude greater than the annual specific discharge from non-glacierized parts of the Bow River basin. From 2002 to 2013, meltwater derived from the glacier storage was equivalent to 5–6% of the flow of the Bow River in Calgary in late summer and 2–3% of annual discharge. The basin is typical of most glacier-fed mountain rivers, where the modest and declining extent of glacierized area in the catchment limits the glacier contribution to annual run-off.

scholarly journals Meltwater runoff from Haig Glacier, Canadian Rocky Mountains, 2002–2013

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 8355-8407 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Annual Runoff ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Canadian Rocky Mountains ◽  
Ice Melt ◽  
Glacier Runoff ◽  
Specific Discharge

Abstract. Observations of high-elevation meteorological conditions, glacier mass balance, and glacier runoff are sparse in western Canada and the Canadian Rocky Mountains, leading to uncertainty about the importance of glaciers to regional water resources. This needs to be quantified so that the impacts of ongoing glacier recession can be evaluated with respect to alpine ecology, hydroelectric operations, and water resource management. I assess the seasonal evolution of glacier runoff in an alpine watershed on the continental divide in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Analysis is based on meteorological, snowpack and surface energy balance data collected at Haig Glacier from 2002–2013. The study area is one of several glacierized headwaters catchments of the Bow River, which flows eastward to provide an important supply of water to the Canadian prairies. Annual specific discharge from snow- and ice-melt on Haig Glacier averaged 2350 mm water equivalent (w.e.) from 2002–2013, with 42% of the runoff derived from melting of glacier ice and firn, i.e. water stored in the glacier reservoir. This is an order of magnitude greater than the annual specific discharge from non-glacierized parts of the Bow River basin. From 2002–2013, meltwater derived from the glacier storage was equivalent to 5–6% of the flow of the Bow River in Calgary in late summer and 2–3% of annual discharge. The basin is typical of most glacier-fed mountains rivers, where the modest and declining extent of glacierized area in the catchment limits the glacier contribution to annual runoff.

scholarly journals Multi-year Evaluation of Airborne Geodetic Surveys to Estimate Seasonal Mass Balance, Columbia and Rocky Mountains, Canada

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben M. Pelto ◽  
Brian Menounos ◽  
Shawn J. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Mass Change ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Surface Classification ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Annual Balance

Abstract. Seasonal measurements of glacier mass balance provide insight into the relation between climate forcing and glacier change. To evaluate the feasibility of using remotely-sensed methods to assess seasonal balance we completed tandem airborne laser scanning surveys (ALS) and field-based glaciological measurements over a four-year period for six alpine glaciers that lie in Columbia and Rocky Mountains, near the headwaters of the Columbia River, British Columbia, Canada. We calculated annual geodetic balance using co-registered late-summer digital elevation models (DEMs), and distributed estimates of density based on surface classification of ice, snow and firn surfaces. Winter balance was derived using co-registered late-summer and spring DEMs, and density measurements from regional snow course observations and our glaciological measurements. Geodetic summer balance was calculated as the difference between winter and annual balance. Winter mass balance from our glaciological observations averaged 1.95 ± 0.09 m w.e., 4 % greater than those derived from geodetic surveys. Average glaciological summer and annual balance were also 4 % greater than our geodetic estimates. We find that distributing snow, firn and ice density based on surface classification has a greater influence on geodetic annual mass change than the density values themselves. Our results demonstrate that accurate assessments of seasonal mass change can be produced using airborne ALS over a series of glaciers spanning several mountain ranges. Such agreement over multiple seasons, years, and glaciers demonstrates the ability of high-resolution geodetic methods to increase the number of glaciers where seasonal mass balance can be reliably measured.

scholarly journals Seasonal and interannual variability of melt-season albedo at Haig Glacier, Canadian Rocky Mountains

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 3249-3267
Author(s):  
Shawn J. Marshall ◽  
Kristina Miller
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Weather Station ◽  
Canadian Rocky Mountains ◽  
Snow Albedo ◽  
Degree Day ◽  
Positive Degree ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In situ observations of summer (June through August, or JJA) albedo are presented for the period 2002–2017 from Haig Glacier in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The observations provide insight into the seasonal evolution and interannual variability of snow and ice albedo, including the effects of summer snowfall, the decay of snow albedo through the melt season, and the potential short-term impacts of regional wildfire activity on glacier-albedo reductions. Mean JJA albedo (± 1σ) recorded at an automatic weather station in the upper ablation zone of the glacier was αS=0.55 ± 0.07 over this period, with no evidence of long-term trends in surface albedo. Each summer the surface conditions at the weather station undergo a transition from a dry, reflective spring snowpack (αS∼0.8) to a wet, homogeneous midsummer snowpack (αS∼0.5) to exposed, impurity-rich glacier ice, with a measured albedo of 0.21 ± 0.06 over the study period. The ice albedo drops to ∼ 0.12 during years of intense regional wildfire activity such as 2003 and 2017, but it recovers from this in subsequent years. This seasonal albedo decline is well simulated through a parameterization of snow-albedo decay based on cumulative positive degree days (PDDs), but the parameterization does not capture the impact of summer snowfall events, which cause transient increases in albedo and significantly reduce glacier melt. We introduce this effect through a stochastic parameterization of summer precipitation events within a surface energy balance model. The amount of precipitation and the date of snowfall are randomly selected for each model realization based on a predefined number of summer snow events. This stochastic parameterization provides an improved representation of the mean summer albedo and mass balance at Haig Glacier. We also suggest modifications to conventional degree-day melt factors to better capture the effects of seasonal albedo evolution in temperature-index or positive-degree-day melt models on mountain glaciers. Climate, hydrology, or glacier mass balance models that use these methods typically use a binary rather than continuum approach to prescribing melt factors, with one melt factor for snow and one for ice. As alternatives, monthly melt factors effectively capture the seasonal albedo evolution, or melt factors can be estimated as a function of the albedo where these data are available.

scholarly journals Seasonal and Interannual Variability of Melt-Season Albedo at Haig Glacier, Canadian Rocky Mountains

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawn J. Marshall ◽  
Kristina Miller
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Weather Station ◽  
Canadian Rocky Mountains ◽  
Degree Day ◽  
Mass Balance Models ◽  
Glacier Ice

Abstract. In situ observations of summer albedo are presented for the period 2002–2017 from Haig Glacier in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The observations provide insight into the seasonal evolution and interannual variability of snow and ice albedo, including the effects of summer snowfall, the decay of snow albedo through the melt season, and the potential short-term impacts of regional wildfire activity on ice albedo reductions. Mean summer albedo (±1σ) recorded at an automatic weather station in the upper ablation zone of the glacier was αS = 0.55 ± 0.07 over this period, with no evidence of long-term albedo trends. Each summer the surface conditions at the weather station undergo a transition from a dry, reflective springsnowpack (αS ∼ 0.8), to a wet, homogeneous mid-summer snowpack (αS ∼ 0.5), to exposed, impurity-rich glacier ice, with ameasured albedo of 0.21 ± 0.06 over the study period. The ice albedo drops to ~ 0.1 during years of intense regional wildfire activity such as 2003 and 2017, but it recovers from this in subsequent years. Summer snowfall events have a significant influence on albedo, and a stochastic parameterization of these events is shown to improve modelled estimates of summer albedo and mass balance. Modifications to conventional degree-day melt factors are also suggested, to better capture the effects of seasonal albedo evolution in climate, hydrology, and glacier mass balance models that use temperature index or positive-degree day methods.

scholarly journals Multi-year evaluation of airborne geodetic surveys to estimate seasonal mass balance, Columbia and Rocky Mountains, Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1709-1727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben M. Pelto ◽  
Brian Menounos ◽  
Shawn J. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Mass Change ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Surface Classification ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Annual Balance

Abstract. Seasonal measurements of glacier mass balance provide insight into the relation between climate forcing and glacier change. To evaluate the feasibility of using remotely sensed methods to assess seasonal balance, we completed tandem airborne laser scanning (ALS) surveys and field-based glaciological measurements over a 4-year period for six alpine glaciers that lie in the Columbia and Rocky Mountains, near the headwaters of the Columbia River, British Columbia, Canada. We calculated annual geodetic balance using coregistered late summer digital elevation models (DEMs) and distributed estimates of density based on surface classification of ice, snow, and firn surfaces. Winter balance was derived using coregistered late summer and spring DEMs, as well as density measurements from regional snow survey observations and our glaciological measurements. Geodetic summer balance was calculated as the difference between winter and annual balance. Winter mass balance from our glaciological observations averaged 1.95±0.09 m w.e. (meter water equivalent), 4 % larger than those derived from geodetic surveys. Average glaciological summer and annual balance were 3 % smaller and 3 % larger, respectively, than our geodetic estimates. We find that distributing snow, firn, and ice density based on surface classification has a greater influence on geodetic annual mass change than the density values themselves. Our results demonstrate that accurate assessments of seasonal mass change can be produced using ALS over a series of glaciers spanning several mountain ranges. Such agreement over multiple seasons, years, and glaciers demonstrates the ability of high-resolution geodetic methods to increase the number of glaciers where seasonal mass balance can be reliably estimated.

scholarly journals Glacier runoff variations since 1955 in the Maipo River basin, in the semiarid Andes of central Chile

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 2005-2027 ◽  
Author(s):  
Álvaro Ayala ◽  
David Farías-Barahona ◽  
Matthias Huss ◽  
Francesca Pellicciotti ◽  
James McPhee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Climate Scenario ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Ice Melt ◽  
Kinematic Approximation ◽  
Glacier Runoff ◽  
Drought Mitigation ◽  
Year 2000

Abstract. As glaciers adjust their size in response to climate variations, long-term changes in meltwater production can be expected, affecting the local availability of water resources. We investigate glacier runoff in the period 1955–2016 in the Maipo River basin (4843 km2, 33.0–34.3∘ S, 69.8–70.5∘ W), in the semiarid Andes of Chile. The basin contains more than 800 glaciers, which cover 378 km2 in total (inventoried in 2000). We model the mass balance and runoff contribution of 26 glaciers with the physically oriented and fully distributed TOPKAPI (Topographic Kinematic Approximation and Integration)-ETH glacio-hydrological model and extrapolate the results to the entire basin. TOPKAPI-ETH is run at a daily time step using several glaciological and meteorological datasets, and its results are evaluated against streamflow records, remotely sensed snow cover, and geodetic mass balances for the periods 1955–2000 and 2000–2013. Results show that in 1955–2016 glacier mass balance had a general decreasing trend as a basin average but also had differences between the main sub-catchments. Glacier volume decreased by one-fifth (from 18.6±4.5 to 14.9±2.9 km3). Runoff from the initially glacierized areas was 177±25 mm yr−1 (16±7 % of the total contributions to the basin), but it shows a decreasing sequence of maxima, which can be linked to the interplay between a decrease in precipitation since the 1980s and the reduction of ice melt. Glaciers in the Maipo River basin will continue retreating because they are not in equilibrium with the current climate. In a hypothetical constant climate scenario, glacier volume would reduce to 81±38 % of the year 2000 volume, and glacier runoff would be 78±30 % of the 1955–2016 average. This would considerably decrease the drought mitigation capacity of the basin.

scholarly journals An estimate of glacier mass balance for the Chandra basin, western Himalaya, for the period 1984–2012

2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (75pt2) ◽  
pp. 99-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sayli Atul Tawde ◽  
Anil V. Kulkarni ◽  
Govindasamy Bala
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Western Himalaya ◽  
Ratio Method ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
Temperature Index ◽  
Field Investigations ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Accumulation Area Ratio

ABSTRACTAn improved understanding of fresh water stored in the Himalaya is crucial for water resource management in South Asia and can be inferred from glacier mass-balance estimates. However, field investigations in the rugged Himalaya are limited to a few individual glaciers and short duration. Therefore, we have recently developed an approach that combines satellite-derived snowlines, a temperature-index melt model and the accumulation-area ratio method to estimate annual mass balance of glaciers at basin scale and for a long period. In this investigation, the mass balance of 146 glaciers in the Chandra basin, western Himalaya, is estimated from 1984 to 2012. We estimate the trend in equilibrium line altitude of the basin as +113 m decade−1and the mean mass balance as −0.61 ± 0.46 m w.e. a−1. Our basin-wide mass-balance estimates are in agreement with the geodetic method during 1999–2012. Sensitivity analysis suggests that a 20% increase in precipitation can offset changes in mass balance for a 1 °C temperature rise. A water loss of 18% of the total basin volume is estimated, and 67% for small and low-altitude glaciers during 1984–2012, indicating a looming water scarcity crisis for villages in this valley.

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 Multi-decadal mass loss of glaciers in the Everest area (Nepal Himalaya) derived from stereo imagery

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Bolch ◽  
T. Pieczonka ◽  
D. I. Benn
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Mass Loss ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Aerial Images ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Ice Melt ◽  
Debris Cover ◽  
Stereo Imagery ◽  
Glacier Velocity ◽  
The Himalaya

Abstract. Mass loss of Himalayan glaciers has wide-ranging consequences such as changing runoff distribution, sea level rise and an increasing risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). The assessment of the regional and global impact of glacier changes in the Himalaya is, however, hampered by a lack of mass balance data for most of the range. Multi-temporal digital terrain models (DTMs) allow glacier mass balance to be calculated. Here, we present a time series of mass changes for ten glaciers covering an area of about 50 km2 south and west of Mt. Everest, Nepal, using stereo Corona spy imagery (years 1962 and 1970), aerial images and recent high resolution satellite data (Cartosat-1). This is the longest time series of mass changes in the Himalaya. We reveal that the glaciers have been significantly losing mass since at least 1970, despite thick debris cover. The specific mass loss for 1970–2007 is 0.32 ± 0.08 m w.e. a−1, however, not higher than the global average. Comparisons of the recent DTMs with earlier time periods indicate an accelerated mass loss. This is, however, hardly statistically significant due to high uncertainty, especially of the lower resolution ASTER DTM. The characteristics of surface lowering can be explained by spatial variations of glacier velocity, the thickness of the debris-cover, and ice melt due to exposed ice cliffs and ponds.

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