Modeling the impacts of climate change on mass balance and discharge of Eklutna Glacier, Alaska, 1985–2019
Abstract Alaska's largest city, Anchorage, depends on Eklutna Glacier meltwater for drinking water and hydropower generation; however, the 29 km 2 glacier is rapidly retreating. We used a temperature-index model forced with local weather station data to reconstruct the glacier's mass balan...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2021.41 2024-03-03T08:44:34+00:00 Modeling the impacts of climate change on mass balance and discharge of Eklutna Glacier, Alaska, 1985–2019 Geck, Jason Hock, Regine Loso, Michael G. Ostman, Johnse Dial, Roman 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.41 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143021000411 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Glaciology volume 67, issue 265, page 909-920 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 Earth-Surface Processes journal-article 2021 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.41 2024-02-08T08:25:49Z Abstract Alaska's largest city, Anchorage, depends on Eklutna Glacier meltwater for drinking water and hydropower generation; however, the 29 km 2 glacier is rapidly retreating. We used a temperature-index model forced with local weather station data to reconstruct the glacier's mass balance for the period 1985–2019 and quantify the impacts of glacier change on discharge. Model calibration involved a novel combination of in situ, geodetic mass-balance measurements and observed snowlines from satellite imagery. A resulting ensemble of 250 best-fitting model parameters was used to model mass balance and discharge. Eklutna Glacier experienced a significant negative trend (−0.31 m w.e. decade −1 ) in annual mean surface mass balance (mean: −0.62 ± 0.06 m w.e.). The day of the year when 95% of annual melt occurs was five days later in 2011–19 than in 1985–93, demonstrating a prolongation of melt season (May–September). Modeled mean specific discharge increased at 0.14 m decade −1 , indicating peak water, the year when annual discharge reaches a maximum due to glacier retreat, has not been reached. Four of the five highest discharge years occurred since 2000. Increases in discharge quantity and melt season length require water resource managers consider future decreased discharge as the glacier continues to shrink. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Journal of Glaciology Alaska Cambridge University Press Anchorage Journal of Glaciology 1 12 |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth-Surface Processes |
spellingShingle |
Earth-Surface Processes Geck, Jason Hock, Regine Loso, Michael G. Ostman, Johnse Dial, Roman Modeling the impacts of climate change on mass balance and discharge of Eklutna Glacier, Alaska, 1985–2019 |
topic_facet |
Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
Abstract Alaska's largest city, Anchorage, depends on Eklutna Glacier meltwater for drinking water and hydropower generation; however, the 29 km 2 glacier is rapidly retreating. We used a temperature-index model forced with local weather station data to reconstruct the glacier's mass balance for the period 1985–2019 and quantify the impacts of glacier change on discharge. Model calibration involved a novel combination of in situ, geodetic mass-balance measurements and observed snowlines from satellite imagery. A resulting ensemble of 250 best-fitting model parameters was used to model mass balance and discharge. Eklutna Glacier experienced a significant negative trend (−0.31 m w.e. decade −1 ) in annual mean surface mass balance (mean: −0.62 ± 0.06 m w.e.). The day of the year when 95% of annual melt occurs was five days later in 2011–19 than in 1985–93, demonstrating a prolongation of melt season (May–September). Modeled mean specific discharge increased at 0.14 m decade −1 , indicating peak water, the year when annual discharge reaches a maximum due to glacier retreat, has not been reached. Four of the five highest discharge years occurred since 2000. Increases in discharge quantity and melt season length require water resource managers consider future decreased discharge as the glacier continues to shrink. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Geck, Jason Hock, Regine Loso, Michael G. Ostman, Johnse Dial, Roman |
author_facet |
Geck, Jason Hock, Regine Loso, Michael G. Ostman, Johnse Dial, Roman |
author_sort |
Geck, Jason |
title |
Modeling the impacts of climate change on mass balance and discharge of Eklutna Glacier, Alaska, 1985–2019 |
title_short |
Modeling the impacts of climate change on mass balance and discharge of Eklutna Glacier, Alaska, 1985–2019 |
title_full |
Modeling the impacts of climate change on mass balance and discharge of Eklutna Glacier, Alaska, 1985–2019 |
title_fullStr |
Modeling the impacts of climate change on mass balance and discharge of Eklutna Glacier, Alaska, 1985–2019 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Modeling the impacts of climate change on mass balance and discharge of Eklutna Glacier, Alaska, 1985–2019 |
title_sort |
modeling the impacts of climate change on mass balance and discharge of eklutna glacier, alaska, 1985–2019 |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.41 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143021000411 |
geographic |
Anchorage |
geographic_facet |
Anchorage |
genre |
glacier Journal of Glaciology Alaska |
genre_facet |
glacier Journal of Glaciology Alaska |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 67, issue 265, page 909-920 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.41 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
12 |
_version_ |
1792500058100334592 |