Estimation of ice ablation on a debris-covered glacier from vertical debris-temperature profiles
Abstract A supraglacial debris layer controls energy transfer to the ice surface and moderates ice ablation on debris-covered glaciers. Measurements of vertical temperature profiles within the debris enables the estimation of thermal diffusivities and sub-debris ablation rates. We have measured the...
Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.35 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143022000351 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2022.35 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2022.35 2024-09-15T18:15:39+00:00 Estimation of ice ablation on a debris-covered glacier from vertical debris-temperature profiles Laha, Sourav Winter-Billington, Alex Banerjee, Argha Shankar, R. Nainwal, H.C Koppes, Michele 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.35 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143022000351 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Glaciology volume 69, issue 273, page 1-12 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 journal-article 2022 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.35 2024-08-14T04:03:11Z Abstract A supraglacial debris layer controls energy transfer to the ice surface and moderates ice ablation on debris-covered glaciers. Measurements of vertical temperature profiles within the debris enables the estimation of thermal diffusivities and sub-debris ablation rates. We have measured the debris-layer temperature profiles at 16 locations on Satopanth Glacier (central Himalaya) during the ablation seasons of 2016 and 2017. Debris temperature profile data are typically analysed using a finite-difference method, assuming that the debris layer is a homogeneous one-dimensional thermal conductor. We introduce three more methods for analysing such data that approximate the debris layer as either a single or a two-layered conductor. We analyse the performance of all four methods using synthetic experiments and by comparing the estimated ablation rates with in situ glaciological observations. Our analysis shows that the temperature measurements obtained at equispaced sensors and analysed with a two-layered model improve the accuracy of the estimated thermal diffusivity and sub-debris ablation rate. The accuracy of the ablation rate estimates is comparable to that of the in situ observations. We argue that measuring the temperature profile is a convenient and reliable method to estimate seasonal to sub-seasonal variations of ablation rates in the thickly debris-covered parts of glaciers. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 1 12 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract A supraglacial debris layer controls energy transfer to the ice surface and moderates ice ablation on debris-covered glaciers. Measurements of vertical temperature profiles within the debris enables the estimation of thermal diffusivities and sub-debris ablation rates. We have measured the debris-layer temperature profiles at 16 locations on Satopanth Glacier (central Himalaya) during the ablation seasons of 2016 and 2017. Debris temperature profile data are typically analysed using a finite-difference method, assuming that the debris layer is a homogeneous one-dimensional thermal conductor. We introduce three more methods for analysing such data that approximate the debris layer as either a single or a two-layered conductor. We analyse the performance of all four methods using synthetic experiments and by comparing the estimated ablation rates with in situ glaciological observations. Our analysis shows that the temperature measurements obtained at equispaced sensors and analysed with a two-layered model improve the accuracy of the estimated thermal diffusivity and sub-debris ablation rate. The accuracy of the ablation rate estimates is comparable to that of the in situ observations. We argue that measuring the temperature profile is a convenient and reliable method to estimate seasonal to sub-seasonal variations of ablation rates in the thickly debris-covered parts of glaciers. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Laha, Sourav Winter-Billington, Alex Banerjee, Argha Shankar, R. Nainwal, H.C Koppes, Michele |
spellingShingle |
Laha, Sourav Winter-Billington, Alex Banerjee, Argha Shankar, R. Nainwal, H.C Koppes, Michele Estimation of ice ablation on a debris-covered glacier from vertical debris-temperature profiles |
author_facet |
Laha, Sourav Winter-Billington, Alex Banerjee, Argha Shankar, R. Nainwal, H.C Koppes, Michele |
author_sort |
Laha, Sourav |
title |
Estimation of ice ablation on a debris-covered glacier from vertical debris-temperature profiles |
title_short |
Estimation of ice ablation on a debris-covered glacier from vertical debris-temperature profiles |
title_full |
Estimation of ice ablation on a debris-covered glacier from vertical debris-temperature profiles |
title_fullStr |
Estimation of ice ablation on a debris-covered glacier from vertical debris-temperature profiles |
title_full_unstemmed |
Estimation of ice ablation on a debris-covered glacier from vertical debris-temperature profiles |
title_sort |
estimation of ice ablation on a debris-covered glacier from vertical debris-temperature profiles |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.35 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143022000351 |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 69, issue 273, page 1-12 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.35 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
12 |
_version_ |
1810453548974997504 |