Evolution of glaciers in the Ecuadorian Andes since the 1950s and its contribution to the study of the climate change in the inner tropics

• Main Author: Basantes-Serrano, Rubén
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'étude des transferts en hydrologie et environnement (LTHE), Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Grenoble Alpes, Bernard Francou, Antoine Rabatel
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: French
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: Ecuador; Hidrology; Remote Sensing; Climate; Aerial Photogrammetry; Glaciology; Glaciares tropicales; Balance de masa; Variabilidad climática; Fotogrametría; Equateur; Hydrologie; Climat; Télédétection; Photogrammétrie aérienne; Glaciologie; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; Ice cap
• Online Access: https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01219778; https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01219778/document; https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01219778/file/BASANTES_2015_archivage.pdf

Climate of the tropical regions plays an important role in the balance of the global climate system. Consequently, it appears essential to understand its functioning and variability to apprehend at best the effects of climate change. In tropical regions where climate projections show an important warming at high elevations, glaciers are the first victims of the increase in temperature. But they also appear as accurate indicators of climatic variations. Until now, glaciological observations carried out in the inner tropics on Glacier Antisana 15 have been used in multiple studies that helped understand physical processes controlling glacial melt in this region. However, the latter studies have not taken into account the spatial and temporal representativeness of these processes at the scale of the whole ice cap. Based on geodetic observations, the present study shows the spatial and temporal evaluation of nine glaciers during four periods spread over the last fifty years (1956-2014). Situated in the volcanic cone of Antisana, these glaciers were chosen according to their orientation and morphological characteristics. In a first phase, we evaluated existing glaciological observations made on Glacier Antisana 15α between 1995 and 2012. Our results suggest an overestimation of at least 5 m w.e. of the cumulated mass balance of this glacier. This excess in the ablation rate was caused by an underestimation of the annual accumulation measurement, linked to the difficulty of identifying the layer separating two hydrological years. In a second phase, we analysed the geometrical fluctuations of glaciers: generally there is a negative trend with a loss rate of -0.5 w.e. per year, leading to a retreat of 38% of the ice cap surface area. However, this trend is not constant. We highlighted a contrasting behaviour from one period to the other: some characteristics draw attention, such as the fact that the mass balance was very negative between 1956 and 1964 (-1.3 m w.e. per year) when in a more recent period (1998 to 2009) ...