Surface speed and frontal ablation of Kronebreen and Kongsbreen, NW Svalbard, from SAR offset tracking
Kronebreen and Kongsbreen are among the fastest-flowing glaciers on Svalbard and, therefore, important contributors to the total dynamic mass loss from the archipelago. Here, we present a time series of area-wide surface velocity fields from April 2012 to December 2013 based on offset tracking on re...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tc27922 2023-05-15T18:29:45+02:00 Surface speed and frontal ablation of Kronebreen and Kongsbreen, NW Svalbard, from SAR offset tracking Schellenberger, T. Dunse, T. Kääb, A. Kohler, J. Reijmer, C. H. 2018-09-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2339-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/2339/2015/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-9-2339-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/2339/2015/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2339-2015 2020-07-20T16:24:20Z Kronebreen and Kongsbreen are among the fastest-flowing glaciers on Svalbard and, therefore, important contributors to the total dynamic mass loss from the archipelago. Here, we present a time series of area-wide surface velocity fields from April 2012 to December 2013 based on offset tracking on repeat high-resolution Radarsat-2 Ultrafine data. Surface speeds reached up to 3.2 m d −1 near the calving front of Kronebreen in summer 2013 and 2.7 m d −1 at Kongsbreen in late autumn 2012. Additional velocity fields from Radarsat-1, Radarsat-2 and TerraSAR-X data since December 2007 together with continuous GPS measurements on Kronebreen since September 2008 revealed complex patterns in seasonal and interannual speed evolution. Part of the ice-flow variations seem closely linked to the amount and timing of surface meltwater production and rainfall, both of which are known to have a strong influence on the basal water pressure and hence basal lubrication. In addition, terminus retreat and the associated reduction in back stress appear to have influenced the speed close to the calving front, especially at Kongsbreen in 2012 and 2013. Since 2007, Kongsbreen retreated up to 1800 m, corresponding to a total area loss of 2.5 km 2 . In 2011 the retreat of Kronebreen of up to 850 m, responsible for a total area loss of 2.8 km 2 , was triggered after a phase of stable terminus position since ~ 1990. Retreat is an important component of the mass balance of both glaciers, in which frontal ablation is the largest component. Total frontal ablation between April 2012 and December 2013 was estimated to 0.21–0.25 Gt a −1 for Kronebreen and 0.14–0.16 Gt a −1 for Kongsbreen. Text Svalbard Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Kongsbreen ENVELOPE(12.475,12.475,78.984,78.984) Kronebreen ENVELOPE(13.333,13.333,78.833,78.833) Svalbard The Cryosphere 9 6 2339 2355 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
Kronebreen and Kongsbreen are among the fastest-flowing glaciers on Svalbard and, therefore, important contributors to the total dynamic mass loss from the archipelago. Here, we present a time series of area-wide surface velocity fields from April 2012 to December 2013 based on offset tracking on repeat high-resolution Radarsat-2 Ultrafine data. Surface speeds reached up to 3.2 m d −1 near the calving front of Kronebreen in summer 2013 and 2.7 m d −1 at Kongsbreen in late autumn 2012. Additional velocity fields from Radarsat-1, Radarsat-2 and TerraSAR-X data since December 2007 together with continuous GPS measurements on Kronebreen since September 2008 revealed complex patterns in seasonal and interannual speed evolution. Part of the ice-flow variations seem closely linked to the amount and timing of surface meltwater production and rainfall, both of which are known to have a strong influence on the basal water pressure and hence basal lubrication. In addition, terminus retreat and the associated reduction in back stress appear to have influenced the speed close to the calving front, especially at Kongsbreen in 2012 and 2013. Since 2007, Kongsbreen retreated up to 1800 m, corresponding to a total area loss of 2.5 km 2 . In 2011 the retreat of Kronebreen of up to 850 m, responsible for a total area loss of 2.8 km 2 , was triggered after a phase of stable terminus position since ~ 1990. Retreat is an important component of the mass balance of both glaciers, in which frontal ablation is the largest component. Total frontal ablation between April 2012 and December 2013 was estimated to 0.21–0.25 Gt a −1 for Kronebreen and 0.14–0.16 Gt a −1 for Kongsbreen. |
format |
Text |
author |
Schellenberger, T. Dunse, T. Kääb, A. Kohler, J. Reijmer, C. H. |
spellingShingle |
Schellenberger, T. Dunse, T. Kääb, A. Kohler, J. Reijmer, C. H. Surface speed and frontal ablation of Kronebreen and Kongsbreen, NW Svalbard, from SAR offset tracking |
author_facet |
Schellenberger, T. Dunse, T. Kääb, A. Kohler, J. Reijmer, C. H. |
author_sort |
Schellenberger, T. |
title |
Surface speed and frontal ablation of Kronebreen and Kongsbreen, NW Svalbard, from SAR offset tracking |
title_short |
Surface speed and frontal ablation of Kronebreen and Kongsbreen, NW Svalbard, from SAR offset tracking |
title_full |
Surface speed and frontal ablation of Kronebreen and Kongsbreen, NW Svalbard, from SAR offset tracking |
title_fullStr |
Surface speed and frontal ablation of Kronebreen and Kongsbreen, NW Svalbard, from SAR offset tracking |
title_full_unstemmed |
Surface speed and frontal ablation of Kronebreen and Kongsbreen, NW Svalbard, from SAR offset tracking |
title_sort |
surface speed and frontal ablation of kronebreen and kongsbreen, nw svalbard, from sar offset tracking |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2339-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/2339/2015/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(12.475,12.475,78.984,78.984) ENVELOPE(13.333,13.333,78.833,78.833) |
geographic |
Kongsbreen Kronebreen Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Kongsbreen Kronebreen Svalbard |
genre |
Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Svalbard |
op_source |
eISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-9-2339-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/2339/2015/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2339-2015 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
2339 |
op_container_end_page |
2355 |
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1766213112492457984 |