Regional Geography of Glacier Mass Balance Variability Over Seven Decades 1946–2015
Despite much progress with remote sensing, on-site measurements of glacier mass balance (with stakes and snow pits) still have advantages for resolution of interannual and seasonal changes of mass balance. Understanding these changes may help to identify the types of glaciers most sensitive to clima...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00302 https://doaj.org/article/2f704eb907e74613928a81f9a45173b1 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2f704eb907e74613928a81f9a45173b1 2023-05-15T15:08:48+02:00 Regional Geography of Glacier Mass Balance Variability Over Seven Decades 1946–2015 Roger J. Braithwaite Philip D. Hughes 2020-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00302 https://doaj.org/article/2f704eb907e74613928a81f9a45173b1 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2020.00302/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2020.00302 https://doaj.org/article/2f704eb907e74613928a81f9a45173b1 Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 8 (2020) glacier mass balance balance amplitude climate at equilibrium line altitude Randolph Glacier Inventory Climatic Research Unit/University of East Anglia gridded climatology Science Q article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00302 2022-12-31T14:21:08Z Despite much progress with remote sensing, on-site measurements of glacier mass balance (with stakes and snow pits) still have advantages for resolution of interannual and seasonal changes of mass balance. Understanding these changes may help to identify the types of glaciers most sensitive to climate change. The standard deviation of mass balance data series for a few years describes the interannual variability, and balance amplitude, defined as half the difference between winter and summer balances, describes the seasonal variability. Interannual variability increases with seasonal variability, and seasonal variability increases with annual precipitation and summer temperature available from a half-degree gridded climatology. Measured glaciers have higher mean and median precipitation than average for all glaciers in the Randolph Glacier Inventory (version 6). High balance amplitudes are associated with warm/wet (maritime) environments and low amplitudes with cold/dry (continental) environments, as shown in previous studies of climate at the equilibrium line altitude. Balance amplitude can be modelled for half-degree grid squares in the glacier inventory using multiple regression of measured balance amplitude on the climate data. The resulting modelled balance amplitude is relatively low for Arctic Islands and Central Asia, but high for Western North America, Iceland, Scandinavia, Alps, and Caucasus. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change glacier Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Frontiers in Earth Science 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
glacier mass balance balance amplitude climate at equilibrium line altitude Randolph Glacier Inventory Climatic Research Unit/University of East Anglia gridded climatology Science Q |
spellingShingle |
glacier mass balance balance amplitude climate at equilibrium line altitude Randolph Glacier Inventory Climatic Research Unit/University of East Anglia gridded climatology Science Q Roger J. Braithwaite Philip D. Hughes Regional Geography of Glacier Mass Balance Variability Over Seven Decades 1946–2015 |
topic_facet |
glacier mass balance balance amplitude climate at equilibrium line altitude Randolph Glacier Inventory Climatic Research Unit/University of East Anglia gridded climatology Science Q |
description |
Despite much progress with remote sensing, on-site measurements of glacier mass balance (with stakes and snow pits) still have advantages for resolution of interannual and seasonal changes of mass balance. Understanding these changes may help to identify the types of glaciers most sensitive to climate change. The standard deviation of mass balance data series for a few years describes the interannual variability, and balance amplitude, defined as half the difference between winter and summer balances, describes the seasonal variability. Interannual variability increases with seasonal variability, and seasonal variability increases with annual precipitation and summer temperature available from a half-degree gridded climatology. Measured glaciers have higher mean and median precipitation than average for all glaciers in the Randolph Glacier Inventory (version 6). High balance amplitudes are associated with warm/wet (maritime) environments and low amplitudes with cold/dry (continental) environments, as shown in previous studies of climate at the equilibrium line altitude. Balance amplitude can be modelled for half-degree grid squares in the glacier inventory using multiple regression of measured balance amplitude on the climate data. The resulting modelled balance amplitude is relatively low for Arctic Islands and Central Asia, but high for Western North America, Iceland, Scandinavia, Alps, and Caucasus. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Roger J. Braithwaite Philip D. Hughes |
author_facet |
Roger J. Braithwaite Philip D. Hughes |
author_sort |
Roger J. Braithwaite |
title |
Regional Geography of Glacier Mass Balance Variability Over Seven Decades 1946–2015 |
title_short |
Regional Geography of Glacier Mass Balance Variability Over Seven Decades 1946–2015 |
title_full |
Regional Geography of Glacier Mass Balance Variability Over Seven Decades 1946–2015 |
title_fullStr |
Regional Geography of Glacier Mass Balance Variability Over Seven Decades 1946–2015 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Regional Geography of Glacier Mass Balance Variability Over Seven Decades 1946–2015 |
title_sort |
regional geography of glacier mass balance variability over seven decades 1946–2015 |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00302 https://doaj.org/article/2f704eb907e74613928a81f9a45173b1 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change glacier Iceland |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change glacier Iceland |
op_source |
Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 8 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2020.00302/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2020.00302 https://doaj.org/article/2f704eb907e74613928a81f9a45173b1 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00302 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
8 |
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1766340093781475328 |