Comparison of geodetic and glaciological mass budgets for White Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, Canada

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: LAURA I. THOMSON, MICHAEL ZEMP, LUKE COPLAND, J. GRAHAM COGLEY, MILES A. ECCLESTONE
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press 2017
• Subjects: Arctic; glacier; mass balance; reanalysis; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Axel Heiberg Island; Canada; Heiberg; Nunavut; White Glacier; glacier*; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.112; https://doaj.org/article/5acd3a09430c446483366450b0eb7847

This study presents the first reanalysis of a long-term glacier mass-balance record in the Canadian Arctic. The reanalysis is accomplished through comparison of the 1960–2014 glaciological mass-balance record of White Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, with a geodetically derived mass change over the same period. The corrections applied to homogenize the two datasets, including adjusting for changes in hypsometry over the period of record and the generic differences between methods, are discussed along with the associated systematic and random errors of the two forms of mass-balance measurement. Statistical comparison of the two datasets reveals that within the error margin there is no significant difference between the average annual glaciological balance (–213 ± 28 mm w.e. a−1) and geodetic balance (–178 ± 16 mm w.e. a−1) at White Glacier over the 54 year record. The validity of this result, and the assumptions made in implementing the glaciological method, are critically assessed.