Local reduction of decadal glacier thickness loss through mass balance management in ski resorts
For Austrian glacier ski resorts, established in the 1970s and 1980s during a period of glacier advance, negative mass balances with resulting glacier area loss and decrease in surface elevation present an operational challenge. Glacier cover, snow farming, and technical snow production were introdu...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ad3e71df157a42fda1759e46253a8ce7 2023-05-15T18:32:30+02:00 Local reduction of decadal glacier thickness loss through mass balance management in ski resorts A. Fischer K. Helfricht M. Stocker-Waldhuber 2016-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2941-2016 https://doaj.org/article/ad3e71df157a42fda1759e46253a8ce7 EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/2941/2016/tc-10-2941-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-10-2941-2016 https://doaj.org/article/ad3e71df157a42fda1759e46253a8ce7 The Cryosphere, Vol 10, Iss 6, Pp 2941-2952 (2016) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2941-2016 2022-12-31T09:22:05Z For Austrian glacier ski resorts, established in the 1970s and 1980s during a period of glacier advance, negative mass balances with resulting glacier area loss and decrease in surface elevation present an operational challenge. Glacier cover, snow farming, and technical snow production were introduced as adaptation measures based on studies on the effect of these measures on energy and mass balance. After a decade of the application of the various measures, we studied the transition from the proven short-term effects of the measures on mass balance to long-term effects on elevation changes. Based on lidar digital elevation models and differential GPS measurements, decadal surface elevation changes in 15 locations with mass balance management were compared to those without measures (apart from piste grooming) in five Tyrolean ski resorts on seven glaciers. The comparison of surface elevation changes presents clear local differences in mass change, and it shows the potential to retain local ice thickness over 1 decade. Locally up to 21.1 m ± 0.4 m of ice thickness was preserved on mass balance managed areas compared to non-maintained areas over a period of 9 years. In this period, mean annual thickness loss in 15 of the mass balance managed profiles is 0.54 ± 0.04 m yr −1 lower (−0.23 ± 0.04 m yr −1 on average) than in the respective reference areas (−0.78 ± 0.04 m yr −1 ). At two of these profiles the surface elevation was preserved altogether, which is promising for a sustainable maintenance of the infrastructure at glacier ski resorts. In general the results demonstrate the high potential of the combination of mass balance management by snow production and glacier cover, not only in the short term but also for multi-year application to maintain the skiing infrastructure. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles The Cryosphere 10 6 2941 2952 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 A. Fischer K. Helfricht M. Stocker-Waldhuber Local reduction of decadal glacier thickness loss through mass balance management in ski resorts |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
For Austrian glacier ski resorts, established in the 1970s and 1980s during a period of glacier advance, negative mass balances with resulting glacier area loss and decrease in surface elevation present an operational challenge. Glacier cover, snow farming, and technical snow production were introduced as adaptation measures based on studies on the effect of these measures on energy and mass balance. After a decade of the application of the various measures, we studied the transition from the proven short-term effects of the measures on mass balance to long-term effects on elevation changes. Based on lidar digital elevation models and differential GPS measurements, decadal surface elevation changes in 15 locations with mass balance management were compared to those without measures (apart from piste grooming) in five Tyrolean ski resorts on seven glaciers. The comparison of surface elevation changes presents clear local differences in mass change, and it shows the potential to retain local ice thickness over 1 decade. Locally up to 21.1 m ± 0.4 m of ice thickness was preserved on mass balance managed areas compared to non-maintained areas over a period of 9 years. In this period, mean annual thickness loss in 15 of the mass balance managed profiles is 0.54 ± 0.04 m yr −1 lower (−0.23 ± 0.04 m yr −1 on average) than in the respective reference areas (−0.78 ± 0.04 m yr −1 ). At two of these profiles the surface elevation was preserved altogether, which is promising for a sustainable maintenance of the infrastructure at glacier ski resorts. In general the results demonstrate the high potential of the combination of mass balance management by snow production and glacier cover, not only in the short term but also for multi-year application to maintain the skiing infrastructure. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A. Fischer K. Helfricht M. Stocker-Waldhuber |
author_facet |
A. Fischer K. Helfricht M. Stocker-Waldhuber |
author_sort |
A. Fischer |
title |
Local reduction of decadal glacier thickness loss through mass balance management in ski resorts |
title_short |
Local reduction of decadal glacier thickness loss through mass balance management in ski resorts |
title_full |
Local reduction of decadal glacier thickness loss through mass balance management in ski resorts |
title_fullStr |
Local reduction of decadal glacier thickness loss through mass balance management in ski resorts |
title_full_unstemmed |
Local reduction of decadal glacier thickness loss through mass balance management in ski resorts |
title_sort |
local reduction of decadal glacier thickness loss through mass balance management in ski resorts |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2941-2016 https://doaj.org/article/ad3e71df157a42fda1759e46253a8ce7 |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 10, Iss 6, Pp 2941-2952 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/2941/2016/tc-10-2941-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-10-2941-2016 https://doaj.org/article/ad3e71df157a42fda1759e46253a8ce7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2941-2016 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
2941 |
op_container_end_page |
2952 |
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