Ice thickness distribution of all Swiss glaciers based on extended ground-penetrating radar data and glaciological modeling

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Melchior Grab, Enrico Mattea, Andreas Bauder, Matthias Huss, Lasse Rabenstein, Elias Hodel, Andreas Linsbauer, Lisbeth Langhammer, Lino Schmid, Gregory Church, Sebastian Hellmann, Kevin Délèze, Philipp Schaer, Patrick Lathion, Daniel Farinotti, Hansruedi Maurer
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press 2021
• Subjects: Aerogeophysical measurements; glacier volume; ground-penetrating radar; ice thickness measurements; mountain glaciers; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.55; https://doaj.org/article/d669b19cc7274cca8db1ad03b711bbc1

Accurate knowledge of the ice thickness distribution and glacier bed topography is essential for predicting dynamic glacier changes and the future developments of downstream hydrology, which are impacting the energy sector, tourism industry and natural hazard management. Using AIR-ETH, a new helicopter-borne ground-penetrating radar (GPR) platform, we measured the ice thickness of all large and most medium-sized glaciers in the Swiss Alps during the years 2016–20. Most of these had either never or only partially been surveyed before. With this new dataset, 251 glaciers – making up 81% of the glacierized area – are now covered by GPR surveys. For obtaining a comprehensive estimate of the overall glacier ice volume, ice thickness distribution and glacier bed topography, we combined this large amount of data with two independent modeling algorithms. This resulted in new maps of the glacier bed topography with unprecedented accuracy. The total glacier volume in the Swiss Alps was determined to be 58.7 ± 2.5 km3 in the year 2016. By projecting these results based on mass-balance data, we estimated a total ice volume of 52.9 ± 2.7 km3 for the year 2020. Data and modeling results are accessible in the form of the SwissGlacierThickness-R2020 data package.