Spatiotemporal supraglacial pond and ice cliff changes in the Bhutan–Tibet border region from 2016 to 2018
Supraglacial ponds and ice cliffs can dramatically enhance ablation rates on debris-covered glaciers. Supraglacial ponds can also coalesce, forming moraine-dammed lakes at risk of glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF). Given Bhutanese glaciers have some of the highest ice loss rates in the Himalaya and...
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Cambridge University Press
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.76 https://doaj.org/article/e34c395832294ffbb5a27c92edb3d0ed |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e34c395832294ffbb5a27c92edb3d0ed 2023-05-15T16:57:33+02:00 Spatiotemporal supraglacial pond and ice cliff changes in the Bhutan–Tibet border region from 2016 to 2018 Caroline Jane Taylor Joanne Rachel Carr David Robert Rounce 2022-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.76 https://doaj.org/article/e34c395832294ffbb5a27c92edb3d0ed EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143021000769/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2021.76 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/e34c395832294ffbb5a27c92edb3d0ed Journal of Glaciology, Vol 68, Pp 101-113 (2022) Bhutan debris-covered glaciers ice cliffs remote sensing supraglacial ponds Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.76 2023-03-12T01:30:57Z Supraglacial ponds and ice cliffs can dramatically enhance ablation rates on debris-covered glaciers. Supraglacial ponds can also coalesce, forming moraine-dammed lakes at risk of glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF). Given Bhutanese glaciers have some of the highest ice loss rates in the Himalaya and GLOF vulnerability is high, we seek to advance our understanding of the spatial distribution and evolution of supraglacial ponds and ice cliffs. Here, we use high-resolution (3 m) Planet Labs satellite imagery to provide the first short-term, high-resolution dataset of supraglacial pond and ice cliff evolution for three glaciers along the Bhutan–Tibet border from 2016 to 2018. A total of 5754 ponds and 2088 ice cliffs were identified. Large intra-annual changes were observed, with ponded area changes and drainage events coinciding with the seasonality of the Indian Summer Monsoon. On average, ~19% of the total number of ponds had a coincident ice cliff. Pond spatial distribution was driven by ice-surface velocities, with higher numbers of ponds found in areas of low velocity (<8 m a−1). Our study provides the first detailed, quantitative investigation of supraglacial ponds and ice cliffs in Bhutan, providing a framework for further monitoring in this understudied, yet important, region of the Himalaya. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Indian Glacial Lake ENVELOPE(-129.463,-129.463,58.259,58.259) Journal of Glaciology 68 267 101 113 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Bhutan debris-covered glaciers ice cliffs remote sensing supraglacial ponds Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
Bhutan debris-covered glaciers ice cliffs remote sensing supraglacial ponds Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Caroline Jane Taylor Joanne Rachel Carr David Robert Rounce Spatiotemporal supraglacial pond and ice cliff changes in the Bhutan–Tibet border region from 2016 to 2018 |
topic_facet |
Bhutan debris-covered glaciers ice cliffs remote sensing supraglacial ponds Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
Supraglacial ponds and ice cliffs can dramatically enhance ablation rates on debris-covered glaciers. Supraglacial ponds can also coalesce, forming moraine-dammed lakes at risk of glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF). Given Bhutanese glaciers have some of the highest ice loss rates in the Himalaya and GLOF vulnerability is high, we seek to advance our understanding of the spatial distribution and evolution of supraglacial ponds and ice cliffs. Here, we use high-resolution (3 m) Planet Labs satellite imagery to provide the first short-term, high-resolution dataset of supraglacial pond and ice cliff evolution for three glaciers along the Bhutan–Tibet border from 2016 to 2018. A total of 5754 ponds and 2088 ice cliffs were identified. Large intra-annual changes were observed, with ponded area changes and drainage events coinciding with the seasonality of the Indian Summer Monsoon. On average, ~19% of the total number of ponds had a coincident ice cliff. Pond spatial distribution was driven by ice-surface velocities, with higher numbers of ponds found in areas of low velocity (<8 m a−1). Our study provides the first detailed, quantitative investigation of supraglacial ponds and ice cliffs in Bhutan, providing a framework for further monitoring in this understudied, yet important, region of the Himalaya. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Caroline Jane Taylor Joanne Rachel Carr David Robert Rounce |
author_facet |
Caroline Jane Taylor Joanne Rachel Carr David Robert Rounce |
author_sort |
Caroline Jane Taylor |
title |
Spatiotemporal supraglacial pond and ice cliff changes in the Bhutan–Tibet border region from 2016 to 2018 |
title_short |
Spatiotemporal supraglacial pond and ice cliff changes in the Bhutan–Tibet border region from 2016 to 2018 |
title_full |
Spatiotemporal supraglacial pond and ice cliff changes in the Bhutan–Tibet border region from 2016 to 2018 |
title_fullStr |
Spatiotemporal supraglacial pond and ice cliff changes in the Bhutan–Tibet border region from 2016 to 2018 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatiotemporal supraglacial pond and ice cliff changes in the Bhutan–Tibet border region from 2016 to 2018 |
title_sort |
spatiotemporal supraglacial pond and ice cliff changes in the bhutan–tibet border region from 2016 to 2018 |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.76 https://doaj.org/article/e34c395832294ffbb5a27c92edb3d0ed |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-129.463,-129.463,58.259,58.259) |
geographic |
Indian Glacial Lake |
geographic_facet |
Indian Glacial Lake |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, Vol 68, Pp 101-113 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143021000769/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2021.76 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/e34c395832294ffbb5a27c92edb3d0ed |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.76 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
68 |
container_issue |
267 |
container_start_page |
101 |
op_container_end_page |
113 |
_version_ |
1766049108300136448 |