The length of the glaciers in the world:a straightforward method for the automated calculation of glacier center lines
Glacier length is an important measure of glacier geometry but global glacier inventories are mostly lacking length data. Only recently semi-automated approaches to measure glacier length have been developed and applied regionally. Here we present 5 a first global assessment of glacier length using...
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ftdtupubl:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/9f3f028c-5eaa-4eaf-8460-3b4f2e36faaf 2023-05-15T16:03:50+02:00 The length of the glaciers in the world:a straightforward method for the automated calculation of glacier center lines Machguth, Horst Huss, M. 2014 application/pdf https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/9f3f028c-5eaa-4eaf-8460-3b4f2e36faaf https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-8-2491-2014 https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/93754049/machguth_TCD_2014.pdf eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Machguth , H , Huss , M & Huss , M 2014 , ' The length of the glaciers in the world : a straightforward method for the automated calculation of glacier center lines ' , The Cryosphere Discussions , vol. 8 , no. 3 , pp. 2491-2528 . https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-8-2491-2014 article 2014 ftdtupubl https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-8-2491-2014 2022-11-03T00:03:58Z Glacier length is an important measure of glacier geometry but global glacier inventories are mostly lacking length data. Only recently semi-automated approaches to measure glacier length have been developed and applied regionally. Here we present 5 a first global assessment of glacier length using a fully automated method based on glacier surface slope, distance to the glacier margins and a set of trade-off functions. The method is developed for East Greenland, evaluated for the same area as well as for Alaska, and eventually applied to all ∼ 200000 glaciers around the globe. The evaluation highlights accurately calculated glacier length where DEM quality is good (East 10 Greenland) and limited precision on low quality DEMs (parts of Alaska). Measured length of very small glaciers is subject to a certain level of ambiguity. The global calculation shows that only about 1.5% of all glaciers are longer than 10km with Bering Glacier (Alaska/Canada) being the longest glacier in the world at a length of 196 km. Based on model output we derive global and regional area-length scaling laws. Differences among regional scaling parameters appear to be related to characteristics of topography and glacier mass balance. The present study adds glacier length as a central parameter to global glacier inventories. Global and regional scaling laws might proof beneficial in conceptual glacier models. Article in Journal/Newspaper East Greenland glacier glacier glacier* glaciers Greenland The Cryosphere The Cryosphere Discussions Alaska Technical University of Denmark: DTU Orbit Canada Greenland |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Technical University of Denmark: DTU Orbit |
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ftdtupubl |
language |
English |
description |
Glacier length is an important measure of glacier geometry but global glacier inventories are mostly lacking length data. Only recently semi-automated approaches to measure glacier length have been developed and applied regionally. Here we present 5 a first global assessment of glacier length using a fully automated method based on glacier surface slope, distance to the glacier margins and a set of trade-off functions. The method is developed for East Greenland, evaluated for the same area as well as for Alaska, and eventually applied to all ∼ 200000 glaciers around the globe. The evaluation highlights accurately calculated glacier length where DEM quality is good (East 10 Greenland) and limited precision on low quality DEMs (parts of Alaska). Measured length of very small glaciers is subject to a certain level of ambiguity. The global calculation shows that only about 1.5% of all glaciers are longer than 10km with Bering Glacier (Alaska/Canada) being the longest glacier in the world at a length of 196 km. Based on model output we derive global and regional area-length scaling laws. Differences among regional scaling parameters appear to be related to characteristics of topography and glacier mass balance. The present study adds glacier length as a central parameter to global glacier inventories. Global and regional scaling laws might proof beneficial in conceptual glacier models. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Machguth, Horst Huss, M. |
spellingShingle |
Machguth, Horst Huss, M. The length of the glaciers in the world:a straightforward method for the automated calculation of glacier center lines |
author_facet |
Machguth, Horst Huss, M. |
author_sort |
Machguth, Horst |
title |
The length of the glaciers in the world:a straightforward method for the automated calculation of glacier center lines |
title_short |
The length of the glaciers in the world:a straightforward method for the automated calculation of glacier center lines |
title_full |
The length of the glaciers in the world:a straightforward method for the automated calculation of glacier center lines |
title_fullStr |
The length of the glaciers in the world:a straightforward method for the automated calculation of glacier center lines |
title_full_unstemmed |
The length of the glaciers in the world:a straightforward method for the automated calculation of glacier center lines |
title_sort |
length of the glaciers in the world:a straightforward method for the automated calculation of glacier center lines |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/9f3f028c-5eaa-4eaf-8460-3b4f2e36faaf https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-8-2491-2014 https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/93754049/machguth_TCD_2014.pdf |
geographic |
Canada Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Canada Greenland |
genre |
East Greenland glacier glacier glacier* glaciers Greenland The Cryosphere The Cryosphere Discussions Alaska |
genre_facet |
East Greenland glacier glacier glacier* glaciers Greenland The Cryosphere The Cryosphere Discussions Alaska |
op_source |
Machguth , H , Huss , M & Huss , M 2014 , ' The length of the glaciers in the world : a straightforward method for the automated calculation of glacier center lines ' , The Cryosphere Discussions , vol. 8 , no. 3 , pp. 2491-2528 . https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-8-2491-2014 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-8-2491-2014 |
_version_ |
1766399519206932480 |