Assessment of Glacier Mass Balances from Small Tropical Glaciers to the Large Ice Sheet of Greenland

• Other Authors: Albert, Todd Hayden (authoraut), Elsner, Jim (professor directing dissertation), Stallins, J. Anthony (professor co-directing dissertation), Fuelberg, Henry (outside committee member), Yang, Xiaojun (committee member), Department of Geography (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution)
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Geography; Arctic; Greenland; glacier; Ice cap; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-0157; http://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fsu%3A168233/datastream/TN/view/Assessment%20of%20Glacier%20Mass%20Balances%20from%20Small%20Tropical%20Glaciers%20to%20the%20Large%20Ice%20Sheet%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20of%20Greenland.jpg

A combination of field work, modeling, and remote sensing was used to determine mass balances for the Quelccaya Ice Cap in Peru and for parts of the Greenland Ice Sheet. A 40-year history of deglaciation on Quelccaya derived from satellite is presented. Automatic Weather Station and snow pit data throughout Greenland were utilized to determine a mass balance profile for the ice sheet which will serve as a baseline for future comparison. Finally, a series of models were tested in west-central Greenland for their ability to accurately simulate measured melt conditions given hourly observations of the surface meteorology. A new analytical melt model, SOSIM, was developed and tested for this study. A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Geography in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2007. Date of Defense: March 23, 2007. Tropical Glaciers, Arctic, Polar, Remote Sensing, Mass Balance measurements, Peru, Quelccaya Ice Cap, Glacier Mass Balances, Greenland Ice Sheet Includes bibliographical references. Jim Elsner, Professor Directing Dissertation; J. Anthony Stallins, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Henry Fuelberg, Outside Committee Member; Xiaojun Yang, Committee Member.