Summary: | We present the updated glaciological mass balance (MB) of Chhota Shigri Glacier, the longest continuous annual MB record in the Hindu-Kush Karakoram Himalaya (HKH) region. Additionally, 4 years of seasonal MBs are presented and analyzed using the data acquired at an automatic weather station (AWS-M) installed in 2009 on a lateral moraine (4863ma.s.l.). The glaciological MB series since 2002 is first recalculated using an updated glacier hypsometry and then validated against geodetic MB derived from satellite stereo-imagery between 2005 (SPOT5) and 2014 (Pleiades). Chhota Shigri Glacier lost mass between 2002 and 2014 with a cumulative glaciological MB of -6.72 m w. e. corresponding to a mean annual glacier-wide MB (B-a) of -0.56m w. e. a(-1). Equilibriumline altitude (ELA(0)) for the steady-state condition is calculated as similar to 4950 m a.s.l., corresponding to an accumulation-area ratio (AAR(0)) of similar to 61%. Analysis of seasonal MBs between 2009 and 2013 with air temperature from AWS-M and precipitation from the nearest meteorological station at Bhuntar (1050 m a.s.l.) suggests that the summer monsoon is the key season driving the interannual variability of Ba for this glacier. The intensity of summer snowfall events controls the B-a evolution via controlling summer glacier-wide MB (B-s).
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