Response of the Polar Urals glaciers to the modern climate changes

• Published in: Ice and Snow
• Main Authors: G. Nosenko A., A. Muraviev Ya., M. Ivanov N., A. Sinitsky I., V. Kobelev O., S. Nikitin A., Г. Носенко А., А. Муравьев Я., М. Иванов Н., А. Синицкий И., В. Кобелев О., С. Никитин А.
• Other Authors: Studies of changes in the size of glaciers on satellite imagery were conducted with the support of the RFBR grant No 18-05-60067 Arctic. Evaluation of the geodetic balance of the Igan glacier was carried out with the support of the RFBR grant No 17-55-80107-BRICS. The logistics of the expedition was carried out with the support of the NP Russian Center for the Development of the Arctic, Salekhard. ArcticDEM was provided by the Polar Geospatial Center under NSF OPP awards 1043681, 1559691 and 1542736. The data from the Sentinel-2 were provided by the European Space Agency. Temperatures and precipitations were obtained using Climate Reanalyzer (http://cci-reanalyzer.org), Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, USA., Исследования изменений размеров ледников по материалам спутниковых съёмок выполнялось при поддержке гранта РФФИ No 1805-60067 Арктика. Оценка геодезического баланса ледника ИГАН проводилась при поддержке гранта РФФИ No 17-55-80107-БРИКС-а. Логистическое обеспечение экспедиционных работ осуществлялось при поддержке НП «Российский Центр освоения Арктики», г. Салехард. ЦМР ArcticDEM предоставлена Полярным геопространственным центром в рамках заказов NSF OPP 1043681, 1559691 и 1542736, а данные с космического аппарата Sentinel-2 были предоставлены Европейским космическим агентством. Материалы о температуре и осадках на район исследований получены с использованием Climate Reanalyzer (http://cci-reanalyzer.org), Институт изменения климата, Университет Мэна, США.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Russian
• Published: IGRAS 2020
• Subjects: geodetic mass balance;glacier shrinkage;Polar Urals;satellite imagery; геодезический баланс массы;космические снимки;Полярный Урал;сокращение ледников; The Sentinel; Oleniy; Annals of Glaciology; The Cryosphere; Полярный Урал
• Online Access: https://ice-snow.igras.ru/jour/article/view/784; https://doi.org/10.31857/S2076673420010022

Monitoring of glacier mass balance is usually focused on analysis of middle and large glaciers, so small glaciers on the verge of extinction remain out of the attention of researchers. Studies of glaciers of the Polar Urals, begun in the mid-twentieth century, present in this respect interesting information. The series of observations of them is the longest among other glaciers of the mountainous regions of the Russian mainland in the polar latitudes. New results of quantitative assessment of changes in the size and mass balance of glaciers in this region are presented. To estimate the geodetic balance of the IGAN Glacier, data from photogeodetic surveys of 1963, data of ground-based DGPS surveys of 2008 and 2018 together with a fragment of the digital elevation model (DEM) of the ArcticDEM v3.0 of 2016 were used. Using these data, the DEM of its surface was calculated as of 1963, 2008, and 2018, and the changes in the glacier volume were estimated for the period from 1963 to 2018, during which the glacier had lost 19.7 million m3 of ice, of which 3.2 million m3 were lost in the last decade. The average decrease in the surface height was 18.94±3.22 m, and the maximum – 53.5±1.0 m. In 1963–2008, the specific massbalance was equal to −317±59 mm w.e./year, while in 2008–2018 −336±61 mm/year. Estimation of changes in the size of 30 glaciers of the Polar Urals made from images of the Sentinel-2 satellite had shown that in 2000– 2018 the glaciers lost 2.02 km2 (about 28%) of the area. In comparison with the period of 1953–2000, the average annual rate of reduction of their area doubled and amounted to 0.112 km2/year (1.54%/year). Magnitudes of the reduction of individual glaciers are not identical. Within the selection of 30 glaciers, they vary from 7.1% (the Terentyev Glacier) to 61.1% (the Oleniy Glacier). The analysis of changes in temperature and precipitation in 2000–2018 allows us making the conclusion that the reason for the accelerated reduction of glaciers in the Polar Urals in these years is the rise of ...