Glacier Changes in the Susitna Basin, Alaska, USA, (1951–2015) using GIS and Remote Sensing Methods
The Susitna River draining from the highly glacierized Central Alaska Range has repeatedly been considered a potential hydro-power source in recent decades, raising questions about the effect of glacier changes on the basin’s river runoff. We determine changes in the glacier area (1951–2010), elevat...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2072-4292/9/5/478/ 2023-08-20T03:59:15+02:00 Glacier Changes in the Susitna Basin, Alaska, USA, (1951–2015) using GIS and Remote Sensing Methods Roland Wastlhuber Regine Hock Christian Kienholz Matthias Braun 2017-05-14 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050478 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs9050478 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Remote Sensing; Volume 9; Issue 5; Pages: 478 glacier geodetic mass balance glacier elevation change digital elevation model equilibrium line altitude accumulation area ratio glacier surge Susitna basin Text 2017 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050478 2023-07-31T21:07:05Z The Susitna River draining from the highly glacierized Central Alaska Range has repeatedly been considered a potential hydro-power source in recent decades, raising questions about the effect of glacier changes on the basin’s river runoff. We determine changes in the glacier area (1951–2010), elevation (1951–2010, 1951–2005 and 2005–2010), equilibrium line altitude (ELA, 1999–2015), and accumulation area ratio (AAR, 1999–2015) of the basin’s five largest glaciers covering 587 km² (2010). We use the Landsat time series, as well as digital elevation models (DEMs) from 1951 (United States Geological Survey (USGS) aerial imagery), 2005 (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, ASTER), and 2010 (airborne interferometric synthetic aperture radar, IfSAR). The glaciers lost an area of 128 ± 15 km² (16%) between 1951 and 2010. The mean ELA was located at 1745 ± 88 m a.s.l. during 1999–2015. The glacier’s annual ELAs do not show any significant trends. We found a glacier-wide elevation change of −0.41 ± 0.07 m yr−1 for the period 1951–2005 and −1.20 ± 0.25 m yr−1 for 2005–2010. The results indicate that the glaciers are in a state of retreat and thinning, and have been losing mass at an accelerated rate in recent years. The interpretation of the thickness changes is complicated by the glaciers’ surge cycles. Text alaska range glacier glaciers Alaska MDPI Open Access Publishing Ela ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) Remote Sensing 9 5 478 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
glacier geodetic mass balance glacier elevation change digital elevation model equilibrium line altitude accumulation area ratio glacier surge Susitna basin |
spellingShingle |
glacier geodetic mass balance glacier elevation change digital elevation model equilibrium line altitude accumulation area ratio glacier surge Susitna basin Roland Wastlhuber Regine Hock Christian Kienholz Matthias Braun Glacier Changes in the Susitna Basin, Alaska, USA, (1951–2015) using GIS and Remote Sensing Methods |
topic_facet |
glacier geodetic mass balance glacier elevation change digital elevation model equilibrium line altitude accumulation area ratio glacier surge Susitna basin |
description |
The Susitna River draining from the highly glacierized Central Alaska Range has repeatedly been considered a potential hydro-power source in recent decades, raising questions about the effect of glacier changes on the basin’s river runoff. We determine changes in the glacier area (1951–2010), elevation (1951–2010, 1951–2005 and 2005–2010), equilibrium line altitude (ELA, 1999–2015), and accumulation area ratio (AAR, 1999–2015) of the basin’s five largest glaciers covering 587 km² (2010). We use the Landsat time series, as well as digital elevation models (DEMs) from 1951 (United States Geological Survey (USGS) aerial imagery), 2005 (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, ASTER), and 2010 (airborne interferometric synthetic aperture radar, IfSAR). The glaciers lost an area of 128 ± 15 km² (16%) between 1951 and 2010. The mean ELA was located at 1745 ± 88 m a.s.l. during 1999–2015. The glacier’s annual ELAs do not show any significant trends. We found a glacier-wide elevation change of −0.41 ± 0.07 m yr−1 for the period 1951–2005 and −1.20 ± 0.25 m yr−1 for 2005–2010. The results indicate that the glaciers are in a state of retreat and thinning, and have been losing mass at an accelerated rate in recent years. The interpretation of the thickness changes is complicated by the glaciers’ surge cycles. |
format |
Text |
author |
Roland Wastlhuber Regine Hock Christian Kienholz Matthias Braun |
author_facet |
Roland Wastlhuber Regine Hock Christian Kienholz Matthias Braun |
author_sort |
Roland Wastlhuber |
title |
Glacier Changes in the Susitna Basin, Alaska, USA, (1951–2015) using GIS and Remote Sensing Methods |
title_short |
Glacier Changes in the Susitna Basin, Alaska, USA, (1951–2015) using GIS and Remote Sensing Methods |
title_full |
Glacier Changes in the Susitna Basin, Alaska, USA, (1951–2015) using GIS and Remote Sensing Methods |
title_fullStr |
Glacier Changes in the Susitna Basin, Alaska, USA, (1951–2015) using GIS and Remote Sensing Methods |
title_full_unstemmed |
Glacier Changes in the Susitna Basin, Alaska, USA, (1951–2015) using GIS and Remote Sensing Methods |
title_sort |
glacier changes in the susitna basin, alaska, usa, (1951–2015) using gis and remote sensing methods |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050478 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) |
geographic |
Ela |
geographic_facet |
Ela |
genre |
alaska range glacier glaciers Alaska |
genre_facet |
alaska range glacier glaciers Alaska |
op_source |
Remote Sensing; Volume 9; Issue 5; Pages: 478 |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs9050478 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050478 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
478 |
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1774724749834846208 |