Spatial and temporal changes in ablation, distribution and evolution of glacial zones on Irenebreen, a small glacier of the High Arctic, Svalbard

• Published in: Polar Science
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Ablation; Glacier; Glacial zones; Kaffiøyra; Svalbard; Arctic; Irenebreen; glacier; Polar Science; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=15975; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00015865/

The purpose of this work was to provide a detailed description of the temporal and spatial variability of ablation on Irenebreen – with a focus on the spatial distribution and evolution of glacial zones in the summer season of 2017. Irenebreen is a small Arctic glacier on the Kaffiøyra plain of north-western Spitsbergen. Direct field studies did not cover the whole period of ablation, and ablation zones were therefore also identified based on satellite data for a period extending beyond the research timeframe. The distribution and evolution of glacial zones on Irenebreen, the snow persisting on its surface and its phase transitions all result from the intensity and variability of ablation in the summer season, and thus may affect the total magnitude of ablation. The mean value of ablation in summer was 87.7 cm w.e. for the whole glacier. The application of satellite imaging in the near infrared channel enabled efficient classification of glacial zones based on the reflection coefficient. Glacial zones are an essential element in the assessment of the temporal and spatial variability of ablation. Their evolution is determined by ablation processes. It is therefore important to study the melting simultaneously with the temporal and spatial observations of the glacial zones. Classifying them is becoming more important as the melt season on Svalbard glaciers is significantly increasing.