Estimating surface mass balance patterns from unoccupied aerial vehicle measurements in the ablation area of the Morteratsch–Pers glacier complex (Switzerland)
The surface mass balance (SMB) of a glacier provides the link between the glacier and the local climate. For this reason, it is intensively studied and monitored. However, major efforts are required to determine the point SMB at a sufficient number of locations to capture the heterogeneity of the SM...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Copernicus Publications
2021
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4445-2021 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/4445/2021/tc-15-4445-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/article/8d5244a3bb62430a9b39095e112cb949 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:8d5244a3bb62430a9b39095e112cb949 2023-05-15T18:32:19+02:00 Estimating surface mass balance patterns from unoccupied aerial vehicle measurements in the ablation area of the Morteratsch–Pers glacier complex (Switzerland) L. Van Tricht P. Huybrechts J. Van Breedam A. Vanhulle K. Van Oost H. Zekollari 2021-09-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4445-2021 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/4445/2021/tc-15-4445-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/article/8d5244a3bb62430a9b39095e112cb949 en eng Copernicus Publications doi:10.5194/tc-15-4445-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/4445/2021/tc-15-4445-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/article/8d5244a3bb62430a9b39095e112cb949 undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 4445-4464 (2021) envir geo Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2021 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4445-2021 2023-01-22T17:53:07Z The surface mass balance (SMB) of a glacier provides the link between the glacier and the local climate. For this reason, it is intensively studied and monitored. However, major efforts are required to determine the point SMB at a sufficient number of locations to capture the heterogeneity of the SMB pattern. Furthermore, because of the time-consuming and costly nature of these measurements, detailed SMB measurements are carried out on only a limited number of glaciers. In this study, we investigate how to accurately determine the SMB in the ablation zone of Vadret da Morteratsch and Vadret Pers (Engadin, Switzerland) using the continuity equation method, based on the expression of conservation of mass for glacier flow with constant density. An elaborate dataset (spanning the 2017–2020 period) of high-resolution data derived from unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) measurements (surface elevation changes and surface velocities) is combined with reconstructed ice thickness fields (based on radar measurements). To determine the performance of the method, we compare modelled SMB with measured SMB values at the position of stakes. Our results indicate that with annual UAV surveys, it is possible to obtain SMB estimates with a mean absolute error smaller than 0.5 m of ice equivalent per year. Yet, our study demonstrates that to obtain these accuracies, it is necessary to consider the ice flow over spatial scales of several times the local ice thickness, accomplished in this study by applying an exponential decay filter. Furthermore, our study highlights the crucial importance of the ice thickness, which must be sufficiently well known in order to accurately apply the method. The latter currently seems to complicate the application of the continuity equation method to derive detailed SMB patterns on regional to global scales. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Unknown The Cryosphere 15 9 4445 4464 |
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English |
topic |
envir geo |
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envir geo L. Van Tricht P. Huybrechts J. Van Breedam A. Vanhulle K. Van Oost H. Zekollari Estimating surface mass balance patterns from unoccupied aerial vehicle measurements in the ablation area of the Morteratsch–Pers glacier complex (Switzerland) |
topic_facet |
envir geo |
description |
The surface mass balance (SMB) of a glacier provides the link between the glacier and the local climate. For this reason, it is intensively studied and monitored. However, major efforts are required to determine the point SMB at a sufficient number of locations to capture the heterogeneity of the SMB pattern. Furthermore, because of the time-consuming and costly nature of these measurements, detailed SMB measurements are carried out on only a limited number of glaciers. In this study, we investigate how to accurately determine the SMB in the ablation zone of Vadret da Morteratsch and Vadret Pers (Engadin, Switzerland) using the continuity equation method, based on the expression of conservation of mass for glacier flow with constant density. An elaborate dataset (spanning the 2017–2020 period) of high-resolution data derived from unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) measurements (surface elevation changes and surface velocities) is combined with reconstructed ice thickness fields (based on radar measurements). To determine the performance of the method, we compare modelled SMB with measured SMB values at the position of stakes. Our results indicate that with annual UAV surveys, it is possible to obtain SMB estimates with a mean absolute error smaller than 0.5 m of ice equivalent per year. Yet, our study demonstrates that to obtain these accuracies, it is necessary to consider the ice flow over spatial scales of several times the local ice thickness, accomplished in this study by applying an exponential decay filter. Furthermore, our study highlights the crucial importance of the ice thickness, which must be sufficiently well known in order to accurately apply the method. The latter currently seems to complicate the application of the continuity equation method to derive detailed SMB patterns on regional to global scales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
L. Van Tricht P. Huybrechts J. Van Breedam A. Vanhulle K. Van Oost H. Zekollari |
author_facet |
L. Van Tricht P. Huybrechts J. Van Breedam A. Vanhulle K. Van Oost H. Zekollari |
author_sort |
L. Van Tricht |
title |
Estimating surface mass balance patterns from unoccupied aerial vehicle measurements in the ablation area of the Morteratsch–Pers glacier complex (Switzerland) |
title_short |
Estimating surface mass balance patterns from unoccupied aerial vehicle measurements in the ablation area of the Morteratsch–Pers glacier complex (Switzerland) |
title_full |
Estimating surface mass balance patterns from unoccupied aerial vehicle measurements in the ablation area of the Morteratsch–Pers glacier complex (Switzerland) |
title_fullStr |
Estimating surface mass balance patterns from unoccupied aerial vehicle measurements in the ablation area of the Morteratsch–Pers glacier complex (Switzerland) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Estimating surface mass balance patterns from unoccupied aerial vehicle measurements in the ablation area of the Morteratsch–Pers glacier complex (Switzerland) |
title_sort |
estimating surface mass balance patterns from unoccupied aerial vehicle measurements in the ablation area of the morteratsch–pers glacier complex (switzerland) |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4445-2021 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/4445/2021/tc-15-4445-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/article/8d5244a3bb62430a9b39095e112cb949 |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 4445-4464 (2021) |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-15-4445-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/4445/2021/tc-15-4445-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/article/8d5244a3bb62430a9b39095e112cb949 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4445-2021 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
4445 |
op_container_end_page |
4464 |
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