Geodetic point surface mass balances: a new approach to determine point surface mass balances on glaciers from remote sensing measurements

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: Vincent, Christian, Cusicanqui, Diego, Jourdain, Bruno, Laarman, Olivier, Six, Delphine, Gilbert, Adrien, Walpersdorf, Andrea, Rabatel, Antoine, Piard, Luc, Gimbert, Florent, Gagliardini, Olivier, Peyaud, Vincent, Arnaud, Laurent, Thibert, Emmanuel, Brun, Fanny, Nanni, Ugo
• Other Authors: Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ), Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Institut des Sciences de la Terre (ISTerre), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR219-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Gustave Eiffel-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Erosion torrentielle neige et avalanches (UR ETGR (ETNA)), Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), French National Research Agency (ANR) European Commission, French National Research Agency (ANR) 18 CE1 0015 01
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: [SPI]Engineering Sciences [physics]; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Glacier Point; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03433415; https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1259-2021

International audience Abstract. Mass balance observations are very useful to assess climate change in different regions of the world. As opposed to glacier-wide mass balances which are influenced by the dynamic response of each glacier, point mass balances provide a direct climatic signal that depends on surface accumulation and ablation only. Unfortunately, major efforts are required to conduct in situ measurements on glaciers. Here, we propose a new approach that determines point surface mass balances from remote sensing observations. We call this balance the geodetic point surface mass balance. From observations and modelling performed on the Argentière and Mer de Glace glaciers over the last decade, we show that the vertical ice flow velocity changes are small in areas of low bedrock slope. Therefore, assuming constant vertical velocities in time for such areas and provided that the vertical velocities have been measured for at least 1 year in the past, our method can be used to reconstruct annual point surface mass balances from surface elevations and horizontal velocities alone. We demonstrate that the annual point surface mass balances can be reconstructed with an accuracy of about 0.3 m of water equivalent per year (m w.e. a−1) using the vertical velocities observed over the previous years and data from unmanned aerial vehicle images. Given the recent improvements of satellite sensors, it should be possible to apply this method to high-spatial-resolution satellite images as well.