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), e...
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Uppsala universitet, Luft-, vatten- och landskapslära
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ftuppsalauniv:oai:DiVA.org:uu-327057 2023-09-26T15:08:48+02:00 Glacier Changes in the Susitna Basin, Alaska, USA, (1951-2015) using GIS and Remote Sensing Methods Wastlhuber, Roland Hock, Regine Kienholz, Christian Braun, Matthias 2017 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-327057 https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050478 eng eng Uppsala universitet, Luft-, vatten- och landskapslära Friedrich Alexander Univ Erlangen Nurnberg, Inst Geog, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany. Univ Alaska Fairbanks, Geophys Inst, Fairbanks, AK 99775 USA. MDPI AG Remote Sensing, 2017, 9:5, http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-327057 doi:10.3390/rs9050478 ISI:000402573700081 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess glacier geodetic mass balance glacier elevation change digital elevation model equilibrium line altitude accumulation area ratio glacier surge Susitna basin Remote Sensing Fjärranalysteknik Article in journal info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2017 ftuppsalauniv https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050478 2023-08-30T22:31:56Z 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 km(2) (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 km(2) (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. Article in Journal/Newspaper alaska range glacier glaciers Alaska Uppsala University: Publications (DiVA) Ela ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) Remote Sensing 9 5 478 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Uppsala University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftuppsalauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
glacier geodetic mass balance glacier elevation change digital elevation model equilibrium line altitude accumulation area ratio glacier surge Susitna basin Remote Sensing Fjärranalysteknik |
spellingShingle |
glacier geodetic mass balance glacier elevation change digital elevation model equilibrium line altitude accumulation area ratio glacier surge Susitna basin Remote Sensing Fjärranalysteknik Wastlhuber, Roland Hock, Regine Kienholz, Christian Braun, Matthias 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 Remote Sensing Fjärranalysteknik |
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 km(2) (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 km(2) (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 |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wastlhuber, Roland Hock, Regine Kienholz, Christian Braun, Matthias |
author_facet |
Wastlhuber, Roland Hock, Regine Kienholz, Christian Braun, Matthias |
author_sort |
Wastlhuber, Roland |
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 |
Uppsala universitet, Luft-, vatten- och landskapslära |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-327057 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_relation |
Remote Sensing, 2017, 9:5, http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-327057 doi:10.3390/rs9050478 ISI:000402573700081 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050478 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
478 |
_version_ |
1778149440180191232 |