Université de Fribourg

Brief communication: Ad hoc estimation of glacier contributions to sea-level rise from the latest glaciological observations

Zemp, Michael ; Huss, Matthias ; Eckert, Nicolas ; Thibert, Emmanuel ; Paul, Frank ; Nussbaumer, Samuel U. ; Gärtner-Roer, Isabelle

In: The Cryosphere, 2020, vol. 14, no. 3, p. 1043–1050

Comprehensive assessments of global glacier mass changes based on a variety of observations and prevailing methodologies have been published at multi-annual intervals. For the years in between, the glaciological method provides annual observations of specific mass changes but is suspected to not be representative at the regional to global scales due to uneven glacier distribution with...

Université de Fribourg

Last phase of the Little Ice Age forced by volcanic eruptions

Brönnimann, Stefan ; Franke, Jörg ; Nussbaumer, Samuel U. ; Zumbühl, Heinz J. ; Steiner, Daniel ; Trachsel, Mathias ; Hegerl, Gabriele C. ; Schurer, Andrew ; Worni, Matthias ; Malik, Abdul ; Flückiger, Julian ; Raible, Christoph C.

In: Nature Geoscience, 2019, vol. 12, no. 8, p. 650–656

During the first half of the nineteenth century, several large tropical volcanic eruptions occurred within less than three decades. The global climate effects of the 1815 Tambora eruption have been investigated, but those of an eruption in 1808 or 1809 whose source is unknown and the eruptions in the 1820s and 1830s have received less attention. Here we analyse the effect of the sequence of...

Université de Fribourg

Little ice age glacier history of the central and western alps from pictorial documents

Zumbühl, Heinz J. ; Nussbaumer, Samuel U.

In: Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica, 2018, vol. 44, no. 1, p. 115–136

The Lower Grindelwald Glacier (Bernese Oberland, Switzerland) consists of two parts, the Ischmeer in the east (disconnected) and the Bernese Fiescher Glacier in the west. During the Little Ice Age (LIA), the glacier terminated either in the area of the “Schopffelsen” (landmark rock terraces) or advanced at least six times (ten times if we include early findings) even further down into the...

Université de Fribourg

Elevation changes of the Holm Land Ice Cap, northeast Greenland, from 1978 to 2012–2015, derived from high-resolution digital elevation models

Albedyll, Luisa von ; Machguth, Horst ; Nussbaumer, Samuel U. ; Zemp, Michael

In: Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 2018, vol. 50, no. 1, p. e1523638

Greenland’s peripheral glaciers and ice caps are key indicators of climate change in the Arctic, but quantitative observational data of their recent evolution are sparse. Three recently released high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs)—AeroDEM (based on images from 1978 to 1987), ArcticDEM (2012–2015), and TanDEM-X (2010–2014)—provide the possibility to calculate elevation...

Université de Fribourg

Glacier monitoring and capacity building: important ingredients for sustainable mountain development

Nussbaumer, Samuel U. ; Hoelzle, Martin ; Hüsler, Fabia ; Huggel, Christian ; Salzmann, Nadine ; Zemp, Michael

In: Mountain Research and Development, 2017, vol. 37, no. 1, p. 141–152

Glacier observation data from major mountain regions of the world are key to improving our understanding of glacier changes: they deliver fundamental baseline information for climatological, hydrological, and hazard assessments. In many mountain ecosystems, as well as in the adjacent lowlands, glaciers play a crucial role in freshwater provision and regulation. This article first presents the...

Université de Fribourg

Reconstructing the annual mass balance of the Echaurren Norte glacier (Central Andes, 33.5° S) using local and regional hydroclimatic data

Masiokas, Mariano H. ; Christie, Duncan A. ; Quesne, Carlos Le ; Pitte, Pierre ; Ruiz, Lucas ; Villalba, Ricardo ; Luckman, Brian H. ; Berthier, Etienne ; Nussbaumer, Samuel U. ; González-Reyes, Álvaro ; McPhee, James ; Barcaza, Gonzalo

In: The Cryosphere, 2016, vol. 10, no. 2, p. 927–940

Despite the great number and variety of glaciers in southern South America, in situ glacier mass-balance records are extremely scarce and glacier–climate relationships are still poorly understood in this region. Here we use the longest (> 35 years) and most complete in situ mass-balance record, available for the Echaurren Norte glacier (ECH) in the Andes at ∼ 33.5° S, to...