Université de Fribourg

Glacier runoff variations since 1955 in the Maipo River basin, in the semiarid Andes of central Chile

Ayala, Álvaro ; Farías-Barahona, David ; Huss, Matthias ; Pellicciotti, Francesca ; McPhee, James ; Farinotti, Daniel

In: The Cryosphere, 2020, vol. 14, no. 6, p. 2005–2027

As glaciers adjust their size in response to climate variations, long-term changes in meltwater production can be expected, affecting the local availability of water resources. We investigate glacier runoff in the period 1955–2016 in the Maipo River basin (4843 km2, 33.0–34.3∘ S, 69.8–70.5∘ W), in the semiarid Andes of Chile. The basin contains more than 800 glaciers, which...

Université de Fribourg

Re-analysis of seasonal mass balance at Abramov glacier 1968–2014

Barandun, Martina ; Huss, Matthias ; Sold, Leo ; Farinotti, Daniel ; Azisov, Erlan ; Salzmann, Nadine ; Usubaliev, Ryskul ; Merkushkin, Alexandr ; Hoelzle, Martin

In: Journal of Glaciology, 2015, vol. 61, no. 230, p. 1103–1117

Abramov glacier, located in the Pamir Alay, Kyrgyzstan, is a reference glacier within the Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers. Long-term glaciological measurements exist from 1968 to 1998 and a mass-balance monitoring programme was re-established in 2011. In this study we re-analyse existing mass-balance data and use a spatially distributed mass-balance model to provide continuous seasonal...

Université de Fribourg

The European mountain cryosphere: a review of its current state, trends, and future challenges

Beniston, Martin ; Farinotti, Daniel ; Stoffel, Markus ; Andreassen, Liss M. ; Coppola, Erika ; Eckert, Nicolas ; Fantini, Adriano ; Giacona, Florie ; Hauck, Christian ; Huss, Matthias ; Huwald, Hendrik ; Lehning, Michael ; López-Moreno, Juan-Ignacio ; Magnusson, Jan ; Marty, Christoph ; Morán-Tejéda, Enrique ; Morin, Samuel ; Naaim, Mohamed ; Provenzale, Antonello ; Rabatel, Antoine ; Six, Delphine ; Stötter, Johann ; Strasser, Ulrich ; Terzago, Silvia ; Vincent, Christian

In: The Cryosphere, 2018, vol. 12, no. 2, p. 759–794

The mountain cryosphere of mainland Europe is recognized to have important impacts on a range of environmental processes. In this paper, we provide an overview on the current knowledge on snow, glacier, and permafrost processes, as well as their past, current, and future evolution. We additionally provide an assessment of current cryosphere research in Europe and point to the different...

Université de Fribourg

Future shifts in extreme flow regimes in Alpine regions

Brunner, Manuela I. ; Farinotti, Daniel ; Zekollari, Harry ; Huss, Matthias ; Zappa, Massimiliano

In: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 2019, vol. 23, no. 11, p. 4471–4489

Extreme low and high flows can have negative economic, social, and ecological effects and are expected to become more severe in many regions due to climate change. Besides low and high flows, the whole flow regime, i.e., annual hydrograph comprised of monthly mean flows, is subject to changes. Knowledge on future changes in flow regimes is important since regimes contain information on both ...

Université de Fribourg

An upper-bound estimate for the accuracy of glacier volume–area scaling

Farinotti, Daniel ; Huss, Matthias

In: The Cryosphere, 2013, vol. 7, no. 6, p. 1707–1720

Volume–area scaling is the most popular method for estimating the ice volume of large glacier samples. Here, a series of resampling experiments based on different sets of synthetic data is presented in order to derive an upper-bound estimate (i.e. a level achieved only within ideal conditions) for its accuracy. For real-world applications, a lower accuracy has to be expected. We also quantify...

Université de Fribourg

From dwindling ice to headwater lakes: could dams replace glaciers in the European Alps?

Farinotti, Daniel ; Pistocchi, Alberto ; Huss, Matthias

In: Environmental Research Letters, 2016, vol. 11, no. 5, p. 54022

The potential exploitation of areas becoming ice-free in response to ongoing climate change has rarely been addressed, although it could be of interest from the water management perspective. Here we present an estimate for the potential of mitigating projected changes in seasonal water availability from melting glaciers by managing runoff through reservoirs. For the European Alps we estimate...

Université de Fribourg

Snow accumulation distribution inferred from time-lapse photography and simple modelling

Farinotti, Daniel ; Magnusson, Jan ; Huss, Matthias ; Bauder, Andreas

In: Hydrological Processes, 2010, p. -

The spatial and temporal distribution of snow accumulation is complex and significantly influences the hydrological characteristics of mountain catchments. Many snow redistribution processes, such as avalanching, slushflow or wind drift, are controlled by topography, but their modelling remains challenging. In situ measurements of snow accumulation are laborious and generally have a coarse...

Université de Fribourg

A consensus estimate for the ice thickness distribution of all glaciers on Earth

Farinotti, Daniel ; Huss, Matthias ; Fürst, Johannes J. ; Landmann, Johannes ; Machguth, Horst ; Maussion, Fabien ; Pandit, Ankur

In: Nature Geoscience, 2019, vol. 12, no. 3, p. 168–173

Knowledge of the ice thickness distribution of the world’s glaciers is a fundamental prerequisite for a range of studies. Projections of future glacier change, estimates of the available freshwater resources or assessments of potential sea-level rise all need glacier ice thickness to be accurately constrained. Previous estimates of global glacier volumes are mostly based on scaling...

Université de Fribourg

The bedrock topography of Starbuck Glacier, Antarctic Peninsula, as determined by radio-echo soundings and flow modeling

Farinotti, Daniel ; King, Edward C. ; Albrecht, Anika ; Huss, Matthias ; Gudmundsson, G. Hilmar

In: Annals of Glaciology, 2014, vol. 55, no. 67, p. 22–28

A glacier-wide ice-thickness distribution and bedrock topography is presented for Starbuck Glacier, Antarctic Peninsula. The results are based on 90 km of ground-based radio-echo sounding lines collected during the 2012/13 field season. Cross-validation with ice-thickness measurements provided by NASA's IceBridge project reveals excellent agreement. Glacier-wide estimates are derived using a...

Université de Fribourg

Runoff evolution in the Swiss Alps: projections for selected high-alpine catchments based on ENSEMBLES scenario

Farinotti, Daniel ; Usselmann, Stephanie ; Huss, Matthias ; Bauder, Andreas ; Funk, Martin

In: Hydrological Processes, 2011, vol. 25, p. -

The Alps are often referred to as the ‘water tower of Europe’. In Switzerland, many branches of the economy, especially the hydropower industry, are closely linked to and dependent on the availability of water. Assessing the impact of climate change on streamflow runoff is, thus, of great interest. Major efforts have already been made in this respect, but the analyses often focus on...