In: Journal of Glaciology, 2019, vol. 65, no. 250, p. 263–269
We show a strong difference in surface mass and energy balance of a mountain glacier and two sites on the ice sheet at 64°N in West Greenland using stake and automated weather station observations. Net surface mass balance is on average 2.2 m w.e. less negative at the coast compared with the ice sheet in the same elevation. We find a larger energy turnover at the ice sheet margin on...
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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...
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In: Nature Climate Change, 2018, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 48–52
Glaciers and ice caps peripheral to the main Greenland Ice Sheet contribute markedly to sea-level rise1,2,3. Their changes and variability, however, have been difficult to quantify on multi-decadal timescales due to an absence of long-term data4. Here, using historical aerial surveys, expedition photographs, spy satellite imagery and new remote-sensing products, we map glacier length...
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In: The Cryosphere, 2018, vol. 12, no. 8, p. 2515–2544
At the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the Rhine glacier in the Swiss Alps covered an area of about 16000km2. As part of an integrative study about the safety of repositories for radioactive waste under ice age conditions in Switzerland, we modeled the Rhine glacier using a thermodynamically coupled three-dimensional, transient Stokes flow and heat transport model down to a horizontal resolution...
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In: Geophysical Research Letters, 2016, vol. 43, no. 15, p. 8091–8096
In 1959 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built Camp Century beneath the surface of the northwestern Greenland Ice Sheet. There they studied the feasibility of deploying ballistic missiles within the ice sheet. The base and its wastes were abandoned with minimal decommissioning in 1967, under the assumption they would be preserved for eternity by perpetually accumulating snowfall. Here we show...
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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...
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In: Frontiers in Earth Science, 2018, vol. 6, p. -
The surface snow density of glaciers and ice sheets is of fundamental importance in converting volume to mass in both altimetry and surface mass balance studies, yet it is often poorly constrained. Site-specific surface snow densities are typically derived from empirical relations based on temperature and wind speed. These parameterizations commonly calculate the average density of the top...
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In: The Cryosphere, 2017, vol. 11, no. 2, p. 1015–1033
With the aim of studying the recent Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) surface mass balance (SMB) decrease relative to the last century, we have forced the regional climate MAR (Modèle Atmosphérique Régional; version 3.5.2) model with the ERA-Interim (ECMWF Interim Re-Analysis; 1979–2015), ERA-40 (1958–2001), NCEP–NCARv1 (National Centers for Environmental Prediction–National Center for...
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In: The Cryosphere, 2014, vol. 8, no. 6, p. 2313–2333
Ice volume estimates are crucial for assessing water reserves stored in glaciers. Due to its large glacier coverage, such estimates are of particular interest for the Himalayan–Karakoram (HK) region. In this study, different existing methodologies are used to estimate the ice reserves: three area–volume relations, one slope-dependent volume estimation method, and two ice-thickness...
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In: Global and Planetary Change, 2014, vol. 122, p. 330–344
One of the grand challenges in glacier research is to assess the total ice volume and its global distribution. Over the past few decades the compilation of a world glacier inventory has been well-advanced both in institutional set-up and in spatial coverage. The inventory is restricted to glacier surface observations. However, although thickness has been observed on many glaciers and ice caps...
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