In: The Cryosphere, 2019, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 397–412
Albedo feedback is an important driver of glacier melt over bare-ice surfaces. Light- absorbing impurities strongly enhance glacier melt rates but their abundance, composition and variations in space and time are subject to considerable uncertainties and ongoing scientific debates. In this study, we assess the temporal evolution of shortwave broadband albedo derived from 15 end-of-summer...
|
In: Renewable Energy, 2019, vol. 132, p. 615–627
High elevation or high latitude hydropower production (HP) strongly relies on water resources that are influenced by glacier melt and are thus highly sensitive to climate warming. Despite of the wide-spread glacier retreat since the development of HP infrastructure in the 20th century, little quantitative information is available about the role of glacier mass loss for HP. In this paper, we...
|
In: The Cryosphere, 2019, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 325–350
The Paris agreement aims to hold global warming to well below 2 ∘C and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 ∘C relative to the pre-industrial period. Recent estimates based on population growth and intended carbon emissions from participant countries suggest global warming may exceed this ambitious target. Here we present glacier volume projections for the end of this century, under a...
|
In: The Cryosphere, 2018, vol. 12, no. 6, p. 1899–1919
Glacier surface mass balance observations in the Tien Shan and Pamir are relatively sparse and often discontinuous. Nevertheless, glaciers are one of the most important components of the high-mountain cryosphere in the region as they strongly influence water availability in the arid, continental and intensely populated downstream areas. This study provides reliable and continuous surface mass...
|
In: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 2018, vol. 43, no. 4, p. 765–778
In the Swiss Alps, climatic changes have not only caused glacier retreat, but also likely increased sedimentation downstream of glaciers. This material either originates from below the glacier or from periglacial environments, which are exposed as glaciers retreat, and often consist of easily erodible sediment. Griesgletscher's catchment in the Swiss Alps was examined to quantify erosion in...
|
In: Geographica Helvetica, 2018, vol. 73, no. 1, p. 1–9
Knowledge of the ice thickness distribution of glaciers is important for glaciological and hydrological applications. In this contribution, we present two updated bedrock topographies and ice thickness distributions for Gries- and Findelengletscher, Switzerland. The results are based on ground-penetrating radar (GPR) measurements collected in spring 2015 and already-existing data. The GPR...
|
In: Nature Climate Change, 2018, vol. 8, no. 2, p. 135–140
Worldwide glacier retreat and associated future runoff changes raise major concerns over the sustainability of global water resources1,2,3,4, but global-scale assessments of glacier decline and the resulting hydrological consequences are scarce5,6. Here we compute global glacier runoff changes for 56 large-scale glacierized drainage basins to 2100 and analyse the glacial impact on streamflow....
|
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...
|
In: Earth’s Future, 2017, vol. 5, no. 5, p. 2016EF000514
The cryosphere in mountain regions is rapidly declining, a trend that is expected to accelerate over the next several decades due to anthropogenic climate change. A cascade of effects will result, extending from mountains to lowlands with associated impacts on human livelihood, economy, and ecosystems. With rising air temperatures and increased radiative forcing, glaciers will become smaller...
|
In: Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems, 2017, vol. 6, no. 2, p. 397–418
Glacier mass loss is among the clearest indicators of atmospheric warming. The observation of these changes is one of the major objectives of the international climate monitoring strategy developed by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). Long-term glacier mass balance measurements are furthermore the basis for calibrating and validating models simulating future runoff of glacierised...
|