Quantifying changes and trends in glacier area and volume in the Austrian Ötztal Alps (1969-1997-2006)

Abermann, Jakob; Lambrecht, Astrid; Fischer, Andrea; Kühn, Michael

doi:10.5194/tc-3-205-2009

Cited by 116 publications

(147 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In theÖtztal (Austrian Alps), glaciers in the size class of 1-5 km 2 lost 11. 4 % between 1969and 1997and 19.1 % in the period 1969(Lambrecht and Kuhn, 2007Abermann et al, 2009). In Switzerland, glaciers in the same size class lost 17.9 % between 1973 and 1999 (Paul et al, 2004).…”

Section: Analysis Of Glacier and Debris Cover Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of glacier melt on debris-covered glaciers in the northern and southern Caucasus

et al. 2011

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Abstract. The glacier coverage in the Caucasus Mountains underwent considerable changes during the last decades. In some regions, the observed reduction in glacier area is comparable to those in the European Alps and the extent of supra-glacial debris increased on many glaciers. Only a few glaciers in the Caucasus are monitored on a regular basis, while for most areas no continuous field measurements are available. In this study, regional differences of the conditions for glacier melt with a special focus on debris covered glacier tongues in the well-studied Adyl-su basin on the northern slope of the Caucasus Mountains (Russia) is compared with the Zopkhito basin which has similar characteristics but is located on the southern slope in Georgia. The paper focuses on the effect of supra-glacial debris cover on glacier summer melt. There are systematic differences in the distribution and increase of the debris cover on the glaciers of the two basins. In the Adyl-su basin an extensive debris cover on the glacier tongues is common, however, only those glacier tongues that are positioned at the lowest elevations in the Zopkhito basin show a considerable extent of supra-glacial debris. The observed increase in debris cover is considerably stronger in the north. Field experiments show that thermal resistance of the debris cover in both basins is somewhat higher than in other glaciated regions of the world, but there is also a significant difference between the two regions. A simple ablation model accounting for the effect of debris cover on ice melt shows that melt rates are considerably higher in the northern basin despite a wider debris distribution. This difference betweenCorrespondence to: A. Lambrecht (astrid.lambrecht@uibk.ac.at) the two regions can be attributed to different meteorological conditions which are characterised by more frequent cloud cover and precipitation in the south. Furthermore ablation is strongly influenced by the occurrence of supra-glacial debris cover in both basins, reducing the total amount of melt on the studied glaciers by about 25 %. This effect mitigates glacier retreat in the lower sectors of the ablation zones considerably. The sensitivity to moderate changes in the debris cover, however, is rather small which implies only gradual changes of the melt regime due to debris cover dynamics during the near future.

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Section: Analysis Of Glacier and Debris Cover Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of glacier melt on debris-covered glaciers in the northern and southern Caucasus

et al. 2011

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“…In the last decade, the inclusion of La Mare and Malavalle glaciers in the Italian subset and the concurrent sharp decrease of B a for the Sarennes, St. Sorlin and Gries glaciers explain the different behaviors of the two groups of glaciers. However, the smaller Italian glaciers (average area = 1.79 km 2 ) may have a shorter response time to climatic changes, adjusting their geometry faster than the larger glaciers (average area = 3.63 km 2 ) which are representative of the European Alps (Hoelzle et al, 2003;Abermann et al, 2009). The rapid shrinking and fragmentation of Careser Glacier is a good example: in the last decade, its area has halved, and it completely lost the parts subject to higher ablation (Carturan et al, 2013a).…”

Section: Comparison With Other Glaciers In the European Alpsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the mass balance time series of glaciers in the Italian Alps

Carturan

Baroni

Brunetti³

et al. 2016

The Cryosphere

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Abstract. This work presents an analysis of the mass balance series of nine Italian glaciers, which were selected based on the length, continuity and reliability of observations. All glaciers experienced mass loss in the observation period, which is variable for the different glaciers and ranges between 10 and 47 years. The longest series display increasing mass loss rates, which were mainly due to increased ablation during longer and warmer ablation seasons. The mean annual mass balance (B a

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“…For validation data sources (i)-(iii) the root-mean-square (rms) of the difference B ex −B obs between observed B obs and extrapolated mass balance B ex , and the bias is evaluated. (iv) Validation against regional scale glacier elevation change assessments based on the geodetic method (Berthier, 2005;Paul and Haeberli, 2008;Abermann et al, 2009;Abermann et al, 2011a) is performed by comparing mean extrapolated mass balance for the Mont Blanc area , the Swiss Alps (1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000), the Oetztal Alps (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006), and the Austrian Alps to elevation differences in repeated DEMs (Table 1). For consistency, a mean density of 850 kg m −3 (see e.g.…”

Section: -2008mentioning

confidence: 99%

Extrapolating glacier mass balance to the mountain-range scale: the European Alps 1900–2100

2012

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Abstract. This study addresses the extrapolation of in-situ glacier mass balance measurements to the mountain-range scale and aims at deriving time series of area-averaged mass balance and ice volume change for all glaciers in the European Alps for the period 1900-2100. Long-term mass balance series for 50 Swiss glaciers based on a combination of field data and modelling, and WGMS data for glaciers in Austria, France and Italy are used. A complete glacier inventory is available for the year 2003. Mass balance extrapolation is performed based on (1) arithmetic averaging, (2) glacier hypsometry, and (3) multiple regression. Given a sufficient number of data series, multiple regression with variables describing glacier geometry performs best in reproducing observed spatial mass balance variability. Future mass changes are calculated by driving a combined model for mass balance and glacier geometry with GCM ensembles based on four emission scenarios. Mean glacier mass balance in the European Alps is −0.31 ± 0.04 m w.e. a −1 in 1900-2011, and −1 m w.e. a −1 over the last decade. Total ice volume change since 1900 is −96 ± 13 km 3 ; annual values vary between −5.9 km 3 (1947) and +3.9 km 3 (1977). Mean mass balances are expected to be around −1.3 m w.e. a −1 by 2050. Model results indicate a glacier area reduction of 4-18 % relative to 2003 for the end of the 21st century.

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Quantifying changes and trends in glacier area and volume in the Austrian Ötztal Alps (1969-1997-2006)

Cited by 116 publications

References 24 publications

A comparison of glacier melt on debris-covered glaciers in the northern and southern Caucasus

A comparison of glacier melt on debris-covered glaciers in the northern and southern Caucasus

Analysis of the mass balance time series of glaciers in the Italian Alps

Extrapolating glacier mass balance to the mountain-range scale: the European Alps 1900–2100

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