The new remote-sensing-derived Swiss glacier inventory: I. Methods

Paul, Frank; Kääb, Andreas; Maisch, Max; Kellenberger, Tobias; Haeberli, Wilfried

doi:10.3189/172756402781817941

Cited by 405 publications

(313 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This conforms to the pattern in other regions of Himalaya (Raina and Srivastava, 2008;Bajracharya and Shrestha, 2011;Frey et al, 2012), Tibet, Western Canada or the Alps (e.g. Kääb et al, 2002;Bolch et al, 2010a, b). The mean size of glaciers in the study area is 1.4 km 2 which is slightly higher than the glacierized basins of Ganga (1.1 km 2 ) and Brahmaputra (1.2 km 2 ) (Bajracharya and Shrestha, 2011).…”

Section: Glacier Characteristicssupporting

confidence: 88%

Heterogeneity in glacier response in the upper Shyok valley, northeast Karakoram

et al. 2013

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Section: Glacier Characteristicssupporting

confidence: 88%

Heterogeneity in glacier response in the upper Shyok valley, northeast Karakoram

et al. 2013

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“…Based on 1962 Corona and 2006 QuickBird imagery, we found an overall negative glacier surface area loss of 0.5 ± 0.2 % yr −1 since 1962, in agreement with those noted in other studies in the Himalaya. The area loss rates reported here are lower than the average rate of 0.7 % yr −1 reported in other glacierized areas of the world such as the Alps (Kääb et al, 2002), the Tien Shan (Bolch, 2007) and the Peruvian Andes (Racoviteanu et al, 2008a). Glaciers exhibit heterogeneous patterns of area change depending on topographic and climatic factors, most notably glacier altitude (maximum, median, altitudinal range), glacier size, slope and aspect.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 62%

Spatial patterns in glacier characteristics and area changes from 1962 to 2006 in the Kanchenjunga–Sikkim area, eastern Himalaya

et al. 2015

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Abstract. This study investigates spatial patterns in glacier characteristics and area changes at decadal scales in the eastern Himalaya -Nepal (Arun and Tamor basins), India (Teesta basin in Sikkim) and parts of China and Bhutan -based on various satellite imagery: Corona KH4 imagery, Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission Radiometer (ASTER), QuickBird (QB) and WorldView-2 (WV2). We compare and contrast glacier surface area changes over the period of 1962-2000/2006 and their dependency on glacier topography (elevation, slope, aspect, percent debris cover) and climate (solar radiation, precipitation) on the eastern side of the topographic barrier (Sikkim) versus the western side (Nepal).Glacier mapping from 2000 Landsat ASTER yielded 1463 ± 88 km 2 total glacierized area, of which 569 ± 34 km 2 was located in Sikkim and 488 ± 29 km 2 in eastern Nepal. Supraglacial debris covered 11 % of the total glacierized area, and supraglacial lakes covered about 5.8 % of the debris-covered glacier area alone. Glacier area loss (1962 to 2000) was 0.50 ± 0.2 % yr −1 , with little difference between Nepal (0.53 ± 0.2 % yr −1 ) and Sikkim (0.44 ± 0.2 % yr −1 ). Glacier area change was controlled mostly by glacier area, elevation, altitudinal range and, to a smaller extent, slope and aspect. In the Kanchenjunga-Sikkim area, we estimated a glacier area loss of 0.23 ± 0.08 % yr −1 from 1962 to 2006 based on high-resolution imagery. On a glacier-by-glacier basis, clean glaciers exhibit more area loss on average from 1962 to 2006 (34 %) compared to debris-covered glaciers (22 %). Glaciers in this region of the Himalaya are shrinking at similar rates to those reported for the last decades in other parts of the Himalaya, but individual glacier rates of change vary across the study area with respect to local topography, percent debris cover or glacier elevations.

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“…Selection of a representative subset of glaciers for a region is difficult, especially when glacier change is assessed over multiple epochs. Most studies of glacier change note increased scatter of percent area change for smaller glaciers (Serandbrei-Barbero et al, 1999;Kääb et al, 2001;Paul, 2002;Paul et al, 2004;DeBeer and Sharp, 2007;Andreassen et al, 2008;Bolch et al, 2010;Paul and Andreassen, 2009). This scatter may arise from the influence of local topographic factors (DeBeer and Sharp, 2007;Paul and Andreassen, 2009).…”

Section: Regional Representativenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glacier change in the Cariboo Mountains, British Columbia, Canada (1952–2005)

2015

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Abstract. We applied photogrammetric methods with aerial photography from 11 different years between 1946 and 2005 to assess changes in area and volume of 33 glaciers in the Cariboo Mountains of British Columbia for the latter half of the 20th century. These are used to identify changes in extent and elevation primarily for the periods 1952-1985, 1985-2005, and 1952-2005. All glaciers receded during the period 1952-2005; area retreat averaged −0.19 ± 0.05 % a −1 . From 1952 to 1985, nine glaciers advanced; following 1985, retreat rates accelerated to −0.41 ± 0.12 % a −1 . Thinning rates of a subset of seven glaciers likewise accelerated, from −0.14 ± 0.04 m w.e. a −1 to −0.50 ± 0.07 m w.e. a −1 for the period 1985-2005. Temperatures increased from the earlier to the latter period for the ablation (+0.38 • C) and accumulation (+0.87 • C) seasons, and average precipitation decreased, particularly in the accumulation season (−32 mm, −3.2 %). Our comparison of surface area change with glacier morphometry corroborates previous studies that show primary relations between extent change and surface area. We also find that the strength and sign of these relations varied for different epochs. Our results also indicate that the 1985 glacier extent for the study area reported previously by other studies may be slightly overestimated due to errant mapping of late-lying snow cover.

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The new remote-sensing-derived Swiss glacier inventory: I. Methods

Cited by 405 publications

References 15 publications

Heterogeneity in glacier response in the upper Shyok valley, northeast Karakoram

Heterogeneity in glacier response in the upper Shyok valley, northeast Karakoram

Spatial patterns in glacier characteristics and area changes from 1962 to 2006 in the Kanchenjunga–Sikkim area, eastern Himalaya

Glacier change in the Cariboo Mountains, British Columbia, Canada (1952–2005)

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