Snowline observations to remotely derive seasonal to sub-seasonal glacier mass balance in the Tien Shan and Pamir Mountains

Glacier mass balance is a valuable indicator of climate change. However, in remote areas as Central Asia novel approaches are required to infer mass balance at high temporal and spatial resolution without direct field-site access. We apply and refine a new approach to four Kyrgyz glaciers in the framework of this project. This methodology should enable an efficient remote determination of the glacier mass balance based on repeated snowline observations throughout the ablation season.

In a second step, the methodology is applied to a large number of glaciers in remote and inaccessible regions of the Tien Shan and Pamir Mountains in Central Asia, where in-situ measurements are not feasible. An automatic routine to detect the snowline position over the glacier area based on satellite imagery will allow a fast and inexpensive way to monitor glacier mass balance without the need of direct measurements.

Research aims/sciences questions:
1. Can glacier-wide mass balance be derived from transient snowline observations?
2. Does the proposed methodology allow the calculation of the mass balance for individual glaciers without in-situ measurements?
3. Can mass balance be estimated region wide, purely based on transient snowline observations?

Methods/methodology of the project: snowline and mass balance modelling, remote sensing (ground based camera and satellite), direct glaciological mass balance measurements, geodetic mass balance

Study area: Kyrgyz Tien Shan and Pamir mountains (Kyrgyzstan). Selected glaciers: Abramov Glacier (Pamir-Alay), Golubin Glacier, Batysh Sook and Glacier No.354 (Tien Shan)

• Exemplary results
  

  Ground based Mobotix camera image of Abramov Glacier from early June 2015

  

  Ablation measurement at Golubin Glacier

  

  Image of Glacier No. 354 taken by the terrestrial camera eight times per day

• Publications
  • Barandun, M., Huss, M., Sold, L., Farinotti, D., Azisov, E., Salzmann, N., Usubaliev, R., Merkushkin, A., & Hoelzle, M. (2015). Re-analysis of seasonal mass balance at Abramov glacier 1968–2014. Journal of Glaciology, 61(230), 1103-1117.
  • Kronenberg, M., Barandun, M., Hoelzle, M., Huss, M., Farinotti, D., Azisov, E., ... & Kääb, A. (2016). Mass-balance econstruction for Glacier No. 354, Tien Shan, from 2003 to 2014. Annals of Glaciology, 57, 71.
  • Kenzhebaev, R., Barandun, M., Kronenberg, M., Yaning, C., Usubaliev, R., Hoelzle, M., (in review). Mass balance observation and reconstruction for Batysh Sook Glacier, Tian Shan, from 2004 to 2015. Cold Region Science and Technology.