.png)
.png)
.png)
Email this article 
Methods of snow avalanche nourishment assessment (on the example of three Tian Shan glaciers)
https://doi.org/10.15356/2076-6734-2019-4-438
Abstract
The contribution of snow avalanches to the seasonal snow accumulation on a glacier is among the least studied components of the glacier’s mass balance. The methods for the numerical assessment of avalanche accumulation are still under development, which is related to poor avalanche data availability and difficulties in obtaining such data on most of mountain glaciers. We propose a possible methodology for the numerical assessment of snow avalanche contribution to snow accumulation at mountain glaciers based on DEM and weather data analysis using GIS and numerical modeling of snow avalanches. The developed methodology consists of the following steps: terrain analysis; weather data analysis; snow avalanche volume assessment during an analyzed balance year; numerical simulation of snow avalanches using RAMMS; evaluation of snow avalanches contribution into a glacier accumulation. The proposed methodology was tested on three glaciers located in the Inner Tien Shan: Batysh Sook, № 354 and Karabatkak during the 2015/16 balance year. To evaluate snow avalanche contribution to the seasonal accumulation, we reconstructed avalanche release zones that were most probably active during the 2015/16 balance year and corresponding snow fracture height in each of these zones. The numerical simulations of most probable released snow avalanches during the winter period 2015/16 using avalanche dynamics software RAMMS were performed and compared with the field observations and UAV orthophoto image from July 2016. The outlines of avalanches deposits were realistically reproduced by RAMMS according to the results of field observation. The estimated share of snow avalanche contribution to the accumulation on the research glaciers during the 2015/16 balance year turned out to be: Batysh Sook – 7,4±2,5%; № 354 – 2,2±0,7%; Karabatkak – 10,8±3,6% of the total accumulation. The next step would be to test the proposed methodology based on the data and regional dependences from the Inner Tien Shan in other mountainous regions. This methodology is applicable in the regions where DEMs, regular meteorological observations as well as data on the regional avalanche formation factors are available.
About the Authors
A. S. TurchaninovaRussian Federation
A. V. Lazarev
Russian Federation
E. S. Marchenko
Russian Federation
Yu. G. Seliverstov
Russian Federation
S. A. Sokratov
Russian Federation
D. A. Petrakov
Russian Federation
M. Barandun
Switzerland
R. Kenzhebaev
Kyrgyzstan
T. Saks
Switzerland
References
1. Losev K.S. The avalanches role mass budget of glaciers. Materialy 3 ey Zakavkazskoy nauchnoy konferen tsii po izucheniyu snezhnogo pokrova, snezhnykh lavin i gornykh lednikov Kavkaza (Trudy Zakavkazskogo nauch no-issledovatel’skogo gidrometeorologicheskogo insti tuta. Vyp. 20). Proc. of the 3rd Transcaucasian conf. on study of snow cover, snow avalanches and alpine glaciers of the Caucasus (Proc. of the Transcaucasian Scientific-Research Hydrometeorological Institute. Is. 20). Ed. V.Sh. Tsomaya. Leningrad: Gidrometeoizdat, 1966: 178– 182. [In Russian].
2. Hewitt K. Glacier Mass Balance I: Snowfall and Glacier Nourishment. Glaciers of the Karakoram Himalaya: Glacial Environments, Processes, Hazards and Resources (Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research). Dordrecht: Springer, 2014: 87–116. doi: 10.1007/978-94007-6311-1_4.
3. Panov V.D. Ehvolyutsiya sovremennogo oledeneniya Kavkaza. Evolution of the Modern Glaciation of the Caucasus. St. Petersburg: Gidrometeoizdat, 1993: 432 p. [In Russian].
4. Paterson W.S.B. Heat budget and climatology. The physics of glaciers. Third edition. Pergamon, 1994: 53–57. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-08-037944-9.50010-8.
5. Laha S., Kumari R., Singh S., Mishra A., Sharma T., Baner jee A., Nainwal H.C., Shankar R. Evaluating the contribution of avalanching to the mass balance of Himalayan glaciers. Annals of Glaciology. 2017, 58 (75, Pt. 2): 110–118. doi: 10.1017/aog.2017.27.
6. Hewitt K. Glacier change, concentration, and elevation effects in the Karakoram Himalaya, upper Indus basin. Mountain Research and Development. 2011, 31 (3): 188– 200. doi: 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-11-00020.1.
7. Kuhn M. The mass balance of very small glaciers. Measurement and reconstruction of glacier mass balance. Pt. 1 (Zeitschrift für Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie, 31 (1995)). Ed. M. Kuhn. Innsbruck: Universitätsverlag Wagner, 1996: 171–179.
8. Rödder T., Braun L.N., Mayer C. Accumulation rates and snow redistribution processes at the Ice Chapel, Berchtesgaden Alps. Zeitschrift für Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie, 42/2 (2008). Innsbruck: Universitätsverlag Wagner, 2010: 3–20.
9. Mott R., Wolf A., Kehl M., Kunstmann H., Warscher M., Grünewald T. Avalanches and micrometeorology driving mass and energy balance of the lowest perennial ice field of the Alps: a case study. The Cryosphere. 2019, 13 (4): 1247–1265. doi: 10.5194/tc-13-1247-2019.
10. Glazirin G.E., Kodama Y., Ohata T. Stability of drifting snow-type perennial snow patches. Bulletin of Glaciological Research. 2004, 21: 1–8.
11. Shchetinnikov A.S. Ledniki basseyna reki Pskem. Glaciers of the Pskem river basin. Leningrad: Gidrometeoizdat, 1976: 120 p. [In Russian].
12. Kharitonov G.G. Calculation methods of the avalanche nourishment of glaciers. Materialy Glyatsiologicheskikh Issledovanii. Data of Glaciological Studies. 1979, 36: 155– 159. [In Russian with English abstract].
13. Banerjee A., Shankar R. Estimating the avalanche contribution to the mass balance of debris covered glaciers. The Cryosphere. Discussions. 2014, 8: 641–657. doi: 10.5194/ tcd-8-641-2014.
14. Popovnin V.V., Pylayeva T.V. Avalanche feeding of the Djankuat Glacier. Led i Sneg. Ice and Snow. 2015. № 2 (130): 21–32. doi: 10.15356/2076-6734-2015-2-2132. [In Russian with English abstract].
15. Popovnin V.V., Sergiyevskaya Ya.Ye. On a feedback of the share of avalanche alimentation with a glacier accumulation. Led i Sneg. Ice and Snow. 2018, 58 (4): 437–447. doi: 10.15356/2076-6734-2018-4-437-447. [In Russian].
16. Oledeneniye Tyan Shanya. Glaciation of Tien Shan. Еd. M.B. Dyurgerov. Moscow: VINITI, 1995: 239 p. [In Russian].
17. Atlas snezhno-ledovykh resursov mira. World Atlas of Snow and Ice Resources. Ed. V.M. Kotlyakov. Moscow: Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, NPP «Kartographiya», 1997: 392 p. [In Russian and English].
18. Maksimov N.V., Zyabkin V.V., Barbat Yu.V. Lavinoopasnye rayony Kirgizii. Avalanches-endagered regions of Kirgizia. Frunze: Kyrgyzstan, 1975: 92 p. [In Russian].
19. Severskiy I.V., Blagoveshchenskiy V.P. Otsenka lavinnoy opasnosti gornoy territorii. Assessment of avalanche danger of a mountain territory. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 1983: 220 p. [In Russian].
20. Geografiya lavin. Geography of avalanches. Eds.: S.M. Myagkov, L.A. Kanaev. Moscow: Moscow State University, 1992: 332 p. [In Russian].
21. Petrakov D., Shpuntova A., Aleinikov A., Kääb A., Kutu zov S., Lavrentiev I., Stoffel M., Tutubalina O., Usubaliev R. Accelerated glacier shrinkage in the Ak-Shyirak massif, Inner Tien Shan, during 2003–2013. Science of the Total Environment. 2016, 562: 364–378. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.162.
22. Lazarev A., Turchaninova A., Seliverstov Yu., Komarov A., Sokratov S. Estimation of accumulation from snow avalanches on the mountain glaciers. Proc. of the Intern. Snow Science Workshop (ISSW), Innsbruck, Austria, 2018. Innsbruck: ISSW, 2018: 488–492.
23. Severskiy I.V., Blagoveshchenskiy V.P., Severskiy S.I., Xie Z., Zhang Z., Hu R. Snow cover and avalanches in Tian Shan Mountains. Almaty: VAC Publishing House, 2000: 180 p.
24. Blagoveshchenskiy V.P. Opredelenie lavinnykh nagruzok. The definition of avalanches loads. Almaty: Gylym, 1991: 116 p. [In Russian].
25. Dykikh A.N. Problems of snow storm transportation on the Kara-Batckak Glacier. Glyatsiologicheskie issledovaniya na Tyan’-Shane (Raboty Tyan’-Shan’skoY fiziko-geogra ficheskoY stantsii, VI). Glaciological Studies on Tien-Shan (The works of the Tien-Shan physical-geographical station, VI). Frunze: Izdatel’stvo Akademii Nauk Kirgizskoi SSR, 1964: 41–45. [In Russian].
26. Bartelt P., Bühler Y., Christen M., Deubelbeiss Y., Salz M., Schneider M., Schumacher L. RAMMS::AVALANCHE User Manual. V. 1.7.0. Davos: SLF, 2017: iii+97.
27. Christen M., Bartelt P., Kowalski J. RAMMS: Numerical simulation of dense snow avalanches in three-dimensional terrain. Cold Regions Science and Technology. 2010, 63 (1–2): 1–14. doi: 10.1016/j.coldregions.2010.04.005.
28. Turchaninova A.S., Seliverstov Yu.G., Glazovskaya T.G. Modeling of snow avalanches using RAMMS in Russia. Georisk. Georisk. 2015, 4: 42–47. [In Russian].
29. Semakova E., Safronov V., Mamaraimov A., Nurtaev B., Semakov D., Bühler Y. Applying numerical snow avalanche simulations for hazard assessment in the Kamchik pass area, Uzbekistan. Proceedings, International Snow Science Workshop (ISSW), Innsbruck, Austria, 2018. Innsbruck: ISSW, 2018: 701–704.
30. Kenzhebaev R., Barandun M., Kronenberg M., Chen Y., Usubaliev R., Hoelzle M. Mass balance observations and reconstruction for Batysh Sook Glacier, Tien Shan, from 2004 to 2016. Cold Regions Science and Technology. 2017, 135: 76–79. doi: 10.1016/j.coldregions.2016.12.007.
31. Kronenberg M., Barandun M., Hoelzle M., Huss M., Farinotti D., Azisov E., Usubaliev R., Gafurov A., Petrakov D., Kääb A. Mass-balance reconstruction for Glacier No. 354, Tien Shan, from 2003 to 2014. Annals of Glaciology. 2016, 57 (71): 92–101. doi: 10.3189/2016AoG71A032.
Supplementary files
For citation: Turchaninova A.S., Lazarev A.V., Marchenko E.S., Seliverstov Y.G., Sokratov S.A., Petrakov D.A., Barandun M., Kenzhebaev R., Saks T. Methods of snow avalanche nourishment assessment (on the example of three Tian Shan glaciers). Ice and Snow. 2019;59(4):460-474. https://doi.org/10.15356/2076-6734-2019-4-438
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
ISSN 2076-6734 (Print)
ISSN 2412-3765 (Online)