.png)
.png)
.png)
Email this article 
Glacier area and mass changes since 1964 in the Ala Archa Valley, Kyrgyz Ala-Too, northern Tien Shan
https://doi.org/10.15356/2076-6734-2015-1-28-39
Abstract
Glaciers are an important source of fresh water for Central Asia as they release water during the summer months when precipitation is low and water demand highest. Many studies address glacier area changes but only changes in glacier mass can be directly linked to climate and runoff. Despite the importance, investigations of glacier mass changes have been restricted to only a few glaciers in the Tien Shan until now. Geodetic mass balance measurements are suitable to complement and extend existing in-situ measurements. In this study, both area and mass changes of the ~40 km² glacier ice in the Ala Archa Valley, Kyrgyz Tien Shan, were investigated using 1964 and 1971 stereo Corona, 2012 stereo ASTER, the SRTM digital terrain model and other optical data such as Landsat ETM+ or Rapid Eye. In addition, ice thickness was modeled taking the basal shear stress and the glacier surface topography into account. The results indicate an area loss of 18.3±5.0% from 1964 until 2010 with continuous shrinkage in all investigated periods. The glacier’s mass balance was −0.45±0.27 m w.e. a−1 for the period 1964–1999 and −0.42±0.66 m w.e. a−1 for 1999–2012. Golubin Glacier showed a possible slight mass gain for 1964– 1971 and a decelerated mass loss for the 1999–2012 period. This is in good agreement with existing in-situ measurements exiting from 1962 until 1994 and since 2010. The overall ice volume was estimated to be 1.56±0.47 km³ of ice in the year 2000. Hence, the entire ice would be lost by 2100 if the mass loss would continue at the same rate
About the Author
T. BolchGermany
References
1. Aizen V.B. Reconstruction of the Golubin Glacier mass balance. Materialy Glyatsiologicheskikh Issledovaniy. Data of Glaciological Studies. 1988, 62: 119–125.
2. Bolch T., Marchenko S.S. Glaciers, rock glaciers and permafrost of the Northern Tien Shan as a water tower in the conditions of climate change. Snezhno-ledovye i vodnye resursy vysokikh gor Azii. Snow, ice and water resources of the high mountains in Asia. Materials of the Intern. Seminar. 28–30 November, 2006. Ed. I.V. Severskiy. Almaty, 2007: 215–229.
3. Kutuzov S.S. Changes in glacier area and volume in Terskey Ala-Too Range in the second half of XX century. Led i Sneg. Ice and Snow. 2012, 1 (117): 5–14.
4. Macheret Yu.Ya., Kutuzov S.S., Matskovsky, Lavrentiev I.I. On the estimation of ice volume of alpine glaciers. Led i Sneg. Ice and Snow. 2013, 1 (121): 5–15.
5. Aizen V.B., Kuzmichenok V.A., Aizen E.M., Melack J.M. Characteristics of runoff formation at the Kirgizskiy Alatoo, Tien Shan. IAHS Publication. 1995, 228: 413–430.
6. Aizen V.B., Aizen E.M., Melack J.M. Precipitation, melt and runoff in the northern Tien Shan. Journ. of Hydrology. 1996, 186: 229–251.
7. Aizen V.B., Kuzmichenok V.A., Surazakov A.B., Aizen E.M. Glacier changes in the Tien Shan as determined from topographic and remotely sensed data. Global and Planetary Change. 2007, 56: 328–340.
8. Bahr D.B., Meier M.F., Peckham S.D. The physical basis of area volume scaling. Journ. of Geophys. Research. 1997, 102: 20,355–20,362.
9. Berthier E., Arnaud Y., Kumar R., Ahmad S., Wagnon P., Chevallier P. Remote sensing estimates of glacier mass balances in the Himachal Pradesh (Western Himalaya, India). Remote Sensing of Environment. 2007, 108: 327–338.
10. Bhambri R., Bolch T., Chaujar R.K., Kulshreshtha S.C. Glacier changes in the Garhwal Himalayas, India 1968–2006 based on remote sensing. Journ. of Glaciology. 2011, 57: 543–556.
11. Bolch T. Climate change and glacier retreat in northern Tien Shan (Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan) using remote sensing data. Global and Planetary Change. 2007, 56: 1–12.
12. Bolch T., Buchroithner M.F., Pieczonka T., Kunert A. Planimetric and volumetric Glacier changes in Khumbu Himalaya since 1962 using Corona, Landsat TM and ASTER data. Journ. of Glaciology. 2008, 54: 592–600.
13. Bolch T., Menounos B., Wheate R.D. Landsat-based inventory of glaciers in western Canada, 1985–2005. Remote Sensing of Environment. 2010, 114: 127–137.
14. Bolch T., Yao T., Kang S., Buchroithner M.F., Scherer D., Maussion F., Huintjes E., Schneider C. A glacier inventory for the western Nyainqentanglha Range and Nam Co Basin, Tibet, and glacier changes 1976–2009. Cryosphere. 2010, 4: 419–433.
15. Bolch T., Pieczonka T., Benn D.I. Multi-decadal mass loss of glaciers in the Everest area (Nepal, Himalaya) derived from stereo imagery. Cryosphere. 2011, 5: 349–358.
16. Bolch T., Kulkarni A., Kääb A., Huggel C., Paul F., Cogley J.G., Frey H., Kargel J.S., Fujita K., Scheel M., Bajracharya S., Stoffel M. The state and fate of Himalayan glaciers. Science. 2012, 336: 310–314.
17. Cao M. Detection of abrupt changes in glacier mass balance in the Tien Shan Mountains. Journ. of Glaciology. 1998, 44: 352–358.
18. Cuffrey K., Paterson, W.S.B. The Physics of Glaciers. 4th edition. Academic Press, 2010: 704 p.
19. Dashora A., Lohani B., Malik J.N. A repository of earth resource information – CORONA satellite programme. Current Science. 2007, 92: 926–932.
20. Ding Y., Liu S., Li J., Shangguan D. The retreat of glaciers in response to recent climate warming in western China. Annals of Glaciology. 2006, 43: 97–105.
21. Ender A. Glacier volume and mass balance in the Ala Archa National Park (Kyrgyz Ala-Too/Kyrgyzstan). Diploma thesis, TU Dresden. 2010: 110 p.
22. Farinotti D., Huss M., Bauder A., Funk M., Truffer M. A method to estimate ice volume and ice thickness distribution of alpine glaciers. Journ. of Glaciollogy. 2009, 55: 422–430.
23. Farr T.G., Rosen P.A., Caro E., Crippen R., Duren R., Hensley S., Kobrick M., Paller M., Rodriguez E., Roth L., Seal D., Shaffer S., Shimada J., Umland J., Werner M., Oskin M., Burbank D., Alsdorf D. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. Review Geophysics. 2007, 45: RG2004. doi:10.1029/2005RG000183.
24. Frey H., Paul F., Strozzi T. Compilation of a glacier inventory for the western Himalayas from satellite data: methods, challenges, and results. Remote Sensing of Environment. 2012, 124: 832–843.
25. Gardelle J., Berthier E., Arnaud Y. Impact on resolution and radar penetration on glacier elevation changes computed from DEM differencing. Journ. of Glaciology. 2012, 58: 419–422.
26. Gardelle J., Berthier E., Arnaud Y., Kääb A. Region-wide glacier mass balances over the Pamir-Karakoram-Himalaya during 1999–2011. Cryosphere. 2013, 7: 1263–1286.
27. Grant K.L., Stokes C.R., Evans I.S. Identification and characteristics of surge-type glaciers on Novaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic. Journ. of Glaciology. 2009, 55: 960–972.
28. Haeberli W., Hoelzle M. Application of inventory data for estimating characteristics of and regional climate-change effects on mountain glaciers: a pilot study with the European Alps. Annals of Glaciology.1995, 21: 206–212.
29. Hagg W., Braun L., Kuhn M., Neesgaard T.I. Modelling of hydrological response to climate change in glacierized Central Asian catchments. Journ. of Hydrology. 2007, 332: 40–53.
30. Huss M. Density assumptions for converting geodetic glacier volume change to mass change. Cryosphere. 2013, 7: 877–887.
31. Kutuzov S., Shahgedanova M. Glacier retreat and climatic variability in the eastern Terske-Alatoo, inner Tien Shan between the middle of the 19th century and beginning of the 21st century. Global and Planetary Change. 2009, 69: 59–70.
32. Lamsal D., Sawagki T., Watanabe T. Digital terrain modelling using Corona and ALOS PRISM data to investigate the distal part of Imja Glacier, Khumbu Himal, Nepal. Journ. of Mountain Sciences. 2011, 8: 390–402.
33. Linsbauer A., Paul F., Haeberli W. Modeling glacier thickness distribution and bed topography over entire mountain ranges with GlabTop: Application of a fast and robust approach. Journ. of Geophys. Research. 2012, 117: F03007. doi:10.1029/2011JF002313.
34. McDonald R.A. CORONA: Success for space reconnaissance. A look into the Cold War, and a revolution for intelligence. Photogrammetric Engineering Remote Sensing. 1995, 61: 689–720.
35. Narama C., Kääb A., Duishonakunov M., Abdrakhmatov K. Spatial variability of recent glacier area changes in the Tien Shan Mountains, Central Asia, using Corona (1970), Landsat (2000), and ALOS (2007) satellite data. Global and Planetary Change. 2010, 71: 42–54.
36. Niederer P., Bilenko V., Ershova N., Hurni H., Yerokhin S., Maselli D. Tracing glacier wastage in the Northern Tien Shan (Kyrgyzstan/Central Asia) over the last 40 years. Climatic Change. 2008, 86: 227–234.
37. Nuth C., Kääb A. Co-registration and bias corrections of satellite elevation data sets for quantifying glacier thickness change. Cryosphere. 2011, 5: 271–290.
38. Ozmonov A., Bolch T., Xi C., Wei J., Kurban A. Glaciers characteristics and changes in the Sary-Jaz River Basin (Central Tien Shan) 1990-2010 Remote Sensing Letters. Remote Sensing Letters. 2013, 4: 725–734.
39. Paul F., Kääb A., Maisch M., Kellenberger T., Haeberli W. The new remote sensing derived Swiss Glacier Inventory: I. Methods. Annals of Glaciology. 2002, 34: 355–361.
40. Paul F., Kääb A., Maisch M., Kellenberger T., Haeberli W. Rapid disintegration of Alpine glaciers observed with satellite data. Geophys. Research Letters. 2004, 31: L21402. doi:10.1029/2004GL020816.
41. Paul F., Haeberli W. Spatial variability of glacier elevation changes in the Swiss Alps obtained from two digital elevation models. Geophys. Research Letters. 2008, 35: L21502. doi:10.1029/2008GL034718.
42. Pieczonka T., Bolch T., Buchroithner M.F. Generation and evaluation of multitemporal digital terrain models of the Mt. Everest area from different optical sensors. ISPRS Journ. of Photogrammetry. 2011, 66: 927–940.
43. Pieczonka T., Bolch T., Wei J., Liu S. Heterogeneous mass loss of glaciers in the Aksu-Tarim Catchment (Central Tien Shan) revealed by 1976 KH-9 Hexagon and 2009 SPOT-5 stereo imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment. 2013, 130: 233–244.
44. Schmidt S., Nüsser M.. Changes of High Altitude Glaciers from 1969 to 2010 in the Trans-Himalayan Kang Yatze Massif, Ladakh, Northwest India. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research. 2012, 44: 107–121.
45. Shangguan D., Bolch T., Ding Y., Pieczonka T., Kröhnert M., Wetzel H.-U., Liu S. Elevation changes of Inylchek Glacier during 1974-2007, Central Tian Shan, Kyrgyzstan derived from remote sensing data. Cryosphere Discussion. 2014, 8: 2573–2610.
46. Solomina O., Barry R., Bodnya M. The retreat of Tien Shan glaciers (Kygryzstan) since the Little Ice Age estimated from aerial photographs, lichenometric and historical data. Geogr. Annals. A. 2004, 86: 205–216.
47. Sorg A., Bolch T., Stoffel M., Solomina O., Beniston M. Climate change impacts on glaciers and runoff in Tien Shan (Central Asia). Nature Climate Change. 2012, 2: 725–731.
48. Surazakov A., Aizen V.B. Positional accuracy evaluation of declassified Hexagon KH-9 mapping camera imagery. Photogrammetric Engineering Remote Sensing. 2010, 76: 603–608.
49. Toutin T. ASTER DEMs for geomatic and geoscientific applications: a review. Intern. Journ.of Remote Sensing. 2008, 29: 1855–1875.
50. WGMS. Glacier Mass Balance Bulletin No. 12 (2010–2011). Eds. M. Zemp, S.U. Nussbaumer, K. Naegeli, I.F. Gärtner-Roer, P.M. Hoelzle, W. Haeberli. ICSU(WDS)/IUGG(IACS)/UNEP/UNESCO/WMO. Zürich, Switzerland: World Glacier Monitoring Service, 2013: 106 p.
51. Zemp M., Jansson P., Holmlund P., Gärtner-Roer I., Koblet T., Thee P., Haeberli W. Reanalysis of multi-temporal aerial images of Storglaciären, Sweden (1959–99) Pt. 2: Comparison of glaciological and volumetric mass balances. Cryosphere. 2010, 4: 345–357.
Supplementary files
For citation: Bolch T. Glacier area and mass changes since 1964 in the Ala Archa Valley, Kyrgyz Ala-Too, northern Tien Shan Ice and Snow. 2015;55(1):28-39. https://doi.org/10.15356/2076-6734-2015-1-28-39
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
ISSN 2076-6734 (Print)
ISSN 2412-3765 (Online)