HR: 1340h
AN: C23A-0933    [Abstracts]
TI: New Methods for Estimating Sea-Level Rise Contributions From Svalbard Glaciers
AU: * James, T D
EM: t.d.james@swansea.ac.uk
AF: Swansea University, School of the Environment and Society Swansea University Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, United Kingdom
AU: Murray, T
EM: t.murray@swansea.ac.uk
AF: Swansea University, School of the Environment and Society Swansea University Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, United Kingdom
AU: Barrand, N E
EM: 405092@swansea.ac.uk
AF: Swansea University, School of the Environment and Society Swansea University Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, United Kingdom
AU: King, M A
EM: m.a.king@ncl.ac.uk
AF: Newcastle University, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
AU: Luckman, A J
EM: a.luckman@swansea.ac.uk
AF: Swansea University, School of the Environment and Society Swansea University Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, United Kingdom
AU: Barr, S L
EM: s.l.barr@ncl.ac.uk
AF: Newcastle University, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
AU: Mills, J P
EM: j.p.mills@newcastle.ac.uk
AF: Newcastle University, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
AU: Kohler, J
EM: jack.kohler@npolar.no
AF: Norwegian Polarinstitute, Norwegian Polar Institute Polarmiljøsenteret, Tromsø, 9296, Norway
AU: Payne, T J
EM: a.j.payne@bristol.ac.uk
AF: University of Bristol, Department of Geographical Sciences University of Bristol University Road, Bristol, BS8 1SS, United Kingdom
AU: Abrahamsen, T
EM: trine.abrahamsen@snsk.no
AF: SNSK, Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani A/S, Longyearbyen, 9171, Norway
AU: Fox, A J
EM: ajfo@bas.ac.uk
AF: British Antarctic Survey, British Antarctic Survey High Cross Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3, United Kingdom
AU: Solovyanova, I
EM: solir22@mail.ru
AU: Adamek, A
EM: artur_adamek@hotmail.com
AF: Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Geodesy and Cartography Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, 00-661, Poland
AU: Jania, J
EM: jjania@uranos.cto.us.edu.pl
AF: University of Silesia, Faculty of Earth Sciences University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, 41-200, Poland
AB: Quantifying glacier contribution to sea level rise is difficult due largely to a paucity of long-term mass balance observations. For example, of more than 160,000 glaciers worldwide only about 40 have mass balance records longer than 20 years. Since 2003, the SLICES project has been developing novel methods for significantly increasing the distribution and spatial/temporal resolution of mass balance records. Because of their sensitivity to changes in climate, we have focused on the glaciers of the Svalbard archipelago. Small mountain glaciers like those in Svalbard constitute only about 3 percent of the glacierized area on Earth. However, of all the world's ice masses, they are currently thought to be contributing most to eustatic sea level rise. We use archived historical stereo photography to create a time-series of high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) which are controlled using contemporary lidar data sets. The large number of ground control points that can be extracted from the lidar means the quality of the resultant photogrammetric DEMs can approach those collected using traditional ground-based control. This method has yielded high-quality, high-resolution topographic data for a well distributed sample of Svalbard glaciers dating back to the since the early 1960s. These data provide the first long-term mass balance record for Svalbard of this quality, spatial resolution and areal distribution and includes glaciers on the more remote eastern side of the archipelago. Results have demonstrated that glaciers in the west of the archipelago experienced a clear acceleration in thinning over the entire period, which is consistent with long-term mass balance records. In the east of the archipelago, which is characterised by a cooler climate, thinning has occurred but the rate has been lower. Under the new GLIMPSE project, the methods presented are now being applied to improve our understanding of the thinning of outlet glaciers in southeast Greenland.
UR: http://geography.swan.ac.uk/glaciology/slices/
DE: 0720 Glaciers
DE: 0758 Remote sensing
DE: 0762 Mass balance (1218, 1223)
DE: 0772 Distribution
DE: 0776 Glaciology (1621, 1827, 1863)
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting