HR: 0800h
AN: GC41A-0089    [Abstracts]
TI: Satellite Observations of Glacier Advances and Retreat in the Western Karakoram
AU: * Haritashya, U K
EM: uharitashya@mail.unomaha.edu
AF: Department of Geography and Geology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182, United States
AU: Bishop, M P
EM: mpbishop@mail.unomaha.edu
AF: Department of Geography and Geology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182, United States
AU: Shroder, J F
EM: jshroder@mail.unomaha.edu
AF: Department of Geography and Geology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182, United States
AU: Bulley, H N
EM: hbulley@mail.unomaha.edu
AF: Department of Geography and Geology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182, United States
AB: Debris-covered alpine glaciers around the world have been retreating and downwasting. This suggests glacier response to atmospheric warming. Recent studies in the eastern Himalaya have shown systematic retreat for many glaciers. In the western Himalaya, however, systematic and quantitative data are not yet available to determine glacier sensitivity and mass balance trend. Given the paucity of bench-mark glaciers in the Himalaya, remote-sensing-based studies are required to obtain baseline information and produce estimates of advance and retreat rates. Consequently, our objectives were to assess glacier fluctuations in the western Karakoram of Pakistan as a part of the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) project. Specifically, we used multi- temporal satellite data (ASTER 09/13/2004, Landsat TM 10/15/1992, and Landsat MSS 07/15/1992) to quantitatively assess terminus fluctuations. Results indicate that more than 50 percent of the sampled large and large-medium sized glaciers are advancing, and/or exhibit similar terminus positions to past positions. For example, Bualtar Glacier is advancing at the rate of 11 m/yr. On the other hand, most of the small-medium to small glaciers, such as Mani Glacier are retreating (15 m/yr). Some of these glaciers have also shown strong downwasting characteristics in the form of increased frequency and size of supraglacial lakes. Collectively, our results indicate that these glaciers may be responding differently to the current climatic conditions than in the eastern Himalaya (east of the Karakoram) and Wakhan Pamir region (northwest of the Karakoram). These quantitative results from remote-sensing studies also indicate that glacier fluctuations in this region are spatially and temporally complex. These complexities may be governed by multi-scaled topographic effects, as well as by variations in winter precipitation and decreases in summer temperature from increased cloudiness, as suggested by others.
DE: 0720 Glaciers
DE: 0758 Remote sensing
DE: 0774 Dynamics
DE: 1621 Cryospheric change (0776)
DE: 1630 Impacts of global change (1225)
SC: Global Environmental Change [GC]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting