HR: 0800h
AN: GC41A-0093    [Abstracts]
TI: Glacier Change in the Rwenzori Mountains, East Africa
AU: * Kincaid, J L
EM: jkincaid@geog.tamu.edu
AF: Texas A and M University, Department of Geography MS 3147, College Station, Tx 77843-3147, United States
AU: Klein, A G
EM: klein@geog.tamu.edu
AF: Texas A and M University, Department of Geography MS 3147, College Station, Tx 77843-3147, United States
AB: In East Africa glaciers currently exist on Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya, and in the Rwenzori Mountains. While the Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya glaciers have been the subject of many recent studies, the glaciers in the Rwenzori Range are less thoroughly studied. This study reexamines the satellite record of retreat of these glaciers, as well as the climatic factors most responsible for the change. A recent study of the retreat of the Rwenzori glaciers using Landsat images acquired between 1987 and 2003 has been questioned. Using visual mapping and the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) to analyze Landsat, ASTER and SPOT images, we have re-evaluated the ice areas for the period 1987 to 2006. After identifying sources for possible error, our mapping indicates that the glaciers in the Rwenzori have shrunk from an area of 2.55 km2 in 1987 to 1.31 km2 in 2006. Glacier retreat in the Rwenzori from 1906 to 1990 showed a strong spatial correlation with potential increase in shortwave radiation due to decreased cloud cover as a consequence of a shift to drier conditions in the region. Whether or not recent glacier retreat shows a similar spatial correlation is under investigation.
DE: 0700 CRYOSPHERE (4540)
DE: 0720 Glaciers
DE: 1621 Cryospheric change (0776)
DE: 1640 Remote sensing (1855)
DE: 9305 Africa
SC: Global Environmental Change [GC]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting