Decadal overview of mass balance at five Austrian glaciers and 2023/24 results

Assigned Session: #AGM28: Generic Meeting Session

Abstract ID: 28.7279 | Accepted as Poster | Poster | 2025-02-27 13:00 - 14:30 | Ágnes‐Heller‐Haus/Small Lecture Room

Lea Hartl (0)
Seiser, Bernd (1), Stocker-Waldhuber, Martin (1), Bertolotti, Giulia (1), Gschwentner, Andreas (1), Lauria, Violeta (1,2), Conzelmann, Svenja (1,2), Helfricht, Kay (3), Fischer, Andrea (1)
Lea Hartl ((0) Austrian Academy of Sciences, Innrain 102, 6020, Innsbruck, AT)
Seiser, Bernd (1), Stocker-Waldhuber, Martin (1), Bertolotti, Giulia (1), Gschwentner, Andreas (1), Lauria, Violeta (1,2), Conzelmann, Svenja (1,2), Helfricht, Kay (3), Fischer, Andrea (1)

(0) Austrian Academy of Sciences, Innrain 102, 6020, Innsbruck, AT
(1) Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Reasearch, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Innrain 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
(2) University of Innsbruck, Innrain 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
(3) Hydrological Service Tyrol, Office of the Tyrolean Government, Herrengasse 3, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria

(1) Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Reasearch, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Innrain 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
(2) University of Innsbruck, Innrain 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
(3) Hydrological Service Tyrol, Office of the Tyrolean Government, Herrengasse 3, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria

Categories: Monitoring
Keywords: mass balance

Categories: Monitoring
Keywords: mass balance

The glacier and permafrost group at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research (Austrian Academy of Sciences) present an overview of the last ten years of mass balance data from the long term monitoring sites Jamtalferner (JTF), Mullwitzkees (MWK), Venedigerkees (VK), Stubacher Sonnblickkees (SSK), and Hallstätter Gletscher (HSG). Mass balance at these sites is measured with the direct glaciological method. The 2021/22 mass balance season was the most negative in the period of record at all sites with annual specific mass losses ranging from -2.2 m w.e. (VK) to -3.6 m w.e. (JTF). 2022/23 was also a major melt year, although losses were not as extreme as in 2022. Accumulation during the 2023/24 winter season was notably high at all sites with above average snow densities and specific winter mass balance. Nonetheless, the warm summer led to another very negative net season. Early snowfall in September 2024 limited late-season melt. Despite the summer snow, the ablation season extended substantially beyond the end of the hydrological year. Field work at all five glaciers has become more challenging in recent years. Ongoing, rapid glacier change makes access to some measurement locations increasingly difficult and the maintenance of the existing stake networks requires additional efforts. At JTF, measurements on the orographic left side of the glacier tongue had to be abandoned in 2024 due to the accelerating disintegration of this section. The time series of point mass balance at the affected ablation stakes have been discontinued.


NAME:
Small Lecture Room
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Ágnes‐Heller‐Haus
FLOOR:
0
TYPE:
Lecture Hall
CAPACITY:
200
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