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FS 3.162

Glacier Monitoring in Real-time

Details

Full Title
FS 3.162: Glacier Monitoring in Real-time - Opportunities and Challenges for In-situ Networks
Scheduled
TBA
Location
TBA
Convener
Michael Zemp
Co-Conveners
Nina Kirchner, Ruslan Kenzhebaev, Antoine Rabatel, Rainer Prinz,
Assigned to Synthesis Workshop
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Thematic Focus
Cryo- & Hydrosphere, Monitoring, Remote Sensing, Water Resources
Keywords
glacier, monitoring, real-time

Description

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Glaciological in-situ measurements have been crucial for glacier mass-balance monitoring, providing valuable insights for process understanding, model calibration, and validation. However, these measurements are typically limited to seasonal or annual surveys on a few hundred glaciers globally due to logistical constraints. Remote sensing has significantly expanded observation capabilities, enabling global assessments of glacier elevation and mass changes through satellite sensors. This session will examine the evolving role of in-situ networks in glacier monitoring, emphasizing their limitations and opportunities relative to remote sensing and modelling approaches. Key discussion points include integrating advanced sensor technology, automated monitoring systems, real-time data transmission, and continuous modelling approaches. These advancements transform traditional glacier monitoring from periodic surveys to continuous, real-time observation. Participants will share experiences with real-time monitoring systems and explore their potential to enhance temporal resolution in glacier mass-balance studies. Case studies and discussions will focus on the challenges of deploying such systems in harsh glacier environments and their contribution to calibrating and validating remote sensing products and glacier models. The session aims to highlight how continuous data streams can deepen our understanding of climate change impacts on glaciers and related downstream effects. This forum invites scientists and experts in glaciology, remote sensing, and glacier modelling to engage in discussions on advancing glacier monitoring through real-time data acquisition.

Submitted Abstracts

ID: 3.9339

Mass balance monitoring using “Smart Stake” over Tropical Glacier in the Ecuadorian Andes

Bolivar Caceres
Rabatel, Antoine; Guachamin, Wilmer; Biron, Romain

Abstract/Description

Antisana Glacier 15 has been monitored since 1995 using a measurement network that is periodically renewed located over the ablation zone between 4840 meters above sea level and 4960 meters above sea level. The network is visited monthly, being one of the longest series of mass balance measurements over a tropical glacier with 29 years of data. In 2023, IRD, in collaboration with INAMHI, began the implementation of this device starting in October, carrying out the installation with a respective measurement and data transmission tests at a height of 4900 meters above sea level. There was a period of adjustments until June 2024, from which continuous balance measurements have been carried out with a frequency of 30 minutes. In the surroundings of this electronic device there is a conventional stake which is measured over a monthly basis. The first results measured with this device and their comparison with the data measured with a monthly scale over the conventional device are presented in this work.

ID: 3.11166

Combining efforts on high temporal resolution and near real-time glacier monitoring in Central Asia and Switzerland

Martina Barandun
Huss, Matthias; Kim, Dilara; Volery, Anouk; Pohl, Eric; Linsbauer, Andreas; Kenzhebaev, Ruslan; Hoelzle, Martin

Abstract/Description

Sub-seasonal to daily changes in glacier mass balance are currently poorly captured in most glacier monitoring programs. However, such information is crucial for science communication as well as for a better scientific understanding of underlying physical processes. A better knowledge of temporal dynamics has particularly important implications for water availability and water management in glacier-fed basins worldwide. Glacial meltwater is a crucial resource for the lowlands of arid and continental Central Asia, particularly during the growing season. Extreme glacier mass loss has been reported in Central Asia in recent years, often associated with higher air temperatures, droughts, and changes in seasonal precipitation. While annual mass balance observations have been re-established throughout the region over the last decade, seasonal to sub-seasonal observations, which could shed light on newly observed phenomena such as rain events and subsequent refreezing, remain extremely scarce. In combination with meteorological and hydrological observations, the first real-time monitoring stations were installed on seven glaciers in the past three years, collecting sub-daily melt data. This provides the basis for real-time glacier monitoring applications. In contrast, glacier monitoring in Switzerland is one step ahead. In recent years, the Swiss Glacier Monitoring (GLAMOS) programme has established a network of on-glacier webcams that operate year-round and collect daily data on local mass balance changes. By incorporating these measurements into a distributed daily mass balance model, which is automatically optimised to fit all available information collected during the hydrological year, a data-driven real-time assessment of 10 Swiss glaciers is performed weekly. Such an operational system would be extremely beneficial for the water resource management sector in Central Asia. Here we provide an overview of the recent progress in Central Asian and Swiss glacier monitoring programs in terms of real-time measurements and their interpretation. We further show how glacier monitoring can combine high temporal resolution atmospheric, cryospheric and hydrological observations with remote sensing data. This integrated approach will allow the detection of processes that may become important in rapidly changing environments in high mountain regions.

ID: 3.12058

Implementation of a real-time monitoring on Austrian mass balance glaciers

Bernhard Hynek

Abstract/Description

Alpine glaciers are changing rapidly and drastically, and glacier mass balance is measured at a lot of sites in the Alps. In Austria, glacier mass balance is currently monitored on 13 glaciers. However, there is still a significant latency of at least some months until the data are reported to data providers and the information of the acutal state of the glaciers is published. To reduce this data latency various systems of real-time monitoring has been developed and successfully applied. Here we present a strategy for implementing a real-time monitoring on all Austrian mass balance glaciers, by completing and expanding already existing instrumentation and data assimilation procedures.

ID: 3.12794

Enhancing mass turnover of the Djankuat Glacier, Caucasus, during the long-term monitoring period

Victor Popovnin

Abstract/Description

The Djankuat Glacier in the Caucasus is the most studied glacier in Russia. Its unique series of directly measured mass balance and its constituents has been going on without interruption for 57 years – since 1967/68.
Despite the unequivocal dominance of negative annual balance values, the reduction of the Djankuat Glacier was uneven. Moderate degradation in the XXth century included a 10-15-year-long period (since the late 1980s) of relative improvement in its state, when positive balance values prevailed and its terminus temporarily stabilized. However, with the advent of the XXIst century a clear turning point in its evolution is recorded. The renewed degradation rate became truly unprecedented on the scale of the entire regressive phase after the LIA climax in the 1850s. Physical area of Djankuat reduced by 22% over 50 years, the terminus retreat reached 557 m since 1968, but after 2004/05 its mass balance never took at least a single positive value. Before 2004/05 the average mass balance was -97 mm w.e./yr, but afterwards its mean annual loss has increased eightfold. The total mass loss over the past 57 years has already amounted to ca.19 m w.e.
An obvious tendency of winter snow accumulation to grow up has been observed. However, glacier ablation in summer also steadily increases in modulus, outweighing the positive accumulation trend. However, the last 7-8 years seem to be some emerging exceptions: the increase in winter snowfall accelerated, whereas both the ablation increase rate and the trend towards more negative mass balance slowed down, though fluctuations of the mass balance still remain in the area of negative values.
A persistent trend towards an increase in glacier exchange (i.e., the sum of accumulation and ablation taken modulo) can be traced throughout the long-term monitoring period. This parameter of the mass turnover intensity in the glacial belt serves as an indirect indicator, disclosing weakening of continentality properties in the climate of the Caucasian highlands during recent decades.
The work was supported by Russian Science Foundation (RSF project No. 22-17-00133).

ID: 3.13003

Building glacier velocity time series with a uniform sampling interval of six days or less from scene-pair velocity maps

Whyjay Zheng
Baldacchino, Francesca; Bolch, Tobias

Abstract/Description

Seasonal fluctuations of glacier speed largely reflect the change in subglacial hydrology and bed conditions throughout the year. Satellite observations provide rich optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images with a few-day revisit duration, which enables us to derive scene-pair velocity maps. However, the number and the quality of the scene-pair velocity maps often vary in different seasons, resulting in a temporally inhomogeneous data set that is challenging for glacier modeling. Here we present a novel optimization method to extract glacier velocity time series with a uniform and short sampling interval from the scene-pair maps. If the scene-pair velocity maps stem from Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 images, the sampling interval can be six days or even less, which can capture the seasonal ice-speed variation well. Our regularized optimization is based on how the glacier speed is mathematically averaged over time. This method extracts the time series on a pixel-by-pixel basis, and hence, a data cube of ice speed (i.e., ice speed of a glacier based on two horizontal coordinates and one temporal coordinates, all with uniform sampling intervals) can be derived. It considers two sources for assessing the uncertainty of the final results: (1) the inherited uncertainty from each scene-pair map and (2) the uncertainty of ice-speed variation at the period no scene-pair maps cover. With two manually tuned hyperparameters, this method can give us realistic error assessments. We validate this method by targeting several glaciers in High Mountain Asia, where external field or weather data exist. Our results show that this regularized optimization is capable of producing the glacier verlocity data cube that captures the seasonal variations and sub-seasonal events (e.g., evolution of a glacier surge) during the observation period (2017-2024) using roughly a few hundred optical and SAR images.

ID: 3.13329

Advancing glacier monitoring. Insights from the Hintereisferner laboratory.

Rainer Prinz

Abstract/Description

Hintereisferner (Austria) is one of the glaciers with the longest mass balance monitoring records worldwide. Its accessibility and close ties to a research institute have made it a prime site for testing new monitoring and modeling methods in atmospheric and cryospheric sciences. Satellite remote sensing at high spatial resolution plays a crucial role in updating glacier outlines and hypsometries – particularly amid rapid glacier retreat – thanks to the Pléiades Glacier Observatory providing valuable satellite stereo images for the glaciological community. Additionally, annual geodetic data from airborne laser scanning serve as an independent dataset for calibrating long-term mass balance records. For sub-seasonal to daily observations, a terrestrial laser scanning system above Hintereisferner tracks surface elevation changes. Combined with webcam imagery, this setup enables the detection of the transient snow line and the “glacier loss day”—the date when the glacier’s mass balance turns negative each hydrological year. High-resolution surface elevation changes information from remote sensing and in-situ observations (e.g., SmartStake) provide essential boundary conditions for atmospheric or cryospheric modeling studies. Furthermore, cosmic-ray neutron sensing allows for continuous snow mass monitoring, enhancing our understanding of accumulation processes. In summary, advancements in glacier monitoring are paving the way for in-depth glaciological process studies and real-time mass balance observations.

ID: 3.13799

Glacier and climate real-time monitoring with 3g/4g and satellite devices

Sebastián Marinsek
Huber, Arturo; Rodríguez, Hernán

Abstract/Description

Glacier monitoring in Antarctic Peninsula is crucial to understanding their dynamics and evolution. Despite annual visits to field work, usually during summer, when data is recovered from automatic weather stations, obtaining data from time in between the visits is quite difficult. We have designed a system considering the rough climate conditions of glaciers regions and the inaccessibility of the area where it will be located to enable real-time visualization of the data collected by sensors through a web-site, including pictures for glacier surface changes analysis. Several measuring devices were installed in Antarctic Peninsula for taking pictures, measuring air temperature and relative humidity, measuring the position using GNSS receivers and sending all data through 3g/4g communication networks where available or via satellite links. Additionally, the equipment requires a very low production cost since it uses commercial components and has a very low power consumption to be operative during the whole year. When maintenance activities take place, whole data collection and replacement of damaged parts can be carried out if required. However, we have systems still running for more than 3 years without any action taken during this period.

FS 3.161: Inclusive and sustainable Livelihoods in the mountains: an assessment of strategies and approaches from the Highland3 project

FS 3.163: Changing microclimates on a macro-scale and their ecological impact in global mountains

#IMC: September 14 - 18 2025

FS 3.162

Glacier Monitoring in Real-time

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