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A 3D inventory of Austrian glaciers Measuring and scaling thickness, area and volume comparison to the 1969 inventory M.Kuhn, R. Würländer, N.Span Institute.

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Presentation on theme: "A 3D inventory of Austrian glaciers Measuring and scaling thickness, area and volume comparison to the 1969 inventory M.Kuhn, R. Würländer, N.Span Institute."— Presentation transcript:

1 A 3D inventory of Austrian glaciers Measuring and scaling thickness, area and volume comparison to the 1969 inventory M.Kuhn, R. Würländer, N.Span Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics University of Innsbruck

2 For their assistance we are thankful to M.Butschek, S.Lentner, F.Pellet, E.Schlosser, A. Fischer

3 Motivation 1. Still no global coverage 540.000 54.000 540

4 Water cycle 2. Glaciers are part of the water cycle 3. They contribute to sea level rise

5 4. Glaciers are a clean water resource Only 2% of all water is non-saline 98% of that is in Antartica and Greenland

6 Hintereisferner Span 2001 Glaciers are documents of global change

7 1894

8 19201920 1920

9 1939

10 1953

11 1967

12 1979

13 1997

14 Why three-dimensional ? Knowing thickness is more important than volume Z is essential for modelling

15 Measurements 1.Area:remote sensing 2.Area / altitude: aerial photogrammetry 3.Thickness: Radio - echo - sounding

16 Pasterze

17 Austrian Gletscherkataster 1969 1969: original evaluation by Patzelt & Gross Maps 1 : 10.000 With extent of firn, bare ice, debris covered ice Glacier extent 1850 and 1920 where available Summary 1969 925 glaciers > 0.01 km 2 Total area 540 km 2

18 New inventories 1998 inventory: photogrammetric evaluation 1969 partly new photogrammetric evaluation partly digitalization of old maps 30 m grid digital elevation models Vectorized ice margins Maps and orthophotos 1:10.000 Accuracy of surface elevation at rms <.75 m

19 Classification problems

20 Decisions: one or two? debris or debris covered ice?

21 Size spectrum 1969

22 Scaling Parameter scaling:Volume / area Length / thickness Upscaling: from one glacier to an entire mountain group Downscaling: from a GCM to a glacier

23 volume/area V = 0.02 A 1.45

24 Vorderseeferner Pichler 1998

25 Length / thickness scaling Antarctica L = 5000 kmH = 3 km H/L = 0.6 10 -3 A4 paper, 80 g L = 297 mm H = 0.15 mmH/L = 0.5 10 -3 Cirque glacier L = 500 m H = 50 mH/L = 10 -2

26 Climatic impact

27 Gewester Gletscher Napfspitze, Zillertal

28 An inverse problem Climate P, u T, R Accumulation Ablation Mass balance Ice flow Glacier advance, moraines

29 1996 - 1969 Advance of the 1970s has travelled downglacier like a wave

30 Non-linear flow

31 Austrian glacier inventory, summary 1969 + 1998Digital elevation model of glacier surface 1998 Thickness of major glaciers and representative small glaciers, volume / area scaling for others 1998 –69 Thickness and area changes as basis for models of mass balance and ice flow and of the reaction of glaciers to climate change


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