We present in this paper a polynomial fitting method applicable to segments of footprints measured by the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) to estimate glacier thickness change. Our modification makes the method applicable to complex topography, such as a large mountain glacier. After a full analysis of the planar fitting method to characterize errors of estimates due to complex topograp...

An assessment of glacier shrinkage (reduction of area) for all of HighMountain Asia requires a complete compilation of measured rates of change and also a methodology for objective comparison of rates. I present a compilation from 155 publications reporting glacier area changes, and also a methodology that overcomes the main obstacles hindering comparison. Glacier areas are not always assigned ...

Although reliable figures are often missing, considerable detrimental changes due to shrinking glaciers are universally expected for water availability in river systems under the influence of ongoing global climate change. We estimate the contribution potential of seasonally delayed glacier melt water to total water availability in large river systems. We find that the seasonally delayed glacie...

This paper presents a relation between the three glacier surface velocity components, the surface flux-divergence, glacier thickness and bottom melt and displacement. The relation can be used as an extension to the surface parallel flow assumption often used with interferometric synthetic aperture measurements of glacier velocities. The assumptions for the derivation are described and important...

Terminus fluctuations of five glaciers and the correspondence of these fluctuations to temperature and precipitation patterns were assessed at Oregon’s Mount Hood over the period 1901–2001. Historical photographs, descriptions, and climate data, combined with contemporary GPS measurements and GIS analysis, revealed that each glacier experienced overall retreat, ranging from 62 m at the Newton C...

The primary succession on glacier forelands is characterized by a sequence of early and late successional species, but whether there is also a chronosequence at the intraspecific, genetic level is a matter of debate. Two opposing hypotheses differ in their prediction of genetic diversity in colonizing populations due to founder effects and postcolonization gene immigration. The development of g...

In this paper we present a stereo feature-based method using SIFT (Scale-invariant feature transform) descriptors. We use automatic feature extractors, matching algorithms between images and techniques of robust estimation to produce a DTM (Digital Terrain Model) using convergent shots of a rock glacier.The geomorphologic structure observed in this study is the Veleta rock glacier (Sierra Nevad...

Jakobshavn Isbræ on the west coast of Greenland is one of the fastest and most productive glaciers in the world. It has been moving with an average velocity of 20 meters per day over a long time, producing to total annual iceberg volume of 30 40 km. In recent years a dramatic retreat of the glacier front has been observed. At the same time, a significant increase of the moving velocity has been...

The anticipated retreat of glaciers around the globe will pose far-reaching challenges to the management of fresh water resources and significantly contribute to sea-level rise within the coming decades. Here, we present a new model for calculating the twenty-first century mass changes of all glaciers on Earth outside the ice sheets. The Global Glacier Evolution Model (GloGEM) includes mass los...

Neighboring tidewater glaciers often exhibit asynchronous dynamic behavior, despite relatively uniform regional atmospheric and oceanic forcings. This variability may be controlled by a combination of local factors, including glacier and fjord geometry, fjord heat content and circulation, and glacier surface melt. In order to characterize and understand contrasts in adjacent tidewater glacier a...