Thickness estimation of the Longbasaba Glacier:methods and application

• 作者: GuangLi He JunFeng Wei Xin Wang
• 来源期刊: 寒旱区科学（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2020,（6）
• 所属期刊栏目: Articles
• 页码范围: 477-490
• 页数: 14页
• 语种: 英文

摘要

A total of 71,177 glaciers exist on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, according to the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI 6.0). De-spite their large number, glacier ice thickness data are relatively scarce. This study utilizes digital elevation model data and ground-penetrating radar thickness measurements to estimate the distribution and variation of ice thickness of the Longba-saba Glacier using Glacier bed Topography (GlabTop), a full-width expansion model, and the Huss and Farinotti (HF) model. Results show that the average absolute deviations of GlabTop, the full-width expansion model, and the HF model are 9.8, 15.5, and 10.9 m, respectively, indicating that GlabTop performs the best in simulating glacier thickness distribu-tion. During 1980-2015, the Longbasaba Glacier thinned by an average of 7.9±1.3 m or 0.23±0.04 m/a, and its ice volume shrunk by 0.28±0.04 km3 with an average reduction rate of 0.0081±0.0001 km3/a. In the investigation period, the area and volume of Longbasaba Lake expanded at rates of 0.12±0.01 km2/a and 0.0132±0.0018 km3/a, respectively. This proglacial lake could potentially extend up to 5,000 m from the lake dam.