Local reduction of decadal glacier thickness loss through mass balance management in ski resorts

Andrea Fischer,Martin Stocker-Waldhuber,Kay Helfricht

doi:10.5194/tc-10-2941-2016

Abstract

Abstract. For Austrian glacier ski resorts, established in the 1970s and 1980s during a period of glacier advance, negative mass balances with resulting glacier area loss and decrease in surface elevation present an operational challenge. Glacier cover, snow farming, and technical snow production were introduced as adaptation measures based on studies on the effect of these measures on energy and mass balance. After a decade of the application of the various measures, we studied the transition from the proven short-term effects of the measures on mass balance to long-term effects on elevation changes. Based on lidar digital elevation models and differential GPS measurements, decadal surface elevation changes in 15 locations with mass balance management were compared to those without measures (apart from piste grooming) in five Tyrolean ski resorts on seven glaciers. The comparison of surface elevation changes presents clear local differences in mass change, and it shows the potential to retain local ice thickness over 1 decade. Locally up to 21.1 m ± 0.4 m of ice thickness was preserved on mass balance managed areas compared to non-maintained areas over a period of 9 years. In this period, mean annual thickness loss in 15 of the mass balance managed profiles is 0.54 ± 0.04 m yr−1 lower (−0.23 ± 0.04 m yr−1on average) than in the respective reference areas (−0.78 ± 0.04 m yr−1). At two of these profiles the surface elevation was preserved altogether, which is promising for a sustainable maintenance of the infrastructure at glacier ski resorts. In general the results demonstrate the high potential of the combination of mass balance management by snow production and glacier cover, not only in the short term but also for multi-year application to maintain the skiing infrastructure.

Highlights

During the last 3 decades, Alpine glaciers have retreated drastically and increasingly, with current annual rates at historically unprecedented levels (Zemp et al, 2015)
Without application of mass balance management, surface elevation loss of the second period was in the same magnitude as in the first period
Reference area thickness losses increased for SOE 1 + 2 and HI 4 and decreased for the other profiles

Summary

Introduction

During the last 3 decades, Alpine glaciers have retreated drastically and increasingly, with current annual rates at historically unprecedented levels (Zemp et al, 2015). In the European Alps, glaciers are part of the national economy, contributing to hydropower production and as part of ski resorts. Glacier ski resorts are located at high elevations and are less affected by a decrease in depth and). Mass balance management methods have been developed to store and maintain snow in ski resorts (Skogsberg and Lundberg, 2005; Spandre et al, 2016; Grünewald and Wolfsperger, 2016) and manage meltwater production (Nestler et al, 2014; Norphel and Padma, 2015). In the Austrian Alps, mass balance management in glacier ski resorts started after the extreme melt in the summer of 2003 (Fischer et al, 2011a) to compensate for the negative effects of glacier retreat on ski resort infrastructure. This paper presents the long-term effects of the measures on local glacier elevation change

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Conclusion