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Abstract
Abstract. Glacier surface mass balance observations in the Tien Shan and Pamir are relatively sparse and often discontinuous. Nevertheless, glaciers are one of the most important components of the high-mountain cryosphere in the region as they strongly influence water availability in the arid, continental and intensely populated downstream areas. This study provides reliable and continuous surface mass balance series for selected glaciers located in the Tien Shan and Pamir-Alay. By cross-validating the results of three independent methods, we reconstructed the mass balance of the three benchmark glaciers, Abramov, Golubin and Glacier no. 354 for the past 2 decades. By applying different approaches, it was possible to compensate for the limitations and shortcomings of each individual method. This study proposes the use of transient snow line observations throughout the melt season obtained from satellite optical imagery and terrestrial automatic cameras. By combining modelling with remotely acquired information on summer snow depletion, it was possible to infer glacier mass changes for unmeasured years. The model is initialized with daily temperature and precipitation data collected at automatic weather stations in the vicinity of the glacier or with adjusted data from climate reanalysis products. Multi-annual mass changes based on high-resolution digital elevation models and in situ glaciological surveys were used to validate the results for the investigated glaciers. Substantial surface mass loss was confirmed for the three studied glaciers by all three methods, ranging from −0.30 ± 0.19 to −0.41 ± 0.33 m w.e. yr−1 over the 2004–2016 period. Our results indicate that integration of snow line observations into mass balance modelling significantly narrows the uncertainty ranges of the estimates. Hence, this highlights the potential of the methodology for application to unmonitored glaciers at larger scales for which no direct measurements are available.
Highlights
Glaciers are important components of the hydrological cycle in central Asia
We found that the mass balance model constrained by TSL observations is capable of representing the observed snow-covered area fraction (SCAF) on satellite and terrestrial camera images within ±8 % for Abramov, ±13 % for Golubin and ±9 % for Glacier no. 354 (Fig. 7)
Comparing the SCAF observed on camera and on space-borne images for the same day reveals a RMSE of 2.5 %
Summary
Glaciers are important components of the hydrological cycle in central Asia. In this arid continental region, the intensely populated and irrigated downstream areas strongly depend on a supply of water from the cryosphere such as glaciers and snow (Kaser et al, 2010; Schaner et al, 2012; Duethmann et al, 2014; Chen et al, 2016; Huss and Hock, 2018). Climate change poses a manifold challenge for the central Asian population and will influence natural hazards and threaten future economies and the livelihoods of coming generations (Stocker et al, 2013). For this reason, continuous and highquality data for the different components of the hydrologi-. As stated by the World Meteorological Organization (GCOS, 2016), large gaps currently exist in the global climate observation system This refers in equal measure to remote and unmonitored areas, especially in the Pamir, and in the Tien Shan, where there is a lack of data that is crucially needed to plan and enhance future development (Sorg et al, 2012; Unger-Shayesteh et al, 2013). Improved temporal and spatial representation of glacier monitoring is essential, due to the paramount significance of glaciers in the high-mountain cryosphere
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