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Atmosphere
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Analysis of Global Glacier Mass Balance Changes and Their Impacts
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Analysis of Global Glacier Mass Balance Changes and Their Impacts

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Biosphere/Hydrosphere/Land–Atmosphere Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (5 March 2025) | Viewed by 7846

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Wenfeng Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: glacier mass changes; lake; glacial lake;ice thickness inversion; cryosphere remote sensing;Tibet Plateau
Dr. Weibing Du

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Surveying and Land Information Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China
Interests: satellite altimetry; glacier surface elevation changes; glacier mass balance; debris covered glaciers; glacier runoff

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past few decades, with global warming, glaciers have decreased in area, retreated at their termini, and lost mass at an accelerated rate. Consequently, glaciers have become the most vulnerable components of the Earth's system. Glacier meltwater plays an essential role in regulating regional water resources. On a positive note, current glacial changes can promote the expansion of glacial lakes, increase glacier runoff, and replenish downstream rivers and lakes, leading to heightened river runoff and expanded lake areas. However, the long-term trend of glacier meltwater runoff is expected to reach its peak and subsequently decline, adding pressure to downstream water supplies. Moreover, glacier-related natural disasters such as glacier surges, ice avalanches and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are also on the rise. Particularly concerning is the increasing frequency of global heat events, which, when sustained, can deplete glacier reserves within a short span of time, posing a serious threat to the sustainability of glaciers. The glacier mass balance, which directly reflects fluctuations in climate forcing, servers as the primary indicator for glacier and climate monitoring. It is generally studied through remote sensing, in situ observations, and modeling methods.

This Special Issue focuses on recent variations and future projections in the global glacier mass balance and explores its broader impacts. It aims to bring together multidisciplinary research, combining perspectives from the fields of glaciology, hydrology and climatology to contribute to a holistic understanding of glacier dynamics. It includes investigations of glacier mass changes on different continents using observations, modeling and remote sensing techniques. This Special Issue also explores the drivers of changes in glacier mass balance, such as temperature changes, precipitation patterns, and atmospheric circulation. In addition, it examines the impacts of these changes on local water resources and associated disaster risks. Contributions addressing extreme melting events, the dynamic interactions between glaciers, climate, and local hydrology are particularly encouraged.

Dr. Wenfeng Chen
Dr. Weibing Du
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • glacier mass balance
  • extreme melting events
  • hydrological impact
  • glacial lakes
  • GLOFs
  • glacier-related disasters
  • glacier surface elevation
  • satellite altimetry
  • climate change
  • heatwave
  • UAV

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 5107 KiB  
Article
Temporal and Spatial Assessment of Glacier Elevation Change in the Kangri Karpo Region Using ASTER Data from 2000 to 2024
by Qihua Wang, Yuande Yang, Jiayu Hu, Jianglong Zhang, Zuqiang Li and Yuechen Wang
Atmosphere 2025, 16(1), 110; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16010110 - 19 Jan 2025
Viewed by 794
Abstract
Temperate glaciers in the Kangri Karpo region of the southeastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) have experienced significant ablation in recent decades, increasing the risk of glacier-related hazards and impacting regional water resources. However, the spatial and temporal pattern of mass loss in these glaciers [...] Read more.
Temperate glaciers in the Kangri Karpo region of the southeastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) have experienced significant ablation in recent decades, increasing the risk of glacier-related hazards and impacting regional water resources. However, the spatial and temporal pattern of mass loss in these glaciers remains inadequately quantified. In this study, we used ASTER L1A stereo images to construct a high-resolution elevation time series and provide a comprehensive spatial–temporal assessment of glacier elevation change from 2000 to 2024. The results indicate that almost all glaciers have experienced rapid ablation, with an average surface elevation decrease of −18.35 ± 5.13 m, corresponding to a rate of −0.76 ± 0.21 m yr−1. Glaciers in the region were divided into the northern and southern basins, with average rates of −0.79 ± 0.17 m yr−1 and −0.72 ± 0.13 m yr−1, respectively. A notable difference in acceleration trends between the two basins was observed, with the elevation rate increasing from −0.78 ± 0.17m yr−1 to −1.04 ± 0.17 m yr−1 and from −0.52 ± 0.13 m yr−1 to −0.92 ± 0.13 m yr−1, respectively. The seasonal cycle was identified in glacier surface elevation change, with an accumulation period from November to March followed by a prolonged ablation period. The seasonal amplitude decreased with elevation, with higher elevations exhibiting longer accumulation periods and less ablation. Correlation analysis with meteorological data indicated that higher summer temperatures and increased summer rainfall intensify elevation loss, while increased spring snowfall may reduce ablation. Our analysis highlights distinct variations in glacier elevation changes across different locations, elevations, and climatic conditions in the Kangri Karpo region, providing valuable insights into glacier responses to environmental changes on the Tibetan Plateau. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis of Global Glacier Mass Balance Changes and Their Impacts)
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19 pages, 37316 KiB  
Article
Estimation and Analysis of Glacier Mass Balance in the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau Using TanDEM-X Bi-Static InSAR during 2000–2014
by Yafei Sun, Liming Jiang, Ning Gao, Songfeng Gao and Junjie Li
Atmosphere 2024, 15(3), 364; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15030364 - 17 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1637
Abstract
In recent decades, glaciers in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau (SETP) have been rapidly melting and showing a large scale of glacier mass loss. Due to the lack of large-scale, high-resolution, and high-precision observations, knowledge on the spatial distribution of the glacier mass balance [...] Read more.
In recent decades, glaciers in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau (SETP) have been rapidly melting and showing a large scale of glacier mass loss. Due to the lack of large-scale, high-resolution, and high-precision observations, knowledge on the spatial distribution of the glacier mass balance and the response to climate change is limited in this region. We propose a TanDEM-X bi-static InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) algorithm with a non-local mean filter method and difference strategy, to improve the precision of glacier surface elevation change detection. Moreover, we improved the glacier mass balance estimation algorithm with a correction method for multi-source system errors and an uncertainty evaluation method based on error propagation theory to reduce the uncertainty of estimations. We used 13 pairs of TanDEM-X bi-static InSAR images to obtain the glacier mass balance data for the entire SETP. The total area of glaciers monitored was 5821 km2 and the total number of glaciers monitored was 2321; the glacier surface elevation change rate was −0.505 ± 0.005 m/yr, and the glacier mass balance estimation was −454.5 ± 13.1 mm w.eq. during 2000–2014. Additionally, we analyzed the spatial distribution of the glacier mass balance within the SETP using the sub-watershed analysis method. The results showed that the mass loss rate had a decreasing trend from the southeast to the northwest. Furthermore, the temperature change and the glacier mass loss rate showed a positive correlation from the southeast to the northwest in this region. This study greatly advances our understanding of the regularities of glacier dynamics in this region, and can provide scientific support for major national goals such as the rational utilization of surrounding water resources and construction of important transportation projects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis of Global Glacier Mass Balance Changes and Their Impacts)
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12 pages, 4335 KiB  
Article
Visualizing Changes in Global Glacier Surface Mass Balances before and after 1990
by Roger J. Braithwaite and Philip D. Hughes
Atmosphere 2024, 15(3), 362; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15030362 - 16 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1976
Abstract
Recent satellite measurements of glacier mass balances show mountain glaciers all over the world had generally negative mass balances in the first decades of the 21st century. Mean summer temperatures all over the world rose from the 1961–1990 period to the 1991–2020 period, [...] Read more.
Recent satellite measurements of glacier mass balances show mountain glaciers all over the world had generally negative mass balances in the first decades of the 21st century. Mean summer temperatures all over the world rose from the 1961–1990 period to the 1991–2020 period, implying increasingly negative mass balances. We studied archived annual balances for 38 northern hemisphere glaciers to assess changes within the 1961–2020 period. We used a modified double-mass curve to visualize mass balance changes occurring around 1990. Mean balances in 1961–1990 were already small negative for many of the studied glaciers and became even more negative in 1991–2020 for glaciers in the Alps, at high latitudes and in western North America. The largest mass balance changes were for some glaciers in the Alps. We are unable to explain the lack of change in mean balance for one glacier in High Mountain Asia. We found complex changes for eight glaciers in Scandinavia, even including one glacier with a positive balance. We explain these changes by visualizing the deviations in winter and summer balances from their respective 1961–1990 mean values. High winter balances in the 1990s for Scandinavia partly obscured the emerging trend of increasingly negative summer balances, which we expect to continue in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis of Global Glacier Mass Balance Changes and Their Impacts)
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17 pages, 30596 KiB  
Article
Glacier Retreat Leads to the Expansion of Alpine Lake Karakul Observed Via Remote Sensing Water Volume Time Series Reconstruction
by Weibing Du, Yaming Pan, Junli Li, Anming Bao, Huabin Chai, Ye Yuan and Chaoying Cheng
Atmosphere 2023, 14(12), 1772; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14121772 - 30 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1591
Abstract
Due to high altitudes, Central Asian alpine lakes can serve as indicators of localized climate change. This article monitored the water volume time series trends of the ungauged alpine Lake Karakul, which is typical because of the abundance of glaciers in the basin, [...] Read more.
Due to high altitudes, Central Asian alpine lakes can serve as indicators of localized climate change. This article monitored the water volume time series trends of the ungauged alpine Lake Karakul, which is typical because of the abundance of glaciers in the basin, from 1990 to 2020 via multiple source remote sensing data. The “Global-Local” multi-scale lake extraction method is used to delineate the boundary of Lake Karakul. Consistency analysis was performed on the altimetry data of CryoSat-2, ICESat-1 and ICESat-2, assuming that the lake surface was flat; a threshold value was set to remove gross error, and then 3σ was used to remove the surface elevation anomaly. Based on the pyramid volume model, the lake area and surface elevation information were used to reconstruct the water volume time series of Lake Karakul. The influencing factors of water volume temporal variation were discussed. The results show that Lake Karakul has been on an expansionary trend in recent years: The lake area increased from 394.9 km2 in 1988 to 411.4 km2 in 2020; the rate of increase is 0.74 m/year. The surface elevation increased from 3886.6 m in 2003 to 3888.6 m in 2020; the rate of increase is 0.11 km2/year. The lake water volume accumulated was 0.817 km3 in 2003–2020, with an accumulation rate of 0.059 km3/year. The Lake Karakul basin is developing towards dry heat, with a cumulative temperature variation rate of +0.38 °C/year; the average rate of variation in annual cumulative precipitation is −3.37 mm/year; the average evapotranspiration in the watershed is on a fluctuating increasing trend, with a rate of variation of +0.43 mm/year; glaciers in the lake basin have a retreating trend, with an average annual rate of variation of −0.22 km2/year from 1992 to 2020. Lake Karakul is more sensitive to temperature variations, and the runoff from retreating glaciers in the basin is an important contribution to the expansion of Lake Karakul. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis of Global Glacier Mass Balance Changes and Their Impacts)
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