Glaciers in Greenland are changing rapidly. To better understand these changes, we have produced a series of seven synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter mosaics for seven winters during the period from 2000 to 2013. Six of the mosaics were created using RADARSAT Fine-Beam data and the seventh used ALOS-PALSAR Fine-Beam Single-Polarization data. The RADARSAT mosaics are radiometrically calibrated and capture changes in the backscatter coefficient related to melt and other events, particularly the strong melting in the summer of 2012. Comparison of features in the ascending-orbit ALOS mosaic and the descending-orbit RADARSAT mosaics indicate that in areas of smooth to moderate topography their locations are consistent to within a few tens of meters. The locations of features identifiable in the RADARSAT mosaics, which were collected with the same imaging parameters, generally agree to within better than the 20 m posting of the data. With such geometric accuracy, these data establish a record of change in Greenland for the early part of the 21st century, thus providing a baseline that can be compared with new radar and optical datasets.

Microwave radar amplitude within a snowpack can be strongly influenced by spatial variability of internal layer boundaries. We quantify the impact of spatial averaging of snow stratigraphy and physical snowpack properties on surface scattering from near-nadir frequency-modulated continuous-wave radar at 12–18 GHz. Relative permittivity, density, grain size and stratigraphic boundaries were measured in-situ at high resolution along the length of a 9 m snow trench. An optimal range of horizontal averaging (4–6 m) was identified to attribute variations in surface scattering at layer boundaries to dielectric contrasts estimated from centimetre-scale measurements of snowpack stratigraphy and bulk layer properties. Single vertical profiles of snowpack properties seldom captured the complex local variability influencing near-nadir radar surface scattering. We discuss implications of scaling in-situ measurements for snow radiative transfer modelling and evaluation of airborne microwave remote sensing of snow.

The skill of degree-day glacier melt models is highly dependent on the choice of degree-day factor (DDF), which is often assumed to remain constant in time. Here we explore the validity of this assumption in a changing climate for two locations on Vestari Hagafellsjökull (1979–2012) using a surface energy-balance (SEB) approach that isolates the effect of changes in the prevailing weather on the DDF. At lower elevation, we observe stable DDF during the period of study; however, at higher elevation, DDF is noted to be more variable and a statistically-significant downward trend is observed. This is found to result from an inappropriate threshold air temperature (Tcrit) from which to initiate the positive-degree-day sum, and is removed by setting Tcrit to −1.83°C, rather than the usual value of 0°C used in degree-day melt models. The stationarity of DDF once Tcrit is adjusted contradicts previous research and lends support to the use of constant DDF for projecting future glacier melt. Optimizing Tcrit also improves the skill of melt simulations at our study sites. This research thus highlights the importance of Tcrit for both melt model performance and the evaluation of DDF stationarity in a changing climate.

The dominant mass-loss process on the Antarctic Peninsula has been ice-shelf collapse, including the Larsen A Ice Shelf in early 1995. Following this collapse, there was rapid speed up and thinning of its tributary glaciers. We model the impact of this ice-shelf collapse on upstream tributaries, and compare with observations using new datasets of surface velocity and ice thickness. Using a two-horizontal-dimension shallow shelf approximation model, we are able to replicate the observed large increase in surface velocity that occurred within Drygalski Glacier, Antarctic Peninsula. The model results show an instantaneous twofold increase in flux across the grounding line, caused solely from the reduction in backstress through ice shelf removal. This demonstrates the importance of ice-shelf buttressing for flow upstream of the grounding line and highlights the need to explicitly include lateral stresses when modelling real-world settings. We hypothesise that further increases in velocity and flux observed since the ice-shelf collapse result from transient mass redistribution effects. Reproducing these effects poses the next, more stringent test of glacier and ice-sheet modelling studies.

Englacial temperature is a major control on ice rheology and flow. However, it is difficult to measure at the glacier to ice-sheet scale. As a result, ice-sheet models must make assumptions about englacial temperature and rheology, which affect sea level projections. This is problematic if fundamental processes are not captured by models due to a lack of observationally constrained ice temperature values. Although radar sounding data have been exploited to constrain the temperature structure of the Greenland ice sheet using englacial layers, this approach is limited to areas and depths where these layers exist intact. In order to extend empirical radar-based temperature estimation beyond this limitation, we present a new technique for estimating englacial attenuation rates for the entire ice column using adaptive fitting of unfocused radar bed echoes based on the correlation of ice thickness and corrected bed echo power. We apply this technique to an airborne survey of Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica and compare the results with temperatures and attenuation rates from a numerical ice-sheet model. We find that the estimated attenuation rates reproduce modelled patterns and values across the catchment with the greatest differences near steeply sloping bed topography.

Cryoconite holes can be important sources and stores of water and nutrients on cold and polythermal glaciers, and they provide a habitat for various forms of biota. Understanding the hydrological connectivity of cryoconite holes may be the key to understanding the transport of nutrients and biological material to the proglacial areas of such glaciers. This paper aims to characterize and explain spatial variability in the connectivity of ice-lidded cryoconite holes on a small, piedmont glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys through geochemical analysis of cryoconite hole waters. Solute concentrations in both surface and near-surface ice and cryoconite holes, vary greatly along the glacier centerline, and all sample types displayed similar spatial patterns of variability. Using chloride as a tracer, we estimated variations in cryoconite hole connectivity along the glacier centerline. We found that a previously used mass transfer method did not provide reliable estimates of the time period for which cryoconite hole waters had been isolated from the atmosphere. We attribute this to spatial variability in both the chloride content of the surface ice and surface ablation rates. The approach may, however, be used to qualitatively characterize spatial variations in the hydrological connectivity of the cryoconite holes. These results also suggest that ice-lidded cryoconite holes are never truly isolated from the near-surface drainage system.

The mass flux from marine terminating glacier outlets from the Greenland ice sheet is a significant mass budget term. Yet, glacier calving sensitivity to climate parameters is not well understood. In this study, the front area changes of 42 marine terminating Greenland outlet glaciers were measured annually from 1999 to 2013 using optical satellite imagery. Thirty-five glaciers retreated, while seven remained stable. The average front position change was −240 m a−1 and the total rate of front area change was −114 km2 a−1. The yearly average area changes of all measured glaciers are compared with interannual variations in sea surface temperature (SST), sea-ice concentration (SIC), surface melt, Northern Hemisphere (NH) surface air temperatures and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index. We find: (1) northwestern glaciers area change have a significant correlation with surface melt and NH land temperature variations; (2) southeastern glaciers have a significant correlation with local SST, SIC and NH temperatures; and (3) southwestern glaciers area change correlate significantly with local SST and NAO index. We conclude that a climate sensitivity signal emerges considering a population of glaciers. Further, we find a significant correlation between the date of minimum extent and glacier latitude. Area change data are available from http://GAC.geus.dk.

Ice rises are locally grounded parts of Antarctic ice shelves that play an important role in regulating ice flow from the continent towards the ocean. Because they protrude out of the otherwise horizontal ice shelves, ice rises induce an orographic uplift of the atmospheric flow, resulting in an asymmetric distribution of the surface mass balance (SMB). Here, we combine younger and older internal reflection horizons (IRHs) from radar to quantify this distribution in time and space across Derwael Ice Rise (DIR), Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. We employ two methods depending on the age of the IRHs, i.e. the shallow layer approximation for the younger IRHs near the surface and an optimization technique based on an ice flow model for the older IRHs. We identify an SMB ratio of 2.5 between the flanks and the ice divide with the SMB ranging between 300 and 750 kg m−2 a−1. The SMB maximum is located on the upwind side, ~4 km offset to today's topographic divide. The large-scale asymmetry is consistently observed in time until 1966. The SMB from older IRHs is less-well constrained, but the asymmetry has likely persisted for >ka, indicating that DIR has been a stable features over long time spans.

I explore the tidewater glacier cycle with a 1-D, depth- and width-integrated flow model that includes a mass-flux calving parameterization. The parameterization is developed from mass continuity arguments and relates the calving rate to the terminus velocity and the terminus balance velocity. The model demonstrates variable sensitivity to climate. From an advanced, stable configuration, a small warming of the climate triggers a rapid retreat that causes large-scale drawdown and is enhanced by positive glacier-dynamic feedbacks. Eventually, the terminus retreats out of deep water and the terminus velocity decreases, resulting in reduced drawdown and the potential for restabilization. Terminus readvance can be initiated by cooling the climate. Terminus advance into deep water is difficult to sustain, however, due to negative feedbacks between glacier dynamics and surface mass balance. Despite uncertainty in the precise form of the parameterization, the model provides a simple explanation of the tidewater glacier cycle and can be used to evaluate the response of tidewater glaciers to climate variability. It also highlights the importance of improving parameterizations of calving rates and of incorporating sediment dynamics into tidewater glacier models.

To quantify recent thinning of marine-terminating outlet glaciers in northwestern Greenland, we carried out field and satellite observations near the terminus of Bowdoin Glacier. These data were used to compute the change in surface elevation from 2007 to 2013 and this rate of thinning was then compared with that of the adjacent land-terminating Tugto Glacier. Comparing DEMs of 2007 and 2010 shows that Bowdoin Glacier is thinning more rapidly (4.1 ± 0.3 m a−1) than Tugto Glacier (2.8 ± 0.3 m a−1). The observed negative surface mass-balance accounts for <40% of the elevation change of Bowdoin Glacier, meaning that the thinning of Bowdoin Glacier cannot be attributable to surface melting alone. The ice speed of Bowdoin Glacier increases down-glacier, reaching 457 m a−1 near the calving front. This flow regime causes longitudinal stretching and vertical compression at a rate of −0.04 a−1. It is likely that this dynamically-controlled thinning has been enhanced by the acceleration of the glacier since 2000. Our measurements indicate that ice dynamics indeed play a predominant role in the rapid thinning of Bowdoin Glacier.

Glacier response to climate forcing can be heterogeneous and complex, depending on glacier system characteristics. This article presents the decadal evolution of the Tsarmine Glacier (Swiss Alps), a very small and heavily debris-covered cirque glacier located in the Alpine periglacial belt. Archival aerial photogrammetry and autocorrelation of orthophotos were used to compute surface elevation, volume and geodetic mass changes, as well as horizontal displacement rates for several periods between 1967 and 2012. A GPR survey allowed us to investigate glacier thickness (15 m mean) and volume (4 × 106 m3) in 2015 and to anticipate its future evolution. Different dynamics occurred in recent decades because of the heterogeneous surface characteristics. The climate-sensitive upper debris-free zone contrasts with the progressively stagnant heavily debris-covered glacier tongue. Between 1967 and 2012, the glacier lost 1/3 of its initial volume (2 × 106 m3). The average mass balance stabilised at ~−0.3 m w.e. a−1 since 1999. Compared with other local glaciers, the Tsarmine Glacier shows a particular decadal behaviour both in time (divergence of mass balance since the 2000s) and space (inverted ablation pattern). This might be explained by the combined influence of debris cover, shadow, snow redistribution and permafrost conditions on this very small glacier.

In snow avalanche long-term forecasting, existing risk-based methods remain difficult to use in a real engineering context. In this work, we expand a quasi analytical decisional model to obtain simple formulae to quantify risk and to perform the optimal design of an avalanche dam in a quick and efficient way. Specifically, the exponential runout model is replaced by the Generalized Pareto distribution (GPD), which has theoretical justifications that promote its use for modelling the different possible runout tail behaviours. Regarding the defence structure/flow interaction, a simple law based on kinetic energy dissipation is compared with a law based on the volume stored upstream of the dam, whose flexibility allows us to cope with various types of snow. We show how a detailed sensitivity study can be conducted, leading to intervals and bounds for risk estimates and optimal design values. Application to a typical case study from the French Alps, highlights potential operational difficulties and how they can be tackled. For instance, the highest sensitivity to the runout tail type and interaction law is found at abscissas of legal importance for hazard zoning (return periods of 10–1000 a), a crucial result for practical purposes.

We explore a new method to retrieve seasonal glacier mass balances (MBs) from low-resolution optical remote sensing. We derive annual winter and summer snow maps of the Alps during 1998–2014 using SPOT/VEGETATION 1 km resolution imagery. We combine these seasonal snow maps with a DEM to calculate a ‘mean regional’ altitude of snow (Z) in a region surrounding a glacier. Then, we compare the interannual variation of Z with the observed winter/summer glacier MB for 55 Alpine glaciers over 1998–2008, our calibration period. We find strong linear relationships in winter (mean R2 = 0.84) and small errors for the reconstructed winter MB (mean RMSE = 158 mm (w.e.) a−1). This is lower than errors generally assumed for the glaciological MB measurements (200–400 mm w.e. a−1). Results for summer MB are also satisfying (mean R2 and RMSE, respectively, 0.74 and 314 mm w.e. a−1). Comparison with observed seasonal MB available over 2009–2014 (our evaluation period) for 19 glaciers in winter and 13 in summer shows good agreement in winter (RMSE = 405 mm w.e. a−1) and slightly larger errors in summer (RMSE = 561 mm w.e. a−1). These results indicate that our approach might be valuable for remotely determining the seasonal MB of glaciers over large regions.

Several airborne radar-sounding surveys are used to trace internal reflections around the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica Dome C and Vostok ice core sites. Thirteen reflections, spanning the last two glacial cycles, are traced within 200 km of Dome C, a promising region for million-year-old ice, using the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics High-Capacity Radar Sounder. This provides a dated stratigraphy to 2318 m depth at Dome C. Reflection age uncertainties are calculated from the radar range precision and signal-to-noise ratio of the internal reflections. The radar stratigraphy matches well with the Multichannel Coherent Radar Depth Sounder (MCoRDS) radar stratigraphy obtained independently. We show that radar sounding enables the extension of ice core ages through the ice sheet with an additional radar-related age uncertainty of ~1/3–1/2 that of the ice cores. Reflections are extended along the Byrd-Totten Glacier divide, using University of Texas/Technical University of Denmark and MCoRDS surveys. However, core-to-core connection is impeded by pervasive aeolian terranes, and Lake Vostok's influence on reflection geometry. Poor radar connection of the two ice cores is attributed to these effects and suboptimal survey design in affected areas. We demonstrate that, while ice sheet internal radar reflections are generally isochronal and can be mapped over large distances, careful survey planning is necessary to extend ice core chronologies to distant regions of the East Antarctic ice sheet.

Glacier mass balance is a key variable for the monitoring strategies of the Earth climate system, but the continuation of long-term observations is now endangered by the impending extinction of several monitored glaciers. It is therefore advisable to start new observations on neighbouring glaciers that are more likely to survive into the next few decades. These glaciers will be located at higher altitude, have larger elevation range, thus preserving an accumulation area and have good spatial representativeness. Glaciers with these characteristics may pose some problems and are more demanding for mass-balance measurements and calculations, due to their size and presence of remote and inaccessible areas, further complicated by the complex morphology and high-lateral gradients of mass balance. I present the new mass-balance series for La Mare Glacier, started in 2003 to replace the long-term monitored and rapidly vanishing Careser Glacier in the Ortles-Cevedale Group (Eastern Italian Alps). Direct glaciological mass-balance observations have been complemented by measurements with the hydrological method and, as recommended by the World Glacier Monitoring Service, validated using the geodetic method. The collected data are useful for testing and optimising two techniques proposed in the literature for extrapolating measurements to inaccessible areas.

Empirical data on the volume/area scaling of glaciers and ice caps are compared with theoretical models of longitudinal glacier profiles. Ice caps are described well by theoretical solutions of the differential equations modeling longitudinal profiles, but glaciers for which the surface slope is approximated by the ice thickness divided by the length are not. A power-law profile recently derived analytically, reproduces exactly the thickness-length scaling, first predicted by scaling analysis for ice caps.

The glacier system covering Europe's highest mountain, Elbrus, has exhibited an accelerated retreat since 1980. Some studies have related this retreat to a significant summer temperature increasing trend. Relief- and aspect-related parameters for the glacierized area have an important impact on glacier changes. In this paper, the changes in glacier area are identified, quantified and correlated with relief parameters for the period 1985–2007. Spatial analysis was performed using the GLAM-CD (Glacier Mapper – Change Detector) algorithm. The input data for this algorithm were Landsat 5 images, the Aster Global Digital Elevation and the glacier outlines from the GLIMS project (Global Land Ice Measurements from Space). Regression analyses between glacier area losses and relief-related parameters indicate a significant positive relation with the altitude and a significant negative relation with the glacier surface area. In this context, we used a correlated component regression to model these relations. The model explains >50% of the total variation.

Present-day mass loss from the West Antarctic ice sheet is centred on the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE), primarily through ice streams, including Pine Island, Thwaites and Smith glaciers. To understand the differences in response of these ice streams, we ran a perturbed parameter ensemble, using a vertically-integrated ice flow model with adaptive mesh refinement. We generated 71 sets of three physical parameters (basal traction coefficient, ice viscosity stiffening factor and sub-shelf melt rate), which we used to simulate the ASE for 50 years. We also explored the effects of different bed geometries and basal sliding laws. The mean rate of sea-level rise across the ensemble of simulations is comparable with current observed rates for the ASE. We found evidence that grounding line dynamics are sensitive to features in the bed geometry: simulations using BedMap2 geometry resulted in a higher rate of sea-level rise than simulations using a rougher geometry, created using mass conservation. Modelled grounding-line retreat of all the three ice streams was sensitive to viscosity and basal traction, while the melt rate was more important in Pine Island and Smith glaciers, which flow through more confined ice shelves than Thwaites, which has a relatively unconfined shelf.

In nature, when hazardous geophysical granular flows (e.g. a snow avalanche) impact on an obstacle as they stream down a slope, rapid changes in flow depth, direction and velocity will occur. It is important to understand how granular material flows around such obstacles in order to enhance the design of defense structures. In this study, a three dimensional (3-D) Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) model is developed to simulate granular flow past different types of obstacles. The elastic–perfectly plastic model with implementation of the Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion is applied to simulate the material behavior, which describes the stress states of soil in the plastic flow regime. The model was validated by simulating the collapse of a 3-D column of sand with two different aspect ratios; the results showed that the SPH method is capable of simulating granular flow. The model is then applied to simulate the gravity-driven granular flow down an inclined surface obstructed by a group of columns with different spacing, a circular cylinder and a tetrahedral wedge. The numerical results are then compared with experimental results and two different numerical solutions. The good agreements obtained from these comparisons demonstrate that the SPH method may be a powerful method for simulating granular flow and can be extended to design protective structures.

Along the base of glaciers and ice sheets, the sliding of ice over till depends critically on water drainage. In locations where drainage occurs through Röthlisberger channels, the effective pressure along the base of the ice increases and can lead to a strengthening of the bed, which reduces glacier sliding. The formation of Röthlisberger channels depends on two competing effects: (1) melting from turbulent dissipation opens the channel walls and (2) creep flow driven by the weight of the overlying ice closes the channels radially inward. Variation in downstream ice velocity along the channel axis, referred to as an antiplane shear strain rate, decreases the effective viscosity. The softening of the ice increases creep closure velocities. In this way, even a modest addition of antiplane shear can double the size of the Röthlisberger channels for a fixed water pressure or allow channels of a fixed radius to operate at lower effective pressure, potentially decreasing the strength of the surrounding bed. Furthermore, we show that Röthlisberger channels can be deformed away from a circular cross section under applied antiplane shear. These results can have broad impacts on sliding velocities and potentially affect the total ice flux out of glaciers and ice streams.