Linear modelling of glacier length fluctuations

The mountain cryospere - a holistic view on processes and their interactions

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
The A. uses a linear first-order differential equation to model glacier length fluctuations. This equation has 2 parameters describing the physical characteristics of a glacier : the climate sensitivity, expressing how the equilibrium glacier length depends on the climatic state, and the response time, indicating how fast a glacier approaches a new equilibrium state after a stepwise change in the climatic forcing. The linear model is used to define and illustrate some concepts relevant to the study of glacier fluctuations. It is shown that glaciers are never in equilibrium with climate, and that a constant time lag between forcing and response cannot be expected. Next the linear glacier model is applied to real glaciers, showing how information on response times and a reconstruction of the climatic forcing can be extracted from length records : 2 adjacent glaciers in the Oetztal Alps (Austria), Hintereisferner and Kesselwandferner, and 4 glacier length records from the Oberengadin (Switzerland).


Type de document :
Article de monographie

Source :
Geografiska annaler. Series A. Physical geography, issn : 0435-3676, 2012, vol. 94, n°. 2, p. 183-194, nombre de pages : 12, Références bibliographiques : 20 ref.

Date :
2012

Editeur :
Pays édition : Suede, Stockholm, Svenska sällskapet för antropologi och geografi