4), with RMSE values of 39 and 125 W m2 for Urdukas and Concordia, respectively. The total drainage basin of Baltoro glacier is ~1500 km2. In 2004 an Italian/German expedition carried. Baltoro Glacier topographic map, elevation, terrain TOT; m w.e.) Our model estimated 0.223 km3 (on average, 0.012 km3 d1; minmax 0.0060.016 km3 d1) of meltwater from the debris-covered parts, and 1.740 km3 (on average, 0.097 km3 d1; minmax 0.0410.139 km3 d1) from debris-free sectors of the CKNP glacier ablation zone from 23 July to 9 August 2011. EVATT, GEOFFREY W. Hostname: page-component-6c5869dcc6-bf8rf The highest point in a particular state is usually a mountain, or at least a hill. > Baltoro Glacier Name : Baltoro Glacier topographic map, elevation, terrain. Senese, Antonella DC-point; m w.e.) This melt model was coupled with the debris-covered ice melt model, thus obtaining a suitable tool to be applied on large and remote glacierized areas featuring both debris-covered and debris-free ice conditions. Bocchiola, Daniele On debris-covered areas of the whole CKNP, the daily average ablation was 0.024 m w.e. Precipitation is gathered in two main periods, summer (JulySeptember) and winter (JanuaryMarch), i.e. 2018. DC-point and M may lead to underestimation of the actual glacier melt, as melt can occur above this elevation threshold, however limited in this season. We applied the model to four points where actual ablation data were collected in the field (the calibration points in Table 2) and calculated melt anomalies (, Sensitivity tests performed by applying different input data to the debris-free ice melt model. DF mod. a pixel was classified as supraglacial debris-covered when the probability of a pixel belonging to this class was >0.9). Smiraglia, Claudio DC-point; m w.e.) A further improvement of our approach will be the spatial distribution of debris-free ice albedo by applying methods based on remote-sensing investigations (see Reference Klok, Greuell and OerlemansKlok and others, 2003). These individual advances and mass gain episodes could be attributed to surging (Reference Barrand and MurrayBarrand and Murray, 2006; Reference HewittHewitt, 2007; Reference CoplandCopland and others, 2011; Reference Quincey, Braun, Bishop, Hewitt and LuckmanQuincey and others, 2011), temperature drops (Reference Shekhar, Chand, Kumar, Srinivasan and GanjuShekhar and others, 2010) and increased solid precipitation in the accumulation areas (Reference Fowler and ArcherFowler and Archer, 2006; Reference Bocchiola and DiolaiutiBocchiola and Diolaiuti, 2013). More precisely, Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced TM Plus (ETM+) scenes of 2010 were processed and analyzed (Table 1). Viviano, Gaetano According to Reference MihalceaMihalcea and others (2008a), G Elevation ( The height of a fixed position above sea level) Example: Denver, Colorado in the United States is 5,183 ft. above sea level. Indeed, when DT was decreased by 50%, melt in debris-covered areas increased by up to +34%, while when it was doubled, melt decreased by 28% (see Table 6). 5. Daily mean incoming solar radiation recorded by the AWSs installed at Urdukas during 2011 and at Concordia during 2012 (x-axis) vs the modeled values (y-axis) derived from Askole data. Gibson, Morgan J. We found a mean error of +0.01 m w.e. Azzoni, RS The details of the satellite images used are shown in Table 1. Irvine-Fynn, Tristram D.L. by Reference Mayer, Lambrecht, Bel, Smiraglia and DiolaiutiMayer and others, 2006, and Reference BocchiolaBocchiola and others, 2011), Baltoro glacier can be considered paradigmatic of glacierized areas in the CKNP. Although a near neighbour of Biafo, it has some very different characteristics. Minora, Umberto The empirical relationship between these data is a valuable tool for estimating debris thickness over unmeasured glacier zones (Reference MihalceaMihalcea and others, 2008a,Reference Mihalceab). a-point is the daily mean air temperature (C), is the surface albedo, SWin-point is the daily mean incoming solar radiation (W m2), and TMF (32.43 104 md1 C1) and RMF (0.79 104 md1 W1 m2) are the temperature and radiative melting factors, respectively. Details. In particular, (1) the lapse rate to distribute the air temperature (see Eqn (2)) should be locally evaluated; (2) the use of a constant albedo of 0.30 might be invalid for areas with debris-free ice affected by dust and black carbon deposition (see Reference Azzoni, Senese, Zerboni, Maugeri, Smiraglia and DiolaiutiAzzoni and others, 2014), thus requiring dedicated analyses; (3) the debris effective thermal resistance (DR) estimation requires debris-covered ice ablation and debris surface temperature data collected in the field. To assess meltwater volume we applied a distributed model able to describe both debris-covered and debris-free ice ablation. Haireti, Alifu Azzoni, Roberto Sergio The reference modeled melt is given by MDF mod. Indeed, a significant portion of the glaciers in the CKNP is covered by a supraglacial debris layer, modulating the magnitude and rate of ice ablation (Reference Nakawo and YoungNakawo and Young, 1981; Reference Nakawo and TakahashiNakawo and Takahashi, 1982; Reference Nicholson and BennNicholson and Benn, 2006; Reference MihalceaMihalcea and others, 2008a,Reference Mihalceab; Reference Reid and BrockReid and Brock, 2010). Thus, the debris-covered ice melt model is more sensitive to the errors in the meteorological input data. This method is based on the relationship between surface temperature and supraglacial debris thickness (Reference Taschner and RanziTaschner and Ranzi, 2002). Given that the solar radiation was used to estimate debris surface temperatures, affecting in turn conductive heat fluxes, melt in debris-covered areas (M Indeed, the minimum and maximum daily melt (0.005 and 0.089 m w.e., respectively) occurred during days with the lowest and highest incoming solar radiation (respectively, 112 and 371 W m2, in Askole; Fig. and Zerboni, Andrea Baltoro Glacier - Wikipedia ), as well as in Askole (3029 m a.s.l. We considered the whole CKNP ablation area the daily air temperature by 0.1, 1.0 and 2.5C with respect to the measured values. S drive a lower alteration around 15%, not particularly influenced by elevation. at each pixel of the CKNP debris-covered glacier area was modeled as. DAgata, Carlo The approach does not consider meltwater ponds, supraglacial lakes and sectors with crevasses and ice seals covering glacier areas smaller than the pixel size. . a-Askole and SWin-Askole to evaluate ice melt over debris-free areas, by applying an enhanced T-index approach (Reference Pellicciotti, Brock, Strasser, Burlando, Funk and CorripioPellicciotti and others, 2005). Bocchiola, Daniele We applied the model to three points where actual ablation data were collected in the field (the calibration points in Table 2) and calculated melt anomalies (, Sensitivity test performed by applying different input data to both the debris-free and debris-covered ice melt models. Bocchiola, Daniele (Reference Winiger, Gumpert and YamoutWiniger and others, 2005). The remaining pixels within glacierized areas and below the ELA were considered debris-free areas. Sensitivity tests performed by applying different input data to the debris-free ice melt model. Albedo was estimated by analyzing incoming and outgoing solar radiation data recorded during 2012 by a net radiometer (CNR1, Kipp & Zonen) installed at the Concordia supraglacial AWS. The Askole, Urdukas and Concordia AWSs belong to a meteorological network in the CKNP area serving the SHARE program and were developed and are managed by Ev-K2-CNR. DC by modifying the incoming shortwave radiation and debris thickness. WGS 1984 projected coordinate system with off-ice 250 m contours derived from the ASTER Global digital Elevation Model (GDEM) (2000, 30 m resolution) using the contour tool in ArcGIS. This is a consequence of applying an enhanced T-index model, which indeed gives a primary role to temperature in driving ice melt, and a complementary role to incoming solar radiation (see, e.g., Reference Pellicciotti, Brock, Strasser, Burlando, Funk and CorripioPellicciotti and others, 2005). and We thank the Associate Editor Shin Sugiyama and three anonymous reviewers for their help in improving the first draft of this paper and for useful comments and suggestions. To assess the effects of albedo, we changed the albedo of debris-free areas by a factor of 10%, finding only a moderate impact on total melt ( 5%). For the area covered by both overlapping images, results from Eqn (6) applied to the 10 August image were preferred because Baltoro glacier was only partially covered by the 17 August image, while it was completely covered by the 10 August image. DC-point and M The elevation of Passu glacier rises from 1,200 m at the base to 7,500 m high peak above the mean sea level and contains steep slopes. Furthermore, we assessed the contribution of debris-free ice melt to fresh water from the whole CKNP ablation area. and In order to remain free and to keep improving, this site uses cookies created by Google to compile visit statistics and display personalized advertisements. In addition, permanent automatic weather stations (AWSs) operate on the glacier (at Urdukas, on a lateral moraine at 3926 m a.s.l., and Concordia, on the glacier melting surface at 4700 m a.s.l. Siachen lies south of the Shaksgam ceded by Pakistan to China via the 1963 Sino-Pakistan Agreement but also claimed by India[4] and Aksai Chin held by China since 1962 but also claimed by India. View all Google Scholar citations Baltoro Glacier is a river of ice in Pakistan | Earth | EarthSky Spatial-Temporal Characteristics of Glacier Velocity in the Central ), the first village down-valley from Baltoro glacier (Fig. 2018. Diolaiuti, Guglielmina Adele First, we considered the debris-covered areas. Soncini, A (a) Landsat TM image with RGB = 543 of portion of Panmah glacier. if the glacier ice is not completely clean in some parts of its debris-free area. 4 to 5 hours of trekking. We applied the model to three points where actual ablation data were collected in the field (the calibration points in Table 2) and calculated melt anomalies (M) with respect to MDF by varying the air temperature, the incoming shortwave radiation and the albedo. Irvine-Fynn, T. D. In addition, we assessed any error due to the methodology applied for distributing the meteorological variables. Glaciers in the CKNP span a broad range of sizes, types (mountain glaciers, glacierets, hanging glaciers, compound-basin valley glaciers), and surface conditions (debris-free and debris-covered ice). Some studies have used remote-sensing data to analyze the spatial distribution of surface temperatures and calculate the energy available for melting (Reference Nakawo, Moroboshi and UeharaNakawo and others, 1993; Reference Rana, Nakawo, Fukushima and AgetaRana and others, 1997; Reference Nakawo and RanaNakawo and Rana, 1999). Table 6. In addition to these model sensitivity tests, we considered the whole CKNP area totally debris-free, obtaining a total melt of 2.22 km3 w.e., with an increase of 0.48 km3 w.e. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Reference Hewitt, Wake, Young and DavidHewitt and others, 1989; Reference Mattson and GardnerMattson and Gardner, 1989; Reference Mattson, Gardner and YoungMattson and others, 1993; Reference Young and HewittYoung and Hewitt, 1993; Reference Nakawo and RanaNakawo and Rana, 1999; Reference Kayastha, Takeuchi, Nakawo and AgetaKayastha and others, 2000; Reference Nakawo, Raymond and FountainNakawo and others, 2000; Reference Takeuchi, Kohshima, Yoshimura, Seko and FujitaTakeuchi and others, 2000; Reference Lejeune, Bertrand, Wagnon and MorinLejeune and others, 2013). This map allowed the separation of the debris-free and debris-covered zones of each glacier. Supraglacial debris covers 518.47 km2 (16.5%, 576 072 pixels) of the ablation zone of all the CKNP glaciers, while the extent of the debris-free area was 2619.61 km2 (2 910 672 pixels). Gibson, Morgan J. and 1). 5. - via Godwin Austen Glacier, and terminates approximately 63 km down-valley at an elevation of 3500 m. It is fed by one other major tributary, Baltoro South Glacier, which itself descends from the Gasherbrum group of peaks (maximum elevation 8080 m) via Abruzzi Glacier . Vuillermoz, Elisa Table 4. This agrees with the well-known nonlinear relation between debris-covered ice melt and DT (see also fig. The CKNP is a protected area established in 2009 covering 12 162 km2 in northeastern Pakistan, at the border with India and China (Fig. Baltoro Glacier descends from the western face of K2 (8611 m a.s.l.) Nevertheless, on large and remote glacierized catchments, only a few attempts to model debris-free ice melt coupled with approaches estimating debris-covered ice ablation are available (e.g. d1. We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. In 2004 an Italian/German expedition carried. Table 3. Fig. The model was calibrated using data collected in the field in the CKNP area and validated by comparison with ablation data collected in the field, independent of the data used in building the model. DF) was 1.740 km3, with an average of 0.097 km3 d1. In addition, the Karakoram is known to host several surge-type glaciers (Reference Diolaiuti, Pecci and SmiragliaDiolaiuti and others, 2003; Reference Barrand and MurrayBarrand and Murray, 2006; Reference HewittHewitt, 2007, Reference Hewitt2011; Reference Kotlyakov, Osipova and TsvetkovKotlyakov and others, 2008; Reference Gardelle, Berthier and ArnaudGardelle and others, 2012), displaying cyclically short active phases involving rapid mass transfer from high to low elevations, and long quiescent phases of low mass fluxes. Bocchiola, Daniele 2017. We performed several sensitivity tests and evaluated model responses to varying input data at field survey sites (Tables 4 and 5) as well as over the whole CKNP ablation area (Table 6). IGARSS 2003, International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2125 July 2003, Toulouse, France. - These include: Jerzy Wala, Orographical Sketch Map of the Karakoram, Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research, Zurich, 1990. Fugazza, Davide The largest glacier in Colorado is Arapaho Glacier (0.24 km 2), located in the central . Modeled melt rates over debris-covered (DC) and debris-free (DF) areas, and the total ablation in the period 23 July9 August 2011. We used T Zong J (2015) Changes in the glacier extent and surface elevation in Xiongcaigangri region, Southern Karakoram Mountains, China. Flow Analysis at the Snow Covered High Altitude Catchment via - Nature Modeled meteorological variables (Eqns (2) and (3)) agree well with those measured at Urdukas in 2011 and at Concordia in 2012. The model response at field survey points (C-DC1 to C-DC4) is shown in Table 4. 2018. Using seven images from Landsat, the animation compresses 25 years of change into just 0.7 seconds to reveal the flow of the Baltoro glacier tongue and its surrounding tributaries in the Karakoram mountain range in Asia. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Vales, who is in charge of the Spanish Federation Sport Climbing, last year made the first ascent of a 1000-meter wall in Norway via an all-free route with a crux of 5.13c. This demanding trek is about walking majority of the lengths of Baltoro, Vigne and Gondogoro glaciers, not to mention ascending and descending the Gondogoro La/Pass (5,585 m) which is where the mighty 8,000 m peaks can be seen. Debris data: (a) a map describing the supraglacial debris thicknesses (DTpoint; m) was derived from Landsat TM thermal band imagery from August 2011 (T Senese, Antonella This in turn flows into the Indus River. and 2019. Shrestha, Dibas Baltoro Glacier Facts for Kids | KidzSearch.com This suggests that the debris layer is thick enough (more than the local critical value; Reference Mattson, Gardner and YoungMattson and others, 1993) to constrain the ice melt rates on average. m is the latent heat of melting (3.34 105 J kg1). The lowest point of a state that borders an ocean is almost always sea level. Article Google Scholar Ambrosini, Roberto The largest glacierized region outside the Arctic and the Antarctic is High Mountain Asia (HMA), which covers an area of 118 200 km2 (Reference GardnerGardner and others, 2013). Google maps can show you the elevation for a bike route, but if you're planning a cross country road trip in an RV, you may want to explore the flattest travel routes across America in any state or country. We varied the daily incoming solar radiation by 10% and 20%. Since snow depth data in the CKNP area are scant and spotty, our study focused on modeling ice melt only, neglecting snowmelt. We applied two distributed melt models, one for debris-covered and one for debris-free areas. Unfortunately, these studies only provided melt data over small areas and short time spans. This glacier is located in Gilgit Baltistan region of Pakistan. Find the height of a major mountain of the world. The ablation areas of many glaciers in the CKNP are heavily debris-covered, because of abundant rockfalls from steep walls, and intense avalanche activity (e.g. Trek to Urdukas. K2 & BALTORO GLACIER TREK - KARAKORAM - One World Trekking The meteorological data obtained from the AWS at Askole were corrected applying an altitudinal gradient to obtain estimated meteorological data on the whole glacier ablation areas of the CKNP. Smiraglia, Claudio S-Landsat; K), Landsat TM band 6 (i.e. DC) is mostly influenced by the incoming solar radiation, since it depends on the conductive heat flux, and (2) melt of debris-free parts of the glaciers (M Glaciers are shown in pale blue, snow in light blue to . Baltoro glacier in the Karakoram, Pakistan, is one of the world's largest valley glaciers. Gondogoro La Trek - K2 Base Camp Trek A surge of North Gasherbrum Glacier, Karakoram, China Frano, Ghanche, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, Pakistan> Gilgit-Baltistan> Baltistn District, K2, Baltistn District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, Pakistan> Gilgit-Baltistan> Nazimabad-Pyeen, Attabad lake, Nazimabad-Pyeen, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, Shigar River, Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, Pakistan> Gilgit-Baltistan> Minapin Nagar, Hunza River, Minapin Nagar, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, Masherbrum (K1), Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, Sultanabad, Gilgit District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, Baltistn District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. The hydrometeorological regime is barely influenced by monsoons, while a major contribution results from snow and ice melt. Scatter plot showing DT values derived from 2004 ASTER (using equation reported in Mihalcea and others, 2008a), and the ones from 2004 Landsat (applying Eqn (5)); 8700 pixels were considered. Bianchi, Alberto It lies in Hunza river basin some 15 km from Gulmit, in the . 2016. Tagliaferri, Ilario To the northwest, the Kondus Glacier separates the range from the neighboring Masherbrum Mountains, while on the southeast, the Gyong River, Glacier, and Pass (Gyong La) separate the northern Saltoro Mountains from the southern Saltoro Mountains or "Kailas Mountains" (not to be confused with Tibet's sacred Mount Kailash). The reference modeled melt is given by M State Elevation Ranking (by mean elevation) from NETSTATE.COM