Articles | Volume 15, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3007-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3007-2021
Brief communication
 | 
29 Jun 2021
Brief communication |  | 29 Jun 2021

Brief communication: Growth and decay of an ice stupa in alpine conditions – a simple model driven by energy-flux observations over a glacier surface

Johannes Oerlemans, Suryanarayanan Balasubramanian, Conradin Clavuot, and Felix Keller

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Cited articles

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Short summary
An ice stupa is a cone-like ice mass storing water in the form of ice. By sprinkling water on the cone during cold conditions an ice stupa can grow to achieve an appreciable mass (typically 1 × 106 kg) and release this in spring and summer in the form of meltwater. In Ladakh ice stupas are currently used more and more for irrigation purposes. We present a simple model with which the rate of growth and decay of a stupa can be calculated for given climatic conditions.