Articles | Volume 19, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4045-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4045-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
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26 Sep 2025
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 26 Sep 2025
| 26 Sep 2025
4D GPR imaging of a near-terminus glacier collapse feature
Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Invited contribution by Bastien Ruols, recipient of the EGU Cryospheric Sciences Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation Award 2022.
Johanna Klahold
Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Daniel Farinotti
Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW), ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Sion, Switzerland
James Irving
Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Ilaria Santin, Huw Horgan, Raphael Moser, Nanna Bjørnholt Karlsson, Faezeh Maghami Nick, Andreas Vieli, Anja Rutishauser, Hansruedi Maurer, and Daniel Farinotti
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-488, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-488, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
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Ice thickness near Greenland’s coast is still poorly measured, yet it is vital for predicting sea level rise. We flew a helicopter ice-penetrating radar over three outlet glaciers in southern Greenland and mapped the glacier bed where basal reflections were clear. We measured ice up to about 340 meters thick, with reliable penetration typically to about 300 meters, providing new constraints that can improve regional bed maps.
Christophe Ogier, Mauro A. Werder, Olivier Gagliardini, Ilaria Santin, Raphael Moser, Romain Hugonnet, Antoine Blanc, and Daniel Farinotti
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-466, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-466, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS).
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In June 2024, a destructive flood impacted the village of La Bérarde in the French Alps. Rain, snowmelt, and the drainage of a surface lake on a glacier cannot fully explain the flood magnitude. We used glacier topography to estimate how much water could also have been stored beneath the glacier before the event. Our results show that large volumes of hidden water may have existed and could have amplified the flood, highlighting an overlooked hazard in debris-covered mountain glaciers.
Marit van Tiel, Matthias Huss, Massimiliano Zappa, Tobias Jonas, and Daniel Farinotti
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 23–43, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-23-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-23-2026, 2026
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The summer of 2022 was extremely warm and dry in Europe, severely impacting water availability. We calculated water balance anomalies for 88 glacierized catchments in Switzerland, showing that glaciers played a crucial role in alleviating the drought situation by melting at record rates, partially compensating for the lack of rain and snowmelt. By comparing 2022 with past extreme years, we show that while glacier meltwater remains essential during droughts, its contribution is declining.
Alexandra von der Esch, Matthias Huss, Marit van Tiel, Justine Berg, and Daniel Farinotti
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 6761–6780, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-6761-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-6761-2025, 2025
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Glaciers are vital water sources, especially in alpine regions. Using the Glacier Evolution Runoff Model (GERM), we examined how forcing data and model resolution impact glacio-hydrological model results. We find that precipitation biases greatly affect results, and coarse resolutions miss critical small-scale details. This highlights the trade-offs between computational efficiency and model accuracy, emphasizing the need for high-resolution data and precise calibration for reliable predictions.
Laura Gabriel, Marian Hertrich, Christophe Ogier, Mike Müller-Petke, Raphael Moser, Hansruedi Maurer, and Daniel Farinotti
The Cryosphere, 19, 6261–6281, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6261-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6261-2025, 2025
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Surface nuclear magnetic resonance (SNMR) is a geophysical technique directly sensitive to liquid water. We expand the limited applications of SNMR on glaciers by detecting water within Rhonegletscher, Switzerland. By carefully processing the data to reduce noise, we identified signals indicating a water layer near the base of the glacier, surrounded by ice with low water content. Our findings, validated by radar measurements, show SNMR's potential and limitations in studying water in glaciers.
Ian Delaney, Andrew J. Tedstone, Mauro A. Werder, and Daniel Farinotti
The Cryosphere, 19, 2779–2795, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2779-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2779-2025, 2025
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Sediment transport capacity depends on water velocity and channel width. In rivers, water discharge changes affect flow depth, width, and velocity. Yet, under glaciers, discharge variations alter velocity more than channel shape. Due to these differences, this study shows that sediment transport capacity under glaciers varies widely and peaks before water flow, creating a complex relationship. Understanding these dynamics helps interpret sediment discharge from glaciers in different climates.
Aaron Cremona, Matthias Huss, Johannes Marian Landmann, Mauro Marty, Marijn van der Meer, Christian Ginzler, and Daniel Farinotti
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2929, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2929, 2025
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Our study provides daily mass balance estimates for every Swiss glacier from 2010–2024 using modelling, remote sensing observations, and machine learning. Over the period, Swiss glaciers lost nearly a quarter of their ice volume. The approach enables investigating the spatio-temporal variability of glacier mass balance in relation to the driving climatic factors.
Jane Walden, Mylène Jacquemart, Bretwood Higman, Romain Hugonnet, Andrea Manconi, and Daniel Farinotti
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2045–2073, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2045-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2045-2025, 2025
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We studied eight glacier-adjacent landslides in Alaska and found that slope movement increased at four sites as the glacier retreated past the landslide area. Movement at other sites may be due to heavy precipitation or increased glacier thinning, and two sites showed little to no motion. We suggest that landslides near waterbodies may be especially vulnerable to acceleration, which we guess is due to faster retreat rates of water-terminating glaciers and changing water flow in the slope.
Kaian Shahateet, Johannes J. Fürst, Francisco Navarro, Thorsten Seehaus, Daniel Farinotti, and Matthias Braun
The Cryosphere, 19, 1577–1597, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1577-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1577-2025, 2025
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In the present work, we provide a new ice thickness reconstruction of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet north of 70º S using inversion modeling. This model consists of two steps: the first uses basic assumptions of the rheology of the glacier, and the second uses mass conservation to improve the reconstruction where the assumptions made previously are expected to fail. Validation with independent data showed that our reconstruction improved compared to other reconstructions that are available.
Marijn van der Meer, Harry Zekollari, Matthias Huss, Jordi Bolibar, Kamilla Hauknes Sjursen, and Daniel Farinotti
The Cryosphere, 19, 805–826, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-805-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-805-2025, 2025
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Glacier retreat poses big challenges, making understanding how climate affects glaciers vital. But glacier measurements worldwide are limited. We created a simple machine-learning model called miniML-MB, which estimates annual changes in glacier mass in the Swiss Alps. As input, miniML-MB uses two climate variables: average temperature (May–Aug) and total precipitation (Oct–Feb). Our model can accurately predict glacier mass from 1961 to 2021 but struggles for extreme years (2022 and 2023).
Harry Zekollari, Matthias Huss, Lilian Schuster, Fabien Maussion, David R. Rounce, Rodrigo Aguayo, Nicolas Champollion, Loris Compagno, Romain Hugonnet, Ben Marzeion, Seyedhamidreza Mojtabavi, and Daniel Farinotti
The Cryosphere, 18, 5045–5066, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5045-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5045-2024, 2024
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Glaciers are major contributors to sea-level rise and act as key water resources. Here, we model the global evolution of glaciers under the latest generation of climate scenarios. We show that the type of observations used for model calibration can strongly affect the projections at the local scale. Our newly projected 21st century global mass loss is higher than the current community estimate as reported in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.
Lander Van Tricht, Harry Zekollari, Matthias Huss, Daniel Farinotti, and Philippe Huybrechts
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2023-87, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2023-87, 2023
Manuscript not accepted for further review
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Detailed 3D models can be applied for well-studied glaciers, whereas simplified approaches are used for regional/global assessments. We conducted a comparison of six Tien Shan glaciers employing different models and investigated the impact of in-situ measurements. Our results reveal that the choice of mass balance and ice flow model as well as calibration have minimal impact on the projected volume. The initial ice thickness exerts the greatest influence on the future remaining ice volume.
Aaron Cremona, Matthias Huss, Johannes Marian Landmann, Joël Borner, and Daniel Farinotti
The Cryosphere, 17, 1895–1912, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1895-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1895-2023, 2023
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Summer heat waves have a substantial impact on glacier melt as emphasized by the extreme summer of 2022. This study presents a novel approach for detecting extreme glacier melt events at the regional scale based on the combination of automatically retrieved point mass balance observations and modelling approaches. The in-depth analysis of summer 2022 evidences the strong correspondence between heat waves and extreme melt events and demonstrates their significance for seasonal melt.
Fabian Walter, Elias Hodel, Erik S. Mannerfelt, Kristen Cook, Michael Dietze, Livia Estermann, Michaela Wenner, Daniel Farinotti, Martin Fengler, Lukas Hammerschmidt, Flavia Hänsli, Jacob Hirschberg, Brian McArdell, and Peter Molnar
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 4011–4018, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-4011-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-4011-2022, 2022
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Debris flows are dangerous sediment–water mixtures in steep terrain. Their formation takes place in poorly accessible terrain where instrumentation cannot be installed. Here we propose to monitor such source terrain with an autonomous drone for mapping sediments which were left behind by debris flows or may contribute to future events. Short flight intervals elucidate changes of such sediments, providing important information for landscape evolution and the likelihood of future debris flows.
Erik Schytt Mannerfelt, Amaury Dehecq, Romain Hugonnet, Elias Hodel, Matthias Huss, Andreas Bauder, and Daniel Farinotti
The Cryosphere, 16, 3249–3268, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3249-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3249-2022, 2022
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How glaciers have responded to climate change over the last 20 years is well-known, but earlier data are much more scarce. We change this in Switzerland by using 22 000 photographs taken from mountain tops between the world wars and find a halving of Swiss glacier volume since 1931. This was done through new automated processing techniques that we created. The data are interesting for more than just glaciers, such as mapping forest changes, landslides, and human impacts on the terrain.
Lea Geibel, Matthias Huss, Claudia Kurzböck, Elias Hodel, Andreas Bauder, and Daniel Farinotti
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3293–3312, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3293-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3293-2022, 2022
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Glacier monitoring in Switzerland started in the 19th century, providing exceptional data series documenting snow accumulation and ice melt. Raw point observations of surface mass balance have, however, never been systematically compiled so far, including complete metadata. Here, we present an extensive dataset with more than 60 000 point observations of surface mass balance covering 60 Swiss glaciers and almost 140 years, promoting a better understanding of the drivers of recent glacier change.
Tim Steffen, Matthias Huss, Rebekka Estermann, Elias Hodel, and Daniel Farinotti
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 723–741, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-723-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-723-2022, 2022
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Climate change is rapidly altering high-alpine landscapes. The formation of new lakes in areas becoming ice free due to glacier retreat is one of the many consequences of this process. Here, we provide an estimate for the number, size, time of emergence, and sediment infill of future glacier lakes that will emerge in the Swiss Alps. We estimate that up to ~ 680 potential lakes could form over the course of the 21st century, with the potential to hold a total water volume of up to ~ 1.16 km3.
Loris Compagno, Matthias Huss, Evan Stewart Miles, Michael James McCarthy, Harry Zekollari, Amaury Dehecq, Francesca Pellicciotti, and Daniel Farinotti
The Cryosphere, 16, 1697–1718, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1697-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1697-2022, 2022
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We present a new approach for modelling debris area and thickness evolution. We implement the module into a combined mass-balance ice-flow model, and we apply it using different climate scenarios to project the future evolution of all glaciers in High Mountain Asia. We show that glacier geometry, volume, and flow velocity evolve differently when modelling explicitly debris cover compared to glacier evolution without the debris-cover module, demonstrating the importance of accounting for debris.
Christophe Ogier, Mauro A. Werder, Matthias Huss, Isabelle Kull, David Hodel, and Daniel Farinotti
The Cryosphere, 15, 5133–5150, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5133-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5133-2021, 2021
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Glacier-dammed lakes are prone to draining rapidly when the ice dam breaks and constitute a serious threat to populations downstream. Such a lake drainage can proceed through an open-air channel at the glacier surface. In this study, we present what we believe to be the most complete dataset to date of an ice-dammed lake drainage through such an open-air channel. We provide new insights for future glacier-dammed lake drainage modelling studies and hazard assessments.
Johannes Marian Landmann, Hans Rudolf Künsch, Matthias Huss, Christophe Ogier, Markus Kalisch, and Daniel Farinotti
The Cryosphere, 15, 5017–5040, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5017-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5017-2021, 2021
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In this study, we (1) acquire real-time information on point glacier mass balance with autonomous real-time cameras and (2) assimilate these observations into a mass balance model ensemble driven by meteorological input. For doing so, we use a customized particle filter that we designed for the specific purposes of our study. We find melt rates of up to 0.12 m water equivalent per day and show that our assimilation method has a higher performance than reference mass balance models.
Loris Compagno, Sarah Eggs, Matthias Huss, Harry Zekollari, and Daniel Farinotti
The Cryosphere, 15, 2593–2599, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2593-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2593-2021, 2021
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Recently, discussions have focused on the difference in limiting the increase in global average temperatures to below 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 °C compared to preindustrial levels. Here, we assess the impacts that such different scenarios would have on both the future evolution of glaciers in the European Alps and the water resources they provide. Our results show that the different temperature targets have important implications for the changes predicted until 2100.
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Co-editor-in-chief
Drone-operated instruments like nimble airborne GPR are beginning to provide new access to interesting, hard-to-navigate glaciological features such as the collapse basin investigated here. This paper analyzes drone-based GPR observations of the Rhone Glacier englacial system, including a prominent collapse feature initiated by subaerial and subglacial melt over a period of 20 months. Such collapse features are found in many other glaciated environments, including glaciated volcanoes in Alaska and worldwide, as well as on larger icecaps and ice sheets in Iceland and Greenland, but have historically been difficult to study.
Drone-operated instruments like nimble airborne GPR are beginning to provide new access to...
Short summary
We demonstrate the use of a drone-based ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system to gather high-resolution, high-density 4D data over a near-terminus glacier collapse feature. We monitor the growth of an air cavity and the evolution of the subglacial drainage system, providing insights into the dynamics of the collapse event. This work highlights potential future applications of drone-based GPR for monitoring glaciers, in particular in regions which are inaccessible by surface-based methods.
We demonstrate the use of a drone-based ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system to gather...
