Articles | Volume 19, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-5075-2025
© 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-19-5075-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
27 Oct 2025
Research article |
| 27 Oct 2025
| 27 Oct 2025
Glacier surge monitoring from temporally dense elevation time series: application to an ASTER dataset over the Karakoram region
Luc Beraud
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, INRAE, Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE), 38000 Grenoble, France
Fanny Brun
Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, INRAE, Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE), 38000 Grenoble, France
Amaury Dehecq
Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, INRAE, Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE), 38000 Grenoble, France
Romain Hugonnet
University of Washington, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seattle, WA, USA
Prashant Shekhar
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL, USA
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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.
Christian Vincent, Diego Cusicanqui, Bruno Jourdain, Olivier Laarman, Delphine Six, Adrien Gilbert, Andrea Walpersdorf, Antoine Rabatel, Luc Piard, Florent Gimbert, Olivier Gagliardini, Vincent Peyaud, Laurent Arnaud, Emmanuel Thibert, Fanny Brun, and Ugo Nanni
The Cryosphere, 15, 1259–1276, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1259-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1259-2021, 2021
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In situ glacier point mass balance data are crucial to assess climate change in different regions of the world. Unfortunately, these data are rare because huge efforts are required to conduct in situ measurements on glaciers. Here, we propose a new approach from remote sensing observations. The method has been tested on the Argentière and Mer de Glace glaciers (France). It should be possible to apply this method to high-spatial-resolution satellite images and on numerous glaciers in the world.
Yanbin Lei, Tandong Yao, Lide Tian, Yongwei Sheng, Lazhu, Jingjuan Liao, Huabiao Zhao, Wei Yang, Kun Yang, Etienne Berthier, Fanny Brun, Yang Gao, Meilin Zhu, and Guangjian Wu
The Cryosphere, 15, 199–214, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-199-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-199-2021, 2021
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Two glaciers in the Aru range, western Tibetan Plateau (TP), collapsed suddenly on 17 July and 21 September 2016, respectively, causing fatal damage to local people and their livestock. The impact of the glacier collapses on the two downstream lakes (i.e., Aru Co and Memar Co) is investigated in terms of lake morphology, water level and water temperature. Our results provide a baseline in understanding the future lake response to glacier melting on the TP under a warming climate.
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Short summary
This study introduces a new workflow to process the elevation time series of glacier surges, an ice flow instability. Applied to a dense, 20-year satellite dataset of glacier surface elevation, the method filters and interpolates these changes on a monthly scale, revealing detailed patterns and estimates of mass transport. The dataset produced by this method allows for a more accurate and a remarkably detailed description of glacier surges at the scale of a large region.
This study introduces a new workflow to process the elevation time series of glacier surges, an...
