Articles | Volume 20, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-6375-2026
© Author(s) 2026. 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-20-6375-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
10 Nov 2026
Research article |
| 10 Nov 2026
| 10 Nov 2026
A surge-detachment sequence at Dehdal Glacier in the Pamir Mountains, revealed by daily PlanetScope imagery
Mustafo Safarov
State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia (Dushanbe), Dushanbe 734063, Tajikistan
Key Laboratory of GIS & RS Application Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi 830011, China
Junli Li
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Key Laboratory of GIS & RS Application Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi 830011, China
Evan Miles
Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW), ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), bâtiment ALPOLE, Sion, Switzerland
Glaciology and Geomorphodynamics Group, Department of Geography, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
Majid Gulayozov
State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia (Dushanbe), Dushanbe 734063, Tajikistan
Ruonan Li
State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Key Laboratory of GIS & RS Application Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi 830011, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Ali Fazylov
Institute of Water Problems, Hydropower and Ecology of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, Dushanbe 734042, Tajikistan
Kamoliddin Nazirzoda
Center of Glaciology Agency for Hydrometeorology of the Committee for Environmental Protection under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, Dushanbe 734025, Tajikistan
Firdavs Vosidov
State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
State Scientific Institution “Center for Research of Glaciers of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan”, Dushanbe 734025, Tajikistan
Murodkhudzha Murodov
State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
State Scientific Institution “Center for Research of Glaciers of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan”, Dushanbe 734025, Tajikistan
Hofiz Navruzshoev
State Scientific Institution “Center for Research of Glaciers of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan”, Dushanbe 734025, Tajikistan
Mountain Societies Research Institute, University of Central Asia, Dushanbe 734000, Tajikistan
Ardamehr Halimov
State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Key Laboratory of GIS & RS Application Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi 830011, China
State Scientific Institution “Center for Research of Glaciers of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan”, Dushanbe 734025, Tajikistan
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Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 5697–5712, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-5697-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-5697-2026, 2026
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This paper presents data collected at the Zarafshon River Basin and the Hydrographic Party Glacier (GGP), Tajikistan. In annual field expeditions from 2018–2025, data has been collected on the glacier, as well as including meteorological measurements and aerosols. Presented results highlight the environmental conditions that are driving environmental change in Central Asia.
Shaoting Ren, Evan S. Miles, Michael McCarthy, Achille Jouberton, Thomas E. Shaw, Pascal Buri, Marin Kneib, Prateek Gantayat, Anneli Guthke, and Francesca Pellicciotti
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2524, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2524, 2026
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Local meteorology is curial to understand glaciers’ response to climate change, yet is hard to quantify due to rare measurements. By combining physical modeling and satellite observations, this study develops a new inference framework to accurately estimate on-glacier temperature and precipitation, therefore derive reliable seasonal glacier melt. Reliable accuracy of this framework paves a way to map these key two meteorological variables for regional and global unmonitored glacier.
Francesca Pellicciotti, Adrià Fontrodona-Bach, David R. Rounce, Catriona L. Fyffe, Leif S. Anderson, Álvaro Ayala, Ben W. Brock, Pascal Buri, Stefan Fugger, Koji Fujita, Prateek Gantayat, Alexander R. Groos, Walter Immerzeel, Marin Kneib, Christoph Mayer, Shelley MacDonell, Michael McCarthy, James McPhee, Evan Miles, Heather Purdie, Ekaterina Rets, Akiko Sakai, Thomas E. Shaw, Jakob Steiner, Patrick Wagnon, and Alex Winter-Billington
The Cryosphere, 20, 1895–1928, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1895-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1895-2026, 2026
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Rock debris covers many of the world glaciers, modifying the transfer of atmospheric energy to the debris and into the ice. Models of different complexity simulate this process, and we compare 15 models at 9 sites to show that the most complex models at the debris-atmosphere interface have the highest performance. However, we lack debris properties and their derivation from measurements is ambiguous, hindering global modelling and calling for both model development and data collection.
Jakob Steiner, William Armstrong, Will Kochtitzky, Robert McNabb, Rodrigo Aguayo, Tobias Bolch, Fabien Maussion, Vibhor Agarwal, Iestyn Barr, Nathaniel R. Baurley, Mike Cloutier, Katelyn DeWater, Frank Donachie, Yoann Drocourt, Siddhi Garg, Gunjan Joshi, Byron Guzman, Stanislav Kutuzov, Thomas Loriaux, Caleb Mathias, Brian Menounos, Evan Miles, Aleksandra Osika, Kaleigh Potter, Adina Racoviteanu, Brianna Rick, Miles Sterner, Guy D. Tallentire, Levan Tielidze, Rebecca White, Kunpeng Wu, and Whyjay Zheng
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 1665–1681, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-1665-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-1665-2026, 2026
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Many mountain glaciers around the world flow into lakes – exactly how many however, has never been mapped. Across a large team of experts we have now identified all glaciers that end in lakes. Only about 1% do so, but they are generally larger than those which end on land. This is important to understand, as lakes can influence the behaviour of glacier ice, including how fast it disappears. This new dataset allows us to better model glaciers at a global scale, accounting for the effect of lakes.
Orie Sasaki, Evan S. Miles, Francesca Pellicciotti, Akiko Sakai, and Koji Fujita
The Cryosphere, 19, 5283–5298, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-5283-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-5283-2025, 2025
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This study adapts a method to detect snowline altitude (SLA) using Google Earth Engine with high-resolution satellite imagery. Applying this method to five glaciated watersheds in the Himalayas reveals regional consistencies and differences in snow dynamics, as well as 20-year trends of snowline increases (3 catchments) and decreases (1) and no trend (1). We investigate the controls of these dynamics by analyzing climatic factors and topographic characteristics.
Adrià Fontrodona-Bach, Lars Groeneveld, Evan Miles, Michael McCarthy, Thomas Shaw, Vicente Melo Velasco, and Francesca Pellicciotti
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 4213–4234, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-4213-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-4213-2025, 2025
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Glaciers with a layer of rocky debris on their surfaces are distinct from clean-ice glaciers, with debris mostly insulating the glacier ice. However, debris data are scarce. We present the Debris Database (DebDaB), a database of debris thickness and physical properties of debris, with data from 84 glaciers in 13 global glacier regions compiled from 172 sources and including previously unpublished data. DebDaB serves as an open central repository for the scientific community to do research on debris-covered glaciers.
Marin Kneib, Amaury Dehecq, Adrien Gilbert, Auguste Basset, Evan S. Miles, Guillaume Jouvet, Bruno Jourdain, Etienne Ducasse, Luc Beraud, Antoine Rabatel, Jérémie Mouginot, Guillem Carcanade, Olivier Laarman, Fanny Brun, and Delphine Six
The Cryosphere, 18, 5965–5983, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5965-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5965-2024, 2024
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Xiaoyu Yu, Jun Pan, Jiangong Xu, and Junli Li
Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLVIII-3-2024, 601–608, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-3-2024-601-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-3-2024-601-2024, 2024
Chuanxi Zhao, Wei Yang, Evan Miles, Matthew Westoby, Marin Kneib, Yongjie Wang, Zhen He, and Francesca Pellicciotti
The Cryosphere, 17, 3895–3913, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3895-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3895-2023, 2023
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This paper quantifies the thinning and surface mass balance of two neighbouring debris-covered glaciers in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau during different seasons, based on high spatio-temporal resolution UAV-derived (unpiloted aerial
vehicle) data and in situ observations. Through a comparison approach and high-precision results, we identify that the glacier dynamic and debris thickness are strongly related to the future fate of the debris-covered glaciers in this region.
Marin Kneib, Evan S. Miles, Pascal Buri, Stefan Fugger, Michael McCarthy, Thomas E. Shaw, Zhao Chuanxi, Martin Truffer, Matthew J. Westoby, Wei Yang, and Francesca Pellicciotti
The Cryosphere, 16, 4701–4725, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4701-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4701-2022, 2022
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Ice cliffs are believed to be important contributors to the melt of debris-covered glaciers, but this has rarely been quantified as the cliffs can disappear or rapidly expand within a few weeks. We used photogrammetry techniques to quantify the weekly evolution and melt of four cliffs. We found that their behaviour and melt during the monsoon is strongly controlled by supraglacial debris, streams and ponds, thus providing valuable insights on the melt and evolution of debris-covered glaciers.
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.
Stefan Fugger, Catriona L. Fyffe, Simone Fatichi, Evan Miles, Michael McCarthy, Thomas E. Shaw, Baohong Ding, Wei Yang, Patrick Wagnon, Walter Immerzeel, Qiao Liu, and Francesca Pellicciotti
The Cryosphere, 16, 1631–1652, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1631-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1631-2022, 2022
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The monsoon is important for the shrinking and growing of glaciers in the Himalaya during summer. We calculate the melt of seven glaciers in the region using a complex glacier melt model and weather data. We find that monsoonal weather affects glaciers that are covered with a layer of rocky debris and glaciers without such a layer in different ways. It is important to take so-called turbulent fluxes into account. This knowledge is vital for predicting the future of the Himalayan glaciers.
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Short summary
This study investigates a rapidly surging glacier in the Pamir Mountains using daily satellite imagery and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data. It reveals that a surge-detachment sequence can rapidly displace ice downstream and transform valley morphology. The findings show that even small glaciers can produce large, rapid environmental impacts and highlight the need for detailed observations to understand glacier instability and improve hazard assessment in a warming climate.
This study investigates a rapidly surging glacier in the Pamir Mountains using daily satellite...
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