Climate Change in Mountain Ecosystems (CCME)
Glacier Research
Scientists are studying the park’s receding glaciers to examine the mechanisms of change and assess their ecological and hydrological effects using aerial photography, remote sensing, and field measurements.
For more informationSnow and Avalanche Research
Snow avalanche research contributes to our understanding of climate variability and its effect on snowpack and natural avalanche cycles. Evaluation of snowpack characteristics continue to refine our understanding of wet snow avalanches.
For more informationAlpine Vegetation Research
The USGS provides oversight of plant inventories in Glacier National Park that contribute to global biodiversity monitoring through partnership with Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments network.
For more informationScience Center Objects
Climate change is widely acknowledged to have a profound effect on the biosphere and cryosphere with many and diverse impacts on global resources. Mountain ecosystems in the western U.S., and the U.S. Northern Rocky Mountains in particular, are highly sensitive to climate change. Warming in western Montana is nearly 2 times greater than the rise in global temperatures over the last 100+ years (Pederson et al, 2010). In these mountainous areas, snowmelt provides almost 70% of the water that humans living in the western U.S. depend on (Li et. Al 2017). Additionally, they provide a host of other ecosystem services such as snow-based recreation, timber, habitat for unique flora and fauna, as well as habitat for species of conservation concern like bull trout and grizzly bear. USGS scientists with the Climate Change in Mountain Ecosystems (CCME) group, in conjunction with collaborators across the globe, study the connection between climate and snow on the landscape. Since 1991, studies of climate variability on glaciers, avalanche cycles, and patterns of snow distribution have provided land managers with data to make management decisions for future generations.
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Date published: March 15, 2021Status: ActiveGlaciers—Understanding Climate Drivers
Across the globe, glaciers are decreasing in volume and number in response to climate change. Glaciers are important for agriculture, hydropower, recreation, tourism, and biological communities. Loss of glaciers contributes to sea-level rise, creates environmental...
Contacts: Caitlyn Florentine, Ph.D., Erich Peitzsch, Ph.D -
Date published: September 13, 2017Status: ActiveScience in Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park (GNP) is considered a stronghold for a large diversity of plant and animal species and harbors some of the last remaining populations of threatened and endangered species such as grizzly bear and bull trout, as well as non threatened keystone species such as bighorn sheep and black bear. The mountain ecosystems of GNP that support these species are dynamic and influenced...
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Date published: April 6, 2016Status: ActiveRepeat Photography Project
Repeat photography provides objective visual evidence of landscape change. USGS scientists created approximately sixty repeat photography pairs that document glacier change in Glacier National Park. These photograph pairs are available as a collection hosted by the USGS Photographic Library and are publicly available for download. Modern (1997 to 2019) photographs were taken from precisely...
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Date published: April 6, 2016Status: ActiveGoing-to-the-Sun Road Avalanche Forecasting Program
As the most popular attraction in Glacier National Park (GNP), the Going-to-the-Sun Road traverses scenic alpine zones and crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass (2026m or 6,647' elevation). The Park closes a 56km (34.8 mile) section of the road each winter due to inclement weather, heavy snowfall, and avalanche hazards. Annual spring opening of the road is a highly anticipated event...
Contacts: Erich Peitzsch, Ph.D -
Date published: April 6, 2016Status: ActiveStatus of Glaciers in Glacier National Park
Glaciers on the Glacier National Park (GNP) landscape have ecological value as a source of cold meltwater in the otherwise dry late summer months, and aesthetic value as the park’s namesake features. USGS scientists have studied these glaciers since the late 1800s, building a body of research that documents widespread glacier change over the past century. Ongoing USGS research pairs long-term...
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Date published: March 3, 2016Status: ActiveClimate change links fate of glaciers and rare alpine stream invertebrates in Glacier National Park
The extensive loss of glaciers in Glacier National Park (GNP) is iconic of the global impacts of climate warming in mountain ecosystems. However, little is known about how climate change may threaten alpine stream species, especially invertebrates, persisting below disappearing snow and ice masses in GNP. Two alpine stream invertebrates – the meltwater stonefly and the glacier stonefly – have...
Contacts: Clint Muhlfeld, Ph.D., Joe Giersch -
Date published: March 2, 2016Status: ActiveIntegrated bioassessment of imperiled alpine aquatic ecosystems using NPS vital signs and USGS research data: Implications for conservation under a warming climate
Climate warming in the mid- to high-latitudes and high-elevation mountainous regions is occurring more rapidly than anywhere else on Earth, causing extensive loss of glaciers and snowpack. The loss of glaciers in Glacier National Park (GNP) is iconic of the combined impacts of global warming and reduced snowpack−all remaining 25 glaciers are predicted to disappear by 2030. These changes will...
Contacts: Clint Muhlfeld, Ph.D.
A regional spatio-temporal analysis of large magnitude snow avalanches using tree rings
Snow avalanches affect transportation corridors and settlements worldwide. In many mountainous regions, robust records of avalanche frequency and magnitude are sparse or non-existent. However, dendrochronological methods can be used to fill this gap and infer historical avalanche patterns. In this study, we developed a tree-ring-based avalanche...
Peitzsch, Erich; Hendrikx, Jordy; Stahle, Daniel Kent; Pederson, Gregory T.; Birkeland, Karl W.; Fagre, Daniel B. Parsing complex terrain controls on mountain glacier response to climate forcing
Glaciers are a key indicator of changing climate in the high mountain landscape. Glacier variations across a mountain range are ultimately driven by regional climate forcing. However, changes also reflect local, topographically driven processes such as snow avalanching, snow wind-drifting, and radiation shading as well as the initial glacier...
Florentine, Caitlyn Elizabeth; Harper, Joel T.; Fagre, Daniel B.
Glacier retreat in Glacier National Park, Montana
Currently, the volume of land ice on Earth is decreasing, driving consequential changes to global sea level and local stream habitat. Glacier retreat in Glacier National Park, Montana, U.S.A., is one example of land ice loss and glacier change. The U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glacier Project conducts glaciological research and collects field...
Florentine, Caitlyn Research Note: How old are the people who die in avalanches? A look into the ages of avalanche victims in the United States (1950-2018)
Since the winter of 1950-1951, 1084 individuals perished in snow avalanches in the United States. In this study, we analyze the ages of those killed (n=900) by applying non-parametric methods to annual median ages and for age groups and primary activity groups. Change point detection results suggest a significant change in 1990 in the median age...
Peitzsch, Erich; Boilen, Sara; Birkeland, Karl W.; Logan, Spencer Reanalysis of the U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glaciers: Long-term insight into climate forcing of glacier mass balance
Mountain glaciers integrate climate processes to provide an unmatched signal of regional climate forcing. However, extracting the climate signal via intercomparison of regional glacier mass balance records can be problematic when methods for extrapolating and calibrating direct glaciological measurements are mixed or inconsistent. To address this...
O'Neel, Shad; McNeil, Christopher J.; Sass, Louis C.; Florentine, Caitlyn; Baker, Emily; Peitzsch, Erich; McGrath, Daniel J; Fountain, Andrew G.; Fagre, Daniel B. Glacier recession since the Little Ice Age: Implications for water storage in a Rocky Mountain landscape
Glacial ice is a significant influence on local climate, hydrology, vegetation, and wildlife. We mapped a complete set of glacier areas from the Little Ice Age (LIA) using very high-resolution satellite imagery (30-cm) within Glacier National Park, a region that encompasses over 400,000 hectares. We measured glacier change across the park using...
Mikle, Chelsea; Fagre, Daniel B. Local topography increasingly influences the mass balance of a retreating cirque glacier
Local topographically driven processes – such as wind drifting, avalanching, and shading – are known to alter the relationship between the mass balance of small cirque glaciers and regional climate. Yet partitioning such local effects from regional climate influence has proven difficult, creating uncertainty in the climate representativeness of...
Florentine, Caitlyn; Harper, Joel T.; Fagre, Daniel B.; Moore, Johnnie; Peitzsch, Erich H. On the exchange of sensible and latent heat between the atmosphere and melting snow
The snow energy balance is difficult to measure during the snowmelt period, yet critical for predictions of water yield in regions characterized by snow cover. Robust simplifications of the snowmelt energy balance can aid our understanding of water resources in a changing climate. Research to date has demonstrated that the net turbulent flux (FT)...
Stoy, Paul C.; Peitzsch, Erich H.; Wood, David J. A.; Rottinghaus, Daniel; Wohlfahrtd, Georg; Goulden, Michael; Ward, Helen Glaciological measurements and mass balances from Sperry Glacier, Montana, USA, years 2005–2015
Glacier mass balance measurements help to provide an understanding of the behavior of glaciers and their response to local and regional climate. In 2005 the United States Geological Survey established a surface mass balance monitoring program on Sperry Glacier, Montana, USA. This project is the first quantitative study of mass changes of a glacier...
Clark, Adam; Fagre, Daniel B.; Peitzsch, Erich H.; Reardon, Blase A.; Harper, Joel T. Case study: 2016 Natural glide and wet slab avalanche cycle, Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana, USA
The Going-to-the-Sun Road (GTSR) is the premier tourist attraction in Glacier National Park, Montana. The GTSR also traverses through and under 40 avalanche paths which pose a hazard to National Park Service (NPS) road crews during the annual spring snow plowing operation. Through a joint collaboration between the NPS and the U.S. Geological...
Hutchinson, Jacob; Peitzsch, Erich H.; Clark, Adam Using structure from motion photogrammetry to examine glide snow avalanches
Structure from Motion (SfM), a photogrammetric technique, has been used extensively and successfully in many fields including geosciences over the past few years to create 3D models and high resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) from aerial or oblique photographs. SfM has recently been used in a limited capacity in snow avalanche research and...
Peitzsch, Erich H.; Hendrikx, Jordy; Fagre, Daniel B. Floristic similarity, diversity and endemism as indicators of refugia characteristics and needs in the West
The floras of mountain ranges, and their similarity, beta diversity and endemism, are indicative of processes of community assembly; they are also the initial conditions for coming disassembly and reassembly in response to climate change. As such, these characteristics can inform thinking on refugia. The published floras or approximations for 42...
Malanson, George P.; Zimmerman, Dale L.; Fagre, Daniel B.-
Date published: September 21, 2020Avalanche occurrence records along the Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana from 2003-2020
Starting in 2003, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center in West Glacier, MT, in collaboration with the National Park Service, collected avalanche observations along the Going to the Sun Road during the spring road-clearing operations. The spring road-clearing along Going to the Sun Road utilized a team of avalanche specialists from the USGS and Glaci
Attribution: Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center -
Date published: March 11, 2020USGS Benchmark Glacier Project Comprehensive Data Collection
Mountain glaciers are closely coupled to climate processes, ecosystems, and regional water resources. To enhance physical understanding of these connections, the USGS maintains a collection of glacier mass balance and climate data across the western United States and Alaska. In some cases, records of glacier mass balance extend back to the mid-1940s. These data have been incorporated from
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: December 19, 2019
Tree ring dataset for a regional avalanche chronology in northwest Montana, 1636-2017
This dataset includes processed tree ring data from avalanche paths in Glacier National Park and the Flathead National Forest in northwest Montana. The data were processed in three distinct phases that resulted in this dataset: collection, processing, and avalanche signal analysis. This dataset consists of samples from 647 trees with 2304 growth disturbances identified from 12 avalanche pat...
Attribution: Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center -
Date published: June 17, 2019
Alpine Vegetation Trends in Glacier National Park, Montana 2003-2018
This dataset is focused on alpine plant species presence/absence, species turnover, and trends in species abundance on four mountain summits in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA from 2003 through 2014. Two summit sites were established in 2003 on Dancing Lady and Bison Mountain, east of the continental divide. Two additional summit sites were established in 2004 on Pitamakin and Mt. Seward,...
Attribution: Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2019
A comprehensive inventory of perennial snow and ice in Glacier National Park in 2005
These polygon features represent a comprehensive inventory of perennial snow and ice on the landscape in Glacier National Park (GNP) in 2005. This dataset does not include the 2005 extent of the named glaciers in GNP, which have been previously published. Of the perennial snow and ice features delineated here, 1.68 km2 (15.08%) of the total area exhibits characteristics indicative
Attribution: Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2018
A comprehensive inventory of maximum glacial extent in Glacier National Park during the peak of the Little Ice Age
These polygon features represent the maximum extent of glaciers in Glacier National Park and two glaciers on U.S. Forest Service’s Flathead National Forest land during the peak of the Little Ice Age (mid-nineteenth century). Glacial margins are based on moraine deposits that result from active glaciation, and do not depict perennial snow and ice. The criteria used for determining wh
Attribution: Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2018
A comprehensive inventory of maximum glacial extent in Glacier National Park during the peak of the Little Ice Age
These polygon features represent the maximum extent of glaciers in Glacier National Park and two glaciers on U.S. Forest Service’s Flathead National Forest land during the peak of the Little Ice Age (mid-nineteenth century). Glacial margins are based on moraine deposits that result from active glaciation, and do not depict perennial snow and ice. The criteria used for determining wh
Attribution: Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center -
Date published: May 10, 2017
Glacier margin time series (1966, 1998, 2005, 2015) of the named glaciers of Glacier National Park, MT, USA
This dataset was created to develop a time series and history of glacier recession in Glacier National Park (GNP), Montana, USA. The dataset delineates the 1966, 1998, 2005 and 2015 perimeters of the 37 named glaciers of Glacier National Park and two additional glaciers on U.S. Forest Services Flathead National Forest land (the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex) which borders GNP to the south....
Attribution: Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
PubTalk 3/2018 - Snow & Avalanche Science
Title: Snow and Avalanche Science - Highlights of applied avalanche research and forecasting
- Avalanches impact transportation corridors, with subsequent economic ramifications, including the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park.
- Large magnitude avalanches affect the landscape creating new habitat for flora and fauna.
- Dendrochronology
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What are the impacts of glacier loss, other than losing an aesthetic landscape feature?
Glaciers act as reservoirs of water that persist through summer. Continual melt from glaciers contributes water to the ecosystem throughout dry months, creating perennial stream habitat and a water source for plants and animals. The cold runoff from glaciers also affects downstream water temperatures. Many aquatic species in mountainous...