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Scientists with the USGS Benchmark Glacier Project study the process and impacts of glacier change, including sea-level rise, water resources, environmental hazards and ecosystem links. At the core of this research are mass balance measurements at five glaciers in the United States. Since the 1960s, these glaciers have been studied using direct observations of glaciers and meteorology. The project also integrates remotely sensed data to enhance our understanding of how glaciers respond to changes in climate.
Our Research: Our group studies mass change at five glaciers (Gulkana, Lemon Creek, South Cascade, Sperry, Wolverine) in North America using field and remote sensing techniques. To do so, we measure snow accumulation and snow and ice melt at specific locations on the glaciers, then extrapolate those point observations across the entire glacier surface. We also measure air temperature and precipitation at each site to connect glacier and climate change.
Why this Research is Important: When paired with weather, streamflow and geochemical data, this research helps managers prepare for local, regional, and global impacts of glacier change. With a firm foundation of long-term records, the USGS Glaciology Project continues to broaden its value and impact by using new technologies and expertise.
Objective(s): This project aims to advance the quantitative understanding of glacier-climate interactions from local to regional scales. The current focus is on merging the long-term field records with newer, richer remote sensing data. The team is also working to ensure consistency and comparability between records as well as evaluating methodological sensitivities.
Methods: Glacier mass balance, climate, streamflow, and geochemical data are being collected from five U.S. glaciers. Additionally, remote sensing data from satellites is being used to study and monitor the changes the glaciers have undergone in the past sixty years.
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Geometry, mass balance and thinning at Eklutna Glacier, Alaska: an altitude-mass-balance feedback with implications for water resources
Hypsometric control on glacier mass balance sensitivity in Alaska and northwest Canada
Glaciological measurements and mass balances from Sperry Glacier, Montana, USA, years 2005–2015
An empirical approach for estimating stress-coupling lengths for marine-terminating glaciers
Using structure from motion photogrammetry to examine glide snow avalanches
Observations and modeling of fjord sedimentation during the 30 year retreat of Columbia Glacier, AK
Seasonal flows of international British Columbia-Alaska rivers: The nonlinear influence of ocean-atmosphere circulation patterns
Tidal and seasonal variations in calving flux observed with passive seismology
Subglacial discharge at tidewater glaciers revealed by seismic tremor
Surface melt dominates Alaska glacier mass balance
Icefield-to-ocean linkages across the northern Pacific coastal temperate rainforest ecosystem
Glaciological and marine geological controls on terminus dynamics of Hubbard Glacier, southeast Alaska
Below are news stories associated with this project.
- Overview
Scientists with the USGS Benchmark Glacier Project study the process and impacts of glacier change, including sea-level rise, water resources, environmental hazards and ecosystem links. At the core of this research are mass balance measurements at five glaciers in the United States. Since the 1960s, these glaciers have been studied using direct observations of glaciers and meteorology. The project also integrates remotely sensed data to enhance our understanding of how glaciers respond to changes in climate.
Our Research: Our group studies mass change at five glaciers (Gulkana, Lemon Creek, South Cascade, Sperry, Wolverine) in North America using field and remote sensing techniques. To do so, we measure snow accumulation and snow and ice melt at specific locations on the glaciers, then extrapolate those point observations across the entire glacier surface. We also measure air temperature and precipitation at each site to connect glacier and climate change.
Why this Research is Important: When paired with weather, streamflow and geochemical data, this research helps managers prepare for local, regional, and global impacts of glacier change. With a firm foundation of long-term records, the USGS Glaciology Project continues to broaden its value and impact by using new technologies and expertise.
Objective(s): This project aims to advance the quantitative understanding of glacier-climate interactions from local to regional scales. The current focus is on merging the long-term field records with newer, richer remote sensing data. The team is also working to ensure consistency and comparability between records as well as evaluating methodological sensitivities.
Methods: Glacier mass balance, climate, streamflow, and geochemical data are being collected from five U.S. glaciers. Additionally, remote sensing data from satellites is being used to study and monitor the changes the glaciers have undergone in the past sixty years.
- Science
- Data
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
- Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 38Geometry, mass balance and thinning at Eklutna Glacier, Alaska: an altitude-mass-balance feedback with implications for water resources
We analyzed glacier surface elevations (1957, 2010 and 2015) and surface mass-balance measurements (2008–2015) on the 30 km2 Eklutna Glacier, in the Chugach Mountains of southcentral Alaska. The geodetic mass balances from 1957 to 2010 and 2010 to 2015 are −0.52 ± 0.46 and −0.74 ± 0.10 m w.e. a−1, respectively. The glaciological mass balance of −0.73 m w.e. a−1 from 2010 to 2015 is indistinguishabAuthorsLouis C. Sass, Michael G. Loso, Jason Geck, Evan Thoms, Daniel McgrathHypsometric control on glacier mass balance sensitivity in Alaska and northwest Canada
Glacier hypsometry provides a first‐order approach for assessing a glacier's response to climate forcings. We couple the Randolph Glacier Inventory to a suite of in situ observations and climate model output to examine potential change for the ∼27,000 glaciers in Alaska and northwest Canada through the end of the 21st century. By 2100, based on Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 4.5–8.5AuthorsDaniel Mcgrath, Louis C. Sass, Shad O'Neel, Anthony A. Arendt, C. KienholzGlaciological 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 in the US northern Rocky Mountains and continues tAuthorsAdam Clark, Daniel B. Fagre, Erich H. Peitzsch, Blase A. Reardon, Joel T. HarperAn empirical approach for estimating stress-coupling lengths for marine-terminating glaciers
Variability in the dynamic behavior of marine-terminating glaciers is poorly understood, despite an increase in the abundance and resolution of observations. When paired with ice thicknesses, surface velocities can be used to quantify the dynamic redistribution of stresses in response to environmental perturbations through computation of the glacier force balance. However, because the force balancAuthorsEllyn Enderlin, Gordon S. Hamilton, Shad O'Neel, Timothy C. Bartholomaus, Mathieu Morlighem, John W. HoltUsing 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 shows promise as a tool for broader applications.AuthorsErich H. Peitzsch, Jordy Hendrikx, Daniel B. FagreObservations and modeling of fjord sedimentation during the 30 year retreat of Columbia Glacier, AK
To explore links between glacier dynamics, sediment yields and the accumulation of glacial sediments in a temperate setting, we use extensive glaciological observations for Columbia Glacier, Alaska, and new oceanographic data from the fjord exposed during its retreat. High-resolution seismic data indicate that 3.2 × 108 m3 of sediment has accumulated in Columbia Fjord over the past three decades,AuthorsKatherine B Love, Bernard Hallet, Thomas L. Pratt, Shad O'NeelSeasonal flows of international British Columbia-Alaska rivers: The nonlinear influence of ocean-atmosphere circulation patterns
The northern portion of the Pacific coastal temperate rainforest (PCTR) is one of the least anthropogenically modified regions on earth and remains in many respects a frontier area to science. Rivers crossing the northern PCTR, which is also an international boundary region between British Columbia, Canada and Alaska, USA, deliver large freshwater and biogeochemical fluxes to the Gulf of Alaska anAuthorsSean W. Fleming, Eran Hood, Helen Dalhke, Shad O'NeelTidal and seasonal variations in calving flux observed with passive seismology
The seismic signatures of calving events, i.e., calving icequakes, offer an opportunity to examine calving variability with greater precision than is available with other methods. Here using observations from Yahtse Glacier, Alaska, we describe methods to detect, locate, and characterize calving icequakes. We combine these icequake records with a coincident, manually generated record of observed cAuthorsT.C. Bartholomaus, Christopher F. Larsen, Michael E. West, Shad O'Neel, Erin C. Pettit, Martin TrufferSubglacial discharge at tidewater glaciers revealed by seismic tremor
Subglacial discharge influences glacier basal motion and erodes and redeposits sediment. At tidewater glacier termini, discharge drives submarine terminus melting, affects fjord circulation, and is a central component of proglacial marine ecosystems. However, our present inability to track subglacial discharge and its variability significantly hinders our understanding of these processes. Here weAuthorsTimothy C. Bartholomaus, Jason M. Amundson, Jacob I. Walter, Shad O'Neel, Michael E. West, Christopher F. LarsenSurface melt dominates Alaska glacier mass balance
Mountain glaciers comprise a small and widely distributed fraction of the world's terrestrial ice, yet their rapid losses presently drive a large percentage of the cryosphere's contribution to sea level rise. Regional mass balance assessments are challenging over large glacier populations due to remote and rugged geography, variable response of individual glaciers to climate change, and episodic cAuthorsLarsen Chris F, E Burgess, A.A. Arendt, Shad O'Neel, A. J. Johnson, C. KienholzIcefield-to-ocean linkages across the northern Pacific coastal temperate rainforest ecosystem
Rates of glacier mass loss in the northern Pacific coastal temperate rainforest (PCTR) are among the highest on Earth, and changes in glacier volume and extent will affect the flow regime and chemistry of coastal rivers, as well as the nearshore marine ecosystem of the Gulf of Alaska. Here we synthesize physical, chemical and biological linkages that characterize the northern PCTR ecosystem, withAuthorsShad O'Neel, Eran Hood, Allison L. Bidlack, Sean W. Fleming, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Anthony Arendt, Evan W. Burgess, Christopher J. Sergeant, Anne E. Beaudreau, Kristin Timm, Gregory D. Hayward, Joel H. Reynolds, Sanjay PyareGlaciological and marine geological controls on terminus dynamics of Hubbard Glacier, southeast Alaska
Hubbard Glacier, located in southeast Alaska, is the world's largest non-polar tidewater glacier. It has been steadily advancing since it was first mapped in 1895; occasionally, the advance creates an ice or sediment dam that blocks a tributary fjord (Russell Fiord). The sustained advance raises the probability of long-term closure in the near-future, which will strongly impact the ecosystem of RuAuthorsLeigh A. Stearns, Gordon S. Hamilton, C. J. van der Veen, D. C. Finnegan, Shad O'Neel, J. B. Scheick, D. E. Lawson - Web Tools
- News
Below are news stories associated with this project.