Global clustering of recent glacier surges from radar backscatter data, 2017–2022

Autor: Andreas Kääb, Varvara Bazilova, Paul Willem Leclercq, Erik Schytt Mannerfelt, Tazio Strozzi
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Glaciology, Vol 69, Pp 1515-1523 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 0022-1430
1727-5652
DOI: 10.1017/jog.2023.35
Popis: Using global Sentinel-1 radar backscatter data, we systematically map the locations of glaciers with surge-type activity during 2017–22. Patterns of pronounced increases or decreases in the strongest backscatter between two winter seasons often indicate large changes in glacier crevassing, which we treat here as a sign of surge-type activity. Validations against velocity time series, terminus advances and crevassing found in optical satellite images confirm the robustness of this approach. We find 115 surge-type events globally between 2017 and 2022, around 100 of which on glaciers already know as surge-type. Our data reveal a pronounced spatial clustering in three regions, (i) Karakoram, Pamirs and Western Kunlun Shan (~50 surges), (ii) Svalbard (~25) and (iii) Yukon/Alaska (~9), with only a few other scattered surges elsewhere. This spatial clustering is significantly more pronounced than the overall global clustering of known surge-type glaciers. The 2017–22 clustering may point to climatic forcing of surge initiation.
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