FINAL REPORT of the WORKSHOP on LONG-TERM MONITORING of GLACIERS of NORTH AMERICA and NORTHWESTERN EUROPE Richard S. Williams, J
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FINAL REPORT of the WORKSHOP ON LONG-TERM MONITORING OF GLACIERS OF NORTH AMERICA AND NORTHWESTERN EUROPE Richard S. Williams, Jr.,1 and Jane G. Ferrigno,2 Workshop Coordinators U.S. Geological Survey ^oods Hole Field Center-Quissett Campus 384 Woods Hole Road Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598 U.S.A. 2955 National Center Reston, VA 20192-0001 U.S.A. USGS OPEN-FILE REPORT 98-31 1997 This report is preliminary and has not yet been reviewed for conformity with USGS editorial standards. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Workshop on Long-Term Monitoring science USGSfora changing world of Glaciers of North America and Northwestern Europe FINAL REPORT of the WORKSHOP ON LONG-TERM MONITORING OF GLACIERS OF NORTH AMERICA AND NORTHWESTERN EUROPE (Convened at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA on 11-13 September 1996) Workshop Coordinators: Richard S. Williams, Jr., and Jane G. Ferrigno, USGS INSTITUTIONAL PARTICIPATION: Environment Canada . French Space Agency Environmental Research Institute of . National Energy Authority (Iceland) Michigan . Portland State University Geological Survey of Canada . Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Geological Survey of Denmark and . University of Alaska Greenland .U.S. Department of the Interior International Glaciological Society . University of Colorado National Aeronautics and Space . University of Oslo (Norway) Administration . University of Wales (U.K.) National Oceanic and Atmospheric . University of Zurich-Irchel (Switzerland) Administration USGS Woods Hole, MA 02543 1997 Sponsored by: Global Change and Climate History Program, Geologic Division, USGS TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Executive Summary 5 Workshop recommendations 7 Introduction 13 History of USGS Involvement in Glacier Studies 13 Climate Change and Variations in the Earth's Cryosphere 15 Reviews and Assessment of USGS Glaciology Programs 16 Objectives and Rationale for the Workshop 19 Participating Institutions 22 Structure of the Workshop 24 Acknowledgments 25 Long-Term Monitoring of Glaciers of North America 26 and Northwestern Europe: Workshop Summaries and Abstracts I. Existing Data Bases and Current Status for Monitoring Glaciers 27 of North America and Northwestern Europe ALASKA Data Base and Geographical Perspective for Monitoring 28 Glaciers of Alaska, by Dennis C. Trabant, USGS, with contributions from Carl S. Benson and Keith Echelmeyer, University of Alaska, and Phil Brease and James Roush, National Park Service. CANADA The Canadian Glacier Variations Monitoring and Assessment 37 Network: Status and Future Perspectives, by Michael N. Demuth, National Hydrology Research Institute (Canada). Status of Glacier Monitoring in the Canadian Arctic, by 52 Roy M. Koerner, Geological Survey of Canada. Monitoring and Inventorying the Glaciers of Canada: An 53 Historical Review and Personal Comments, by C. Simon L. Ommanney, International Glaciological Society. CONTERMINOUS UNITED STATES Status of Glacier Monitoring and the Remote Sensing Snow- 56 and Ice-Data Base in the Conterminous USA, by Robert M. Krimmel, USGS. GREENLAND Status of Glacier Monitoring of Greenland, by Anker Weidick, 58 Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (Denmark). ICELAND Glacier Monitoring in Iceland: The Glacier Variation Data Set 59 of the Iceland Glaciological Society, by Oddur Sigurdsson, National Energy Authority (Iceland). NORWAY AND SWEDEN Status of Ground-Based Glacier Monitoring in Scandinavia 61 and Svalbard, by Jon Ove Hagen, University of Oslo (Norway). HIGH ARCTIC Arctic Ice Masses, Recent Climate Change, and Implications for 62 Global Sea Level, by Julien A. Dowdeswell, University of Wales, Centre for Glaciology II. Current and Planned Remote Sensing Technology for Monitoring Glaciers 64 Monitoring Glaciers with Airborne and Spaceborne Laser Altimetry, 65 by James B. Garvin, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Satellite Remote Sensing (Imaging), by Dorothy K. Hall, 68 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Use of Upcoming Satellite Technology, by Hugh H. Kieffer, USGS 70 Glacier Monitoring Using Classified National Systems, 71 by Edward G. Josberger, USGS An Overview of LightsAR; A Proposed Radar Satellite, by James W. 72 Schoonmaker, Jr., USGS Monitoring of Glaciers: The NASA Pathfinder Program, by David A. 73 Kirtland, USGS Measurement of Changes in the Area and Volume of the Earth's Large 74 Glaciers with Satellite Sensors, by Richard S. Williams, Jr., USGS; James B. Garvin, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Oddur Sigurdsson, National Energy Authority (Iceland); Dorothy K. Hall, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; and Jane G. Ferrigno, USGS III. International Data Centers for Archiving Ground, Airborne, and Satellite 77 Data of Glaciers Data Management for Long-Term Monitoring of Fluctuations of Glaciers 78 of North America and Northwestern Europe, by Greg Scharfen, National Snow and Ice Data Center/World Data Center-A for Glaciology, John L. Dwyer, EROS Data Center, and Stephan Suter, World Glacier Monitoring Service/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology The World Glacier Monitoring Service, by Wilfried Haeberli, University 80 of Zurich-Irchel, and Martin Hoelzle and Stephan Suter, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology IV. Monitoring of Various Glaciers in North America and Northwestern Europe: 84 Miscellaneous Contributions Determination of Changes in the Volume of Mountain Glaciers Using 85 Airborne Laser Altimetry, by Keith Echelmeyer, William D. Harrison, Joseph J. Sapiano, Gudfinna Adalgeirsdottir, Laurence Sombardier, Bernard T. Rabus, and Jeannette (De Mallie) Gorda, University of Alaska-Geophysical Institute The Mass of McCall Glacier. Its Regional Relevance and Climatological 86 Implications for Climate Change in the Arctic, by Bernard T. Rabus, and Keith Echelmeyer, University of Alaska-Geophysical Institute Remote Sensing of Glacier Fluctuations Using Landsat Data: Lessons 87 Learned, by John L. Dwyer, EROS Data Center Glacier Recession and Ecological Implications at Glacier National Park, 88 Montana, by Carl H. Key, Starr Johnson, and Daniel B. Fagre, USGS, and Richard K. Menicke, National Park Service Glacier Monitoring in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska: Integrating 91 Field Study and Remote Sensing, by James Roush and Phil Brease, National Park Service An Integrated Approach for Monitoring Changes at Bering Glacier, Alaska, 92 by Bruce F. Molnia and Austin Post, USGS V. Appendices 98 1. Planned Agenda for Workshop on Monitoring Fluctuations of Glaciers of 99 North America and Northwestern Europe 2. List of Attendees 101 3. List of Invitees Who Were Unable to Attend 108 4. Selected Background Reading [Pre-Workshop] 110 5. Selected Reading [Post-Workshop] 111 6. Importance of Revitalization of the USGS Glaciology Program, by 112 Robert A. Bindschadler, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center 7. Review of Past, Present, and Future Earth Observing Platforms (USGS Biological 114 Resources Division) 8. Available Data from the World Glacier Monitoring Service 125 9. How to Get Data from the World Glacier Monitoring Service 138 10. International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) Priority Projects, 140 Core Groups and Networks Workshop on Long-Term Monitoring of Glaciers of North America and Northwestern Europe EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Geologic Division's Global Change and Climate History Program sponsored a Workshop on Long-Term Monitoring of Glaciers of North America and Northwestern Europe on 11-13 September 1996 hosted by the USGS (WRD) Ice and Climate Project at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA. The primary motivation for the Workshop was the recognition that airborne and satellite remote sensing of areal and volumetric changes in glaciers had reached the stage where quantitative scientific information could be derived from remotely-sensed data that had previously only been available from direct field measurements. In addition, many long-term national glacier-observation networks that had been established in the U.S. and Canada after World War II were being reduced or eliminated because of budgetary cutbacks. Institutional and programmatic reductions have caused the termination of many long-term datasets that are especially valuable in determining whether observed changes in key environmental parameters, such as glaciers, caused by changes in regional or local climate, are the result of natural variability, impact of human activity, or both. The Workshop provided the opportunity to develop a new strategy using satellite remote sensing, in conjunction with ground-based observations, to continue and possibly expand the existing ground-based network of glaciers being studied and monitored by various institutions in North America and Northwestern Europe. Such a plan would maximize the scientific results while utilizing available governmental funding in the most efficient and cost-effective way. Thirty-two scientists with special knowledge of the glaciers of North America (Alaska, Canada, Western U.S., and Greenland) and Northwestern Europe (Iceland, Jan Mayen, Svalbard, Norway, Sweden, and the Russian Arctic Islands) participated; they represented 17 different institutions, including 7 U.S. and 10 foreign. The four science divisions of the USGS [Biological Resources Division (BRD), Geologic Division (GD), National Mapping Division (NMD), and the Water Resources Division (WRD)] and the U.S. National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior were all represented. Part I of the Workshop included presentations by glaciologists from