After some attempts in previous years, again we agreed on a date and finally the weather was perfect for a joint field trip to Pasterze in October 2017. We – glaciologists from ZAMG + students and teachers from TGM made a joint field trip to Pasterze to make some experiments on WLAN data transmission in the real world and to get a feeling about the ongoing glacier retreat, and travelling safe and working on a glacier that big as Pasterze.
Within the combined research and education project Glacio-Live we were aiming to install our automatic glacier measurement system far away north in the Arctic, on a small mountain glacier on the East Coast of Greenland, Freya Glacier.
Freya (Fröya) Glacier is a 6km long valley glacier situated on Clavering Island 10km southeast of the Zackenberg research station at the northeastern coast of Greenland. Its surface area is 5.3 km² (2013), reaching from 1300 m to 280 m a.s.l. and mainly oriented to NW with two seperated accumulation areas oriented to NE and NW.
We have been measuring the mass balance of the glacier since 2007, we already had two weather stations and two automatic cameras there, but without transmitting the data in near real time. So the aim for the expedition in spring 2016 was to install a new weather station with data transmission and two high quality webcams, that should cover almost the whole glacier surface and transmit an image per day.
Here you find the mass balance data here and the technical report of the fieldwork in spring 2016.
The Goldbergkees (formally known as Vogelmaier – Ochsenkarkees), situated in the Austrian alps (Hohe Tauern), is now divided in three parts. The upper part is near the summit of Hoher Sonnblick. The part in the middle is largest part of the glacier. The lowest part of the glacier is also the smallest. Overall, the total area of Goldbergkees is 1.03 km² (2015). The glacier covers an altitudinal range from 2400 to 3050 m a.s.l., is exposed mainly to N & E and draining via Hüttwinklache into the Salzach river.
Mass balance measurements started 1988/89. The mean annual mass loss of the entire investigation period is -0.7 m w.e. a-1 and -1.1 m w.e. a-1 for the last decade.
Between 1871 and 2015, the glacier lost 73 % of the glaciated area and 60 % of ice thickness. The following table shows the evolution of glacier area and mean ice thickness of Goldbergkees from 1871 – 2015 in different time steps.
The Kleinfleißkees, with a total area of 0.79 km² (2015), is situated in the Hohe Tauern as part of the Austrian alps. The glacier covers an altitudinal range from 2700 to 3050 m a.s.l., is exposed to W and draining into the Möll river. Between 1850 and 2015, Kleinfleißkees lost 59 % of the glaciated area. Mass balance measurements started 1998/99. The mean annual mass loss of the entire investigation period is 0.7 m w.e. a-1 and 0.8 m w.e. a-1 for the last decade. Only two years (2004 and 2014) have a positive mean annual mass balance. Mean values (1981 – 2010) of annual temperature and precipitation at the nearby station at Sonnblick (3105 m a.s.l.) are -5.0 °C and 2114 mm.
In autumn 2002 a ice fall event occurred. The glacier tongue break off over a step in the bedrock. In the last years, the glacier retreated above the steep slope. The mean retreat of the front variation between 1980 – 2018 is 11 m. In the last decade, the mean retreat is 3 m.
Austria’s most popular glacier at the foot of Großglockner – Austria’s highest mountain. Pasterze is the largest part of a combined mountain glacier system in the Austrian Alps (Hohe Tauern) with several accumulation basins and valley glaciers. The total area of Pasterze Glacier is 16.3 km² (2012) and covers and altitudinal range from 2100 to 3500 m a.s.l.. The 5 km long distinctive glacier tongue is partly covered by a 5-20 cm thick debris layer, exposed to SE and draining into the Möll river. Geophysical surveys in 1998 revealed a maximum ice thickness of 320 m and a mean ice thickness of 64 m. Mass balance measurements were carried out between 1979/80 and 1996/97 and resumed in 2004/05. The mean annual mass loss of the entire investigation period is -0.9 m w.e. a-1 and -1.1 m w.e. a-1 for the last decade. Geodetic mass balances show a mean mass loss of 0.56 m w.e. a-1 between 1969 and 1998 and 1.21 m w.e. a-1 between 1998 and 2012.
Freya (Fröya) Glacier is a 6km long valley glacier situated on Clavering Island 10km southeast of the Zackenberg research station at the northeastern coast of Greenland. Its surface area is 5.63 km² (2013), reaching from 1300 m to 280 m a.s.l. and mainly oriented to NW with two seperated accumulation areas oriented to NE and NW. The thickest ice found during a GPR survey in May 2008 is 200m, located at the confluence of the two accumulation areas. GPR-data suggest, that Freya Glacier is a polythermal glacier with temperate ice in a limited area only, at the ELA near the bottom of the glacier.
Mean values (1996-2005) of anual temperture and precipitation at Zackenberg (38m a.s.l.) are -9.2°C and 230mm. Mass balance measurements at Freya Glacier have been carried out by ZAMG since 2007/08, the mean annual mass balance 2008-2018 is -0.3m w.e.
Within the project Glacio-Live, a new automatic weather station (AWS) and two automatic cameras were installed on Freya Glacier in spring 2016.
Annual surface mass balance data are available here.
