Author(s): Eduardo Lastrada; Guillermo Cobos; Francisco Javier Torrijo; Julian Conejo

Linked Author(s): Eduardo Lastrada Marcén, Guillermo Cobos

Keywords: Glacier; Snow; Climate change; Maladeta; Two phase

Abstract: Glaciers are valuable witnesses of climate variations. Its study becomes a useful tool to measure the meaning and magnitude of climate change and, in the specific case of the Pyrenean glaciers, such as Maladeta, their latitude give them an exceptional value. Since early 90s, up to 26 beacons have been installed in the glacier to measure ice melting and ice movements. This has been complemented with geophysics and topographical works and data acquisition from high altitude meteorological stations. Latest available data show a decline of about 20 meters in depth since the 1990s, as well as a clear regression of the glacier, where the surface of the main body of the glacier has evolved from 50 hectares at the beginning of the series to 23.3 hectares in the last monitoring campaign. The distributed hydrological model ASTER allows to take into account the elevation, orientation and slope of the glacier for the calculation of radiation effect, and the accumulation and melting of ice and snow as a two phase model. Despite being a very complex phenomenon and very sensitive to climatic variations, monitoring and measurements made in the glacier to date have allowed an accurate parameter calibration of the model to estimate snow and ice melt and accumulation, and a prediction of the future evolution of this unique glacier.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/IAHR-39WC2521711920222017

Year: 2022