Monitoring glacial shrinkage using remote sensing and site-observation method on southern slope of Kalik Mountain, eastern Tian Shan, China

Abstract

Currently, one of the effective means in monitoring glacier change in regional scale is remote sensing and site-observation method. In this article, we present a study of comparing glacier area in 2005 derived from SPOT5 satellite image with area in 1972 derived from topographic maps. Moreover, Miaoergou (庙儿沟) flat-summit glacier is site observed to verify glacial change in regional scale. During the study period, glaciers located in the southern slope of Kalik (喀尔里克) Mountain reduced their area by 12.3%. The high individual change indicates that the wastage corresponding to area changes has been the dominant process of glacier mass loss in this region. Glaciers smaller than the mean size (1.3 km²), especially those <0.5 km², lost more of their area with high variability and yielding two glaciers vanished. It is suggested that small glaciers are prone to disappear under such climate conditions in future years. With the difference supplied by upstream glaciers, there appears great disparity trend of river runoff recently. Seen from decade-scale, the discharge, the lower glacier-covered catchment, is decreased because of strong consumption of small glaciers during the past decades. Owing to the rivers that are supplied by more meltwater from medium and larger glaciers mainly, the trend of the river runoff increase is still going on. Trends of river runoff of three different glacier-covered catchments exhibit distinctive results. This implies that retreating glaciers will reduce the ability to regulate the water circulation.

Keywords

glacier change / Kalik Mountain / remote sensing / runoff / water resource

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