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| Titel |
Glacier changes and climate trends derived from multiple sources in the data scarce Cordillera Vilcanota region, southern Peruvian Andes |
| VerfasserIn |
N. Salzmann, C. Huggel, M. Rohrer, W. Silverio, B. G. Mark, P. Burns, C. Portocarrero |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1994-0416
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: The Cryosphere ; 7, no. 1 ; Nr. 7, no. 1 (2013-01-23), S.103-118 |
| Datensatznummer |
250017405
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/tc-7-103-2013.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The role of glaciers as temporal water reservoirs is particularly pronounced
in the (outer) tropics because of the very distinct wet/dry seasons. Rapid
glacier retreat caused by climatic changes is thus a major concern, and
decision makers demand urgently for regional/local glacier evolution trends,
ice mass estimates and runoff assessments. However, in remote mountain areas,
spatial and temporal data coverage is typically very scarce and this is
further complicated by a high spatial and temporal variability in regions
with complex topography. Here, we present an approach on how to deal with
these constraints. For the Cordillera Vilcanota (southern Peruvian Andes),
which is the second largest glacierized cordillera in Peru (after the
Cordillera Blanca) and also comprises the Quelccaya Ice Cap, we assimilate a
comprehensive multi-decadal collection of available glacier and climate data
from multiple sources (satellite images, meteorological station data and
climate reanalysis), and analyze them for respective changes in glacier area
and volume and related trends in air temperature, precipitation and in a more
general manner for specific humidity. While we found only marginal glacier
changes between 1962 and 1985, there has been a massive ice loss since 1985
(about 30% of area and about 45% of volume). These high numbers
corroborate studies from other glacierized cordilleras in Peru. The climate
data show overall a moderate increase in air temperature, mostly weak and not
significant trends for precipitation sums and probably cannot in full explain
the observed substantial ice loss. Therefore, the likely increase of specific
humidity in the upper troposphere, where the glaciers are located, is further
discussed and we conclude that it played a major role in the observed massive
ice loss of the Cordillera Vilcanota over the past decades. |
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