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Journal article

Re-establishing glacier monitoring in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, Central Asia

  • Hoelzle, Martin Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Azisov, Erlan Central Asian Institute for Applied Geosciences, CAIAG, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
  • Barandun, Martina Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Huss, Matthias Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland - Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW), ETH Zurich, Switzerland
  • Farinotti, Daniel Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW), ETH Zurich, Switzerland - Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
  • Gafurov, Abror GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
  • Hagg, Wilfried Department of Geography, University of Munich, Germany
  • Kenzhebaev, Ruslan Central Asian Institute for Applied Geosciences, CAIAG, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
  • Kronenberg, Marlene Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland - Meteodat GmbH, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Machguth, Horst Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland - Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Switzerland
  • Merkushkin, Alexandr NIGMI of UzHydromet, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
  • Moldobekov, Bolot Central Asian Institute for Applied Geosciences, CAIAG, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
  • Petrov, Maxim Glacial Geology Laboratory, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
  • Saks, Tomas Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Salzmann, Nadine Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Schöne, Tilo GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
  • Tarasov, Yuri NIGMI of UzHydromet, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
  • Usubaliev, Ryskul Central Asian Institute for Applied Geosciences, CAIAG, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
  • Vorogushyn, Sergiy GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
  • Yakovlev, Andrey Uzbek scientific investigation and design survey institute, UzGIP, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
  • Zemp, Michael Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Switzerland
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    12.10.2017
Published in:
  • Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems. - 2017, vol. 6, no. 2, p. 397–418
English Glacier mass loss is among the clearest indicators of atmospheric warming. The observation of these changes is one of the major objectives of the international climate monitoring strategy developed by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). Long-term glacier mass balance measurements are furthermore the basis for calibrating and validating models simulating future runoff of glacierised catchments. This is essential for Central Asia, which is one of the driest continental regions of the Northern Hemisphere. In the highly populated regions, water shortage due to decreased glacierisation potentially leads to pronounced political instability, drastic ecological changes and endangered food security. As a consequence of the collapse of the former Soviet Union, however, many valuable glacier monitoring sites in the Tien Shan and Pamir Mountains were abandoned. In recent years, multinational actors have re-established a set of important in situ measuring sites to continue the invaluable long-term data series. This paper introduces the applied monitoring strategy for selected glaciers in the Kyrgyz and Uzbek Tien Shan and Pamir, highlights the existing and the new measurements on these glaciers, and presents an example for how the old and new data can be combined to establish multi-decadal mass balance time series. This is crucial for understanding the impact of climate change on glaciers in this region.
Faculty
Faculté des sciences et de médecine
Department
Département de Géosciences
Language
  • English
Classification
Hydrology
License
License undefined
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/306004
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