Combining glaciological field surveys, REmote sensing and regional Climate modelling to Analyze the variability of accumulation in the Pamir mountains

• Applicant: Dr. Christoph Mayer
• Subject Area: Geodesy, Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics, Cartography ; Physical Geography
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 530581485

High altitude precipitation and the related accumulation rates on the glaciers are variables with the highest uncertainties, when it comes to assessing the status of the cryosphere in High Mountain Asia (HMA). While ice melt in the lower regions can be modelled to a rather satisfying accuracy by using reanalysis data, combined with meteorological information from valley stations, the knowledge about accumulation at high elevations is still poorly constrained. We propose an integrated study, which combines novel field observations with state of the art analysis of remote sensing observations to feed into regional climate models and detailed modelling of the snow and firn conditions. The outcome will answer urgent questions at different levels on spatial and temporal scales, focussing on Fedchenko Glacier in the Pamir Mountains for the local investigations, but extending the model results to the entire Pamir region. Temporally high resolved information will be gained about the evolution of the firnlayering and the effect of surface melt on compaction, percolation and layer preservation. The regional accumulation distribution across the most significant elevation ranges will be reconstructed and used as input for mass flux estimates across the equilibrium line. These investigations will contribute to characterising the mass balance situation of the glaciers. Considering an extended scale in space and time will allow us to analyse the temporal evolution of the glacier accumulation for a larger region, also in the view of the stability of the Pamir-Karakoram anomaly, indicating more stable recent mass balance conditions across large parts of the Pamir Mountains. To do so, a regional climate model, already developed by the French counterpart of this project, will be configured to produce a centennial atmospheric reanalysis covering the period 1900-present over the whole HMA area. The model will be calibrated using both local and satellite observational data, to finally produce a reanalysis data set for the respective period. This will allow us to investigate the variability of both the climate and the cryosphere from daily to centennial timescales, a way to interpret the local observations with a regional and centennial view. Besides new insights into the processes involved in the climatic transformation across the accumulation regions, this study will also provide important information on the stability and representativeness of climate information potentially stored in the upper Fedchenko Glacier. This is of special importance, as a new project of scientific partners secured funding for the retrieval of a deep ice core from the Fedchenko Glacier accumulation region. Our results will help to improve the interpretation of the core sample analysis and integrate this information in a larger picture of the recent evolution of the high altitude precipitation history.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: France
• Co-Investigators: Dr.-Ing. Christof Völksen; Dr. Anja Wendt
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Fanny Brun; Dr. Patrick Ginot; Dr. Martin Ménégoz; Dr. Patrick Wagnon