Glaciers and hydrological changes in the Tien Shan: simulation and prediction

• Published in: Environmental research letters Vol. 2; no. 4; p. 045019
• Main Authors: Aizen, V B, Aizen, E M, Kuzmichonok, V A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.10.2007
• Subjects: Air temperature; Altitude; Climate change; Digital Elevation Models; Glaciers; Glaciohydrology; Hydrology; Iterative methods; Precipitation; Remote sensing; Runoff; Simulation
• ISSN: 1748-9326; 1748-9326
• DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/2/4/045019

In this study, we estimated the current glacier state and forecast the potential impact of global and regional climate change on the glaciers and glacier runoff in the Tien Shan. General (G) and detailed (D) simulations were developed based on assessment of the Tien Shan glacier recession between 1943 and 2003 using an iterative stepwise increase in the equilibrium line altitude of 20m. The G simulation was developed for 2777 grids each of which covered over 1000km2 of glacier surface and D for the 15 953 Tien Shan glaciers. Both simulations employed glaciermorphometric characteristics derived from Digital Elevation Model based on remote sensing data, high resolution maps and in situ GPS validation. Simulated changes in glacier area demonstrated that a possible increase in air temperature of 1 °C at \mathrm {\bar {E}LA} must be compensated by a 100mm increase in precipitation at the same altitude if Tien Shan glaciers are to be maintained in their current state. An increase in mean air temperature of 4 °C and precipitation of 1.1 times the current level could increase \mathrm {\bar {E}LA} by 570m during the 21st century. Under these conditions, the number of glaciers, glacier covered area, glacier volume, and glacier runoff are predicted to be 94%, 69%, 75%, and 75% of current values. The maximum glacier runoff may reach as much as 1.25 times current levels while the minimum will likely equal zero.