Decadal changes of debris cover and it's potential impact on the mass balance time series of Jamtalferner (Silvretta, Austria)
Jakob Georg Balassa, IGF - Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research, Austrian Academy of Science (ÖAW), Innsbruck (AT)
Alpine glaciers currently retreat at historically unprecedented rates. Apart from climate forcing, feedback mechanisms such as the increase of debris cover are important factors for future glacier retreat. Debris cover is important for the mass balance and energy exchange, but its developement is rather unknown. The fluctuations of Jamtalferner have been recorded since 1988/1989. For this study, time series of airborne orthophotos have been analysed to map the extent of debris cover. Goal of the work is to quantify changes in debris covered area and it's potential impact on the directly measured mass balance of Jamtalferner. The debris covered area was mannually delineated on historical orthophotos and brought in relation with the mass balance in the work. Orthophotos of the Jamtalferner are available in the time range from 1949 - 2015 and were provided by „tiris“, a governmental platform.