A 54-year record of changes at Chalaati and Zopkhito glaciers, Georgian Caucasus, observed from archival maps, satellite imagery, drone survey and ground-based investigation
  • Metaadatok
Tartalom: https://ojs3.mtak.hu/index.php/hungeobull/article/view/3714
Archívum: Hungarian Geographical Bulletin
Gyűjtemény: Other studies
Cím:
A 54-year record of changes at Chalaati and Zopkhito glaciers, Georgian Caucasus, observed from archival maps, satellite imagery, drone survey and ground-based investigation
Létrehozó:
Tielidze, Levan G.
Svanadze, David
Gadrani, Lela
Asanidze, Lasha
Wheate, Roger D.
Hamilton †, Gordon S.
Kiadó:
Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences
Dátum:
2020-06-30
Téma:
glacier change
glacier monitoring
supra-glacial debris cover
climate change
Greater Caucasus
drone survey
Chalaati Glacier
Zopkhito Glacier
Tartalmi leírás:
Individual glacier changes are still poorly documented in the Georgian Caucasus. In this paper, the change of Chalaati and Zopkhito glaciers in Georgian Caucasus has been studied between 1960 and 2014. Glacier geometries are reconstructed from archival topographic maps, Corona and Landsat images, along with modern field surveys. For the first time in the Georgian Caucasus aerial photogrammetric survey of both glacier termini was performed (2014) using a drone or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, where high-resolution orthomosaics and digital elevation models were produced. We show that both glaciers have experienced area loss since 1960: 16.2±4.9 per cent for Chalaati Glacier and 14.6±5.1 per cent for Zopkhito Glacier with corresponding respective terminus retreat by ~675 m and ~720 m. These were accompanied by a rise in the equilibrium line altitudes of ~35 m and ~30 m, respectively. The glacier changes are a response to regional warming in surface air temperature over the last half century. We used a long-term temperature record from the town of Mestia and short-term meteorological observations at Chalaati and Zopkhito glaciers to estimate a longer-term air temperature record for both glaciers. This analysis suggests an increase in the duration of the melt season over the 54-year period, indicating the importance of summertime air temperature trends in controlling glacier loss in the Georgian Caucasus. We also observed supra-glacial debris cover increase for both glaciers over the last half century: from 6.16±6.9 per cent to 8.01±6.8 per cent for Chalaati Glacier and from 2.80±6.3 per cent to 8.53±5.7 per cent for Zopkhito Glacier.
Nyelv:
angol
Típus:
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Formátum:
application/pdf
Azonosító:
10.15201/hungeobull.69.2.6
Forrás:
Hungarian Geographical Bulletin; Vol. 69 No. 2 (2020); 175-189
Hungarian Geographical Bulletin; Évf. 69 szám 2 (2020); 175-189
2064-5147
2064-5031
Kapcsolat:
Létrehozó:
Copyright (c) 2020 Levan G. Tielidze, David Svanadze, Lela Gadrani, Lasha Asanidze, Roger D. Wheate, Gordon S. Hamilton