Using the flower stem snow pit method for single point melting and accumulation observations, and then plotting the single point observation results onto a large-scale glacier topographic map, the material balance of the entire glacier is calculated using the net equilibrium contour method.
Independently generated.
The observation of glacier mass balance adopts glaciological methods (flower stem/snow pit method). The specific steps include: 1) Setting up a material balance flower pole network observation network. Wooden or metal observation poles (flower poles) should be placed on the surface of glaciers and numbered. Ideally, flower poles should be evenly distributed on the glacier surface to form an observation network with single points as nodes. Flower stem drilling relies on steam drilling or artificial ice core drilling. The height of the flower stem exposed to the snow surface and its length inside the ice depend on the accumulation or melting of the deployment points and the observation period. 2) Regularly measure the height of flower stalks exposed on the surface of glaciers, and calculate the amount of glacier melting or accumulation based on its changes. For glacier accumulation areas, the method of excavating snow pits can also be used to determine the accumulation amount of glaciers. 3) Calculation of glacier mass balance. Based on the observations of the material balance flower stem point and snow pit during a specific period, the material balance of the observation point during the observation period can be calculated. Using interpolation methods and contour line methods, the material balance value of the entire glacier during the observation period can be obtained.
Strictly following the glacier observation and survey methods and standards of the World Glacier Monitoring Center (WGMS), the flower pole snow pit method is used for observation. The position of the glacier surface relative to the flower pole vertex is regularly observed, and snow pits or boreholes are excavated at fixed points in the accumulation area to measure the density of the snow layer, analyze the characteristics of the snow grain snow layer, and calculate the accumulation amount of the snow layer. Then, the single point observation results are plotted on a large-scale glacier topographic map, and the instantaneous, seasonal (such as winter and summer), and annual material balance components of the entire glacier are calculated using the net equilibrium contour line method or contour zoning method. Vertical resolution of 0.01 meters per 10 kg/m2(single point mass balance), and the uncertainty of the entire glacier mass balance is controlled at 200 kg/m2/a.
| # | number | name | type |
| 1 | 2023NCDC008 | Compilation and Integration of the Tianshan Glaciers Data Resource System | NCDC Open Fund Project |
This work is licensed under
CC BY 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License).
CSTR:11738.11.NCDC.TIANSHAN.DB7121.2026
10.12072/ncdc.tianshan.db7121.2026
