Title
The freezing level in the tropical Andes, Peru: An indicator for present and future glacier extents
Date Issued
01 January 2017
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Schauwecker S.
Rohrer M.
Huggel C.
Endries J.
Montoya N.
Neukom R.
Perry B.
Salzmann N.
Schwarb M.
Publisher(s)
Wiley-Blackwell
Abstract
Along with air temperatures, the freezing level height (FLH) has risen over the last decades. The mass balance of tropical glaciers in Peru is highly sensitive to a rise in the FLH, mainly due to a decrease in accumulation and increase of energy for ablation caused by reduced albedo. Knowledge of future changes in the FLH is thus crucial to estimating changes in glacier extents. Since in situ data are scarce at altitudes where glaciers exist (above ~4800 m above sea level (asl)), reliable FLH estimates must be derived from multiple data types. Here we assessed the FLHs and their spatiotemporal variability, as well as the related snow/rain transition in the two largest glacier-covered regions in Peru by combining data from two climate reanalysis products, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar Bright Band data, Micro Rain Radar data, and meteorological ground station measurements. The mean annual FLH lies at 4900 and 5010 m asl, for the Cordillera Blanca and Vilcanota, respectively. During the wet season, the FLH in the Cordillera Vilcanota lies ~150 m higher compared to the Cordillera Blanca, which is in line with the higher glacier terminus elevations. Coupled Model Intercomparison Project version 5 (CMIP5) climate model projections reveal that by the end of the 21st century, the FLH will rise by 230 m (±190 m) for Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 2.6 and 850 m (±390 m) for RCP8.5. Even under the most optimistic scenario, glaciers may continue shrinking considerably, assuming a close relation between FLH and glacier extents. Under the most pessimistic scenario, glaciers may only remain at the highest summits above approximately 5800 m asl.
Start page
5172
End page
5189
Volume
122
Issue
10
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Geografía física
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85019830963
Source
Journal of Geophysical Research
ISSN of the container
01480227
Sponsor(s)
This research was developed in the framework of Proyecto Glaciares+, a program financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC, in collaboration with CARE Peru. We acknowledge the use of data from the SENAMHI. Stations from the UNASAM were installed in the framework of the project Centro de Información e Investigación Ambiental de Desarrollo Regional Sostenible (CIIADERS). ERA-interim data are obtained from the ECMWF. The MERRA2 data are provided by the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. TRMM PR 2A23 and 2A25 data are obtained from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). GLIMS data are provided by the National Snow and Ice Data Center, and the ASTER DEM is obtained through the DAAC Global Data Explorer, a product of METI and NASA. Raphael Neukom is supported by the Swiss NSF grant PZ00P2_154802. J.L. Endries and L.B. Perry were supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation through grant AGS-1347179 (CAREER: Multiscale Investigations of Tropical Andean Precipitation). The authors are grateful to the editor and three anonymous reviewers for their invaluable and constructive suggestions and comments that helped improve the manuscript. The data supporting the analysis can be obtained by sending a written request to the corresponding authors (Simone Schauwecker, schauwecker@meteodat.ch).
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus