Where does a glacier end ? GPR measurements to identify the limits between the slopes and the real glacier area. Application to the Austre Lovénbreen, Spitsbergen - 79°N

International audience

High density coverage investigation of The Austre LovénBreen (Svalbard) using Ground Penetrating Radar

COM; International audience; A three week field survey over April 2010 allowed for the acquisition of 120 Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) profiles, adding to a 40 km long walk across an Arctic glacier. The profiles were acquired using a Mal°a equipment with 100 MHz antennas, walking slowly enough to record a 2.224 s trace every 30 cm on the average. Some acquisitions were repeated with 50 MHz or 200 MHz antenna to improve data quality. The GPR was coupled to a GPS system to position traces. Each profile has been manually edited using standard GPR data processing, to pick the reflection arrival time from the ice-bedrock interface. Traveltimes were converted to ice thickness using a velocity o…

Using ground based high resolution photography for seasonal snow and ice dynamics (Austre Lovénbreen, Svalbard, 79°N)

COM; International audience; As is the case in many regions, arctic glaciers are reliable indicators of global climate changes. Within this context, the observed ev olutions are becoming faster and more unpre- dictable. Snow and ice dynamics are directly affected, and following processes becomes challenging: some fast but key events can be missed since they are short but significant. Such observations have been made in the Austre Lovénbreen basin (Spitsbergen, Norway - 79°N) during the Hydro-sensor-FlOWS program. In order to perform long term daily monitoring of the glacier basin behaviour aimed at a local scale understanding of the phenomena driving the glacier evolution, satellite imagery…

Snow drills : snowpack investigations at local scale

Variations en surface et en volume du glacier Loven Est (79°N, Spitsberg) en relation avec les changements climatiques contemporains

Évolution contemporaine des glaciers arctiques: exemple de l'Austre Lovénbreen (79°N)

International audience

Contribution of statistical modeling to the understanding of the mass balance of a small arctic glacier

International audience

Improvement of snow physical parameters retrieval using SAR data in the Arctic (Svalbard)

International audience; Arctic snow cover dynamics offer a changing face in terms of temporal duration andwater equivalent, due to recent climate change conditions (Callaghan et al., 2011; Lemke & Jacobi,2012). Indeed, the Arctic is now experiencing some of the most rapid and severe climate change onearth. In this context, innovative and improved methods are helpful to enhance management of thesnow-pack resource for climate research, hydrology and human activities. The characteristics of Arcticsnow are different from “temperate” snow (i.e. the Alps), in terms of thickness, internal structure, thermalconductivity, and metamorphism. Ground observation often indicates wind slab at the snow sur…

10 years of monitoring in the Austre Lovén glacier basin (Svalbard): results, and perspectives

International audience

Estimation des lames d'eau potentielles à partir du croisement de photos in situ et de données de températures - Glacier Austre Lovén (Spitsberg, 79°N)

COM; National audience

Quantification of sediment transport into Kongsfjorden due to the glacier melt dynamics of Austre Lovenbreen using terrestrial laser scanning

International audience; Climate warming causes a decrease of glaciers in Svalbard. This results in sig-nificant changes of the geomorphology of areas in glacier catchments where iceand permafrost is melting. In particular the snout of the glacier melts drasticallyand the water outflow of the glacier changes sometimes its direction. Sedimentand bed load transport forms new river beds in the moraine, and the sedimentsinvolved are transported downstream into the fjords. In recent years terrestriallaser scanning technology has developed significantly, so it is possible to mea-sure the surface of a whole glacier catchment such as the Austre Lovenbreen inhigh resolution just in a few days or even…

10 years of mass balance over a small Arctic basin. The example of Austre Lovénbreen (Svalbard)

International audience

Approche multivariée des facteurs influençant le bilan de masse d’un glacier arctique

National audience; L’Arctique est la zone géographique où la modification du climat au cours du XXIieme siècle sera la plus forte de la planète. La totalité de la cryosphère (banquise, glaciers, pergélisol, etc.) subira de profondes altérations qui se traduiront spatialement par des évolutions majeures. Les glaciers sont de bons indicateurs de ces changements, aussi bien à une échelle locale que globale, car leur dynamique est très sensible au climat. Cette étude porte sur un glacierdu Spitsberg où il a été observé que des conditions climatiques et nivologiques contrastées d’une année sur l’autre avaient des conséquences multiples, et parfois inattendues, sur les bilans de masse.

La photo haute définition pour comprendre les dynamiques des versants (Austre Lovénbreen, Svalbard, 79°N)

National audience

Evolution of prodeltas : a print of glacier melt processes

International audience

Hydro-glaciology research on the Austre Lovenbreen since the 60s to the last IPY

International audience

Seasonal snow cover dynamics and melting processes on a polar glacier

Quantification des hauteurs de neige et des températures de l'air à la surface d'un glacier : du terrain à l'interpolation, confrontation de méthodes

Quantifying snow cover and surface air temperature on a glacier is usually based on point data. The density of point measures is dependent on the local context. Interpolation brings the opportunity to generate a continuous surface. This surface can be used to derive a global measure for the whole glacier. These measures (total snow water equivalent, average thermal state) are integrated in glaciological and hydrological equations. Interpolation also renders the spatial variations of processes and provides information on inaccessible or not-monitored zones. Using the example of an arctic glacier, several interpolation methods were tested and compared. These methods were applied to snow drill…

Snow cover monitoring using combined FORMOSAT satellite imaging, oblique view ground-based pictures and snow drills

COM; International audience

Rétro-observation des processus de décrue glaciaire à partir de peintures. Apports de la mono-photogrammétrie

Alpine landscapes are indicators of climatic variations recognized through their geomorphological and glacial dynamics. Inthis field, the old documents (photographs, engravings, paintings…) constitute important data sources, used for the purposesof retro-observations. The classical methods consist, most often, to exploit them in descriptive works then being the subject ofnaturalistic cartographic retranscriptions. Today the contribution of innovative methods of treatment, such as mono-photogrammetry,offer new perspectives. It is thus possible to extract quantitative information from qualitative archives. This approachallows, in addition to a conventional landscape analysis, to project the i…

Atmospheric circulation modulates the spatial variability of temperature in the Atlantic-Arctic region

International audience; The Arctic region has experienced significant warming during the past two decades with major implications on the cryosphere. The causes of Arctic amplification are still an open question within the scientific community, attracting recent interest. The goal of this study is to quantify the contribution of atmospheric circulation on temperature variability in the Atlantic–Arctic region at decadal to intra‐annual timescales from 1951 to 2014. Daily 20th Century reanalyses geopotential height anomalies at 500 hPa were clustered into different weather regimes to assess their contribution to observed temperature variability. The results show that in winter, 25% of the warm…

Hydrochemical response of a polar glacier facing the recent climate changes (Austrelovenbre, Svalbard, 79°N)

Using a small COTS UAV to quantify moraine dynamics in Arctic environments

International audience; Arctic regions are known to be places where climate shift yields most visible consequences. In this context, glaciers and their environment are highly subject to global warming effects. New dynamics are observed and the behaviour of arctic systems (such as glaciers, moraines, beaches etc) changes at rates visible over yearly observations. According to recent works on climate change impacts on the cryosphere, short/violent events are recently observed and are one characteristic of these changes. As a consequence, an accelerating rate of glacial and pro-glacial activity is observed, especially at the end of each hydrological season (early fall). As an example, many pha…

At the bedside of a small Spitsberg glacier

Impact of recent climate change in the Arctic on snow physical parameters retrieval using SAR data (Svalbard)

International audience; Arctic snow cover dynamics exhibit strong changes in terms of extent and duration due to recent climate changeconditions (Mudryk et al., 2018; Lemke & Jacobi, 2011). In this context, innovative observation methods arehelpful for a better comprehension of the role of the snow for climate research and hydrology. The spatialvariability of snow properties is here addressed for the Ny-Ålesund area, Svalbard (N 78◦55’ / E 11◦55’) usingsatellite radar images in the X-band. This remote sensing method removes the limitations and ambiguities ofoptical imaging limited by the polar night and cloud cover.This study contributes to the “Precip-A2” project (OSUG@2020, Grenoble, Fran…

L'Arctique en mutation

International audience; AVANT-PROPOS..........................................Daniel JOLYCHAPITRE 1 - Fluctuations climatiques récentes en Arctique : l’exemple du Spitsberg occidental, Madeleine GRISELIN, Christelle MARLIN et Jean-Michel FRIEDTCHAPITRE II - Évolution contemporaine des glaciers arctiques ; exemple de l’Austre Lovénbreen (79°N), Eric BERNARD et Florian TOLLECHAPITRE III - Géomorphologie des côtes rocheuses arctiques, SAMUEL ETIENNE, Jim HANSOM et Donald L. FORBESCHAPITRE IV - L’Arctique face aux crises géomorphologiques paraglaciaires, Denis MERCIERCHAPITRE V - Distribution multi-scalaire de la végétation en Arctique, Martha RAYNOLDCHAPITRE VI - Distribution de la végétation …

La photographie au sol pour quantifier la vidange d'un lac supra-glaciaire : Austre Lovénbreen, 79°N, Svalbard

COM; National audience

Change in geometry of a high Arctic glacier to 1948 to 2013 (Austre Lovénbreen, Svalbard)

International audience; The change of Austre Lovénbreen, a 4.5 km2 land-based glacier along the west coast of Spitsbergen, is investigated using geodetic methods and mass balance measurements over 1948–2013. For 2008−2013, annual mass balances computed on 36-stake measurements were obtained, in addition to annual mass balances reconstructed from the neighbouring glaciers, Midtre Lovénbreen (1968−2007) and Austre Brøggerbreen (1963−1967). The mean rate of glacier retreat for 1948–2013 is −16.7 ± 0.3 m a−1. Fluctuations in area (1948–2013 mean, −0.027 ± 0.002 km2 a−1) showed a slowing as the glacier recedes within its valley from 1990 to 1995. For 1962–2013, the average volume loss calculated…

Landslide monitoring using multi-temporal terrestrial laser scanning(TLS) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) in the high Arctic,Ny-Ålesund

International audience; The acceleration of climate-induced changes in high arctic environments is evident and lead to a wide range ofprocesses (e.g. glacier retreat, landslide activity). Recent studies (Bernard et al. 2014) provide evidence that, thestability of the talus covered slopes is reducing and thus landslides are occurring more frequently on the slopessurrounding the Austre Lovénbreen glacier.The Austre Lovénbreen glacier basin is a relatively small arctic glacier basin located at 79◦N, Ny-Ålesund(Svalbard) and geologically is part of the Kongsvegen Group, which is composed of the Nielsenfjellet, Steenfjelletand the Bogegga Formation. This study focusses on the quantitative and sp…

Snow studies in the Austre Lovén glacier basin, Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

International audience

2D and 3D variations of an Arctic Glacier to recent climate change since forty years (Austre Lovenbreen, Svalbard, 79°N)

International audience

Landslide characterisation based on multi-temporal terrestrial laser scanning in the cirque of the Austre Lovénbreen

International audience; The slopes surrounding the Austre Lovénbreen glacier (79 • N, Ny-Alesund, Svalbard) were selected to study the occurrence, spatial distribution and temporal evolution of landslide processes in the high arctic. In addition, the impact of ongoing glacier retreat and warming-induced permafrost degradation on landslide formation mechanisms is investigated by analyses of multi-temporal terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data and geological field surveys. The cirque of Austre Lovénbreen glacier is located in the basement rocks of the Kongsvegen Group which is composed of the Nielsenfjellet, Steenfjellet and the Bogegga Formation. For this study particular focus is placed on …

Spatio-temporal dynamics of a small arctic hydrosystem : nivo-glaciologic approaches in a climate change context (Austre Lovén glacier, Spitsberg, 79°N)

Leaning on long field campaigns, this thesis offer both qualitative and quantitative overview of polarregion nivo-glaciologic dynamics through a geographic approach, in context of climate change. Thiswork is part of the Hydro-sensor FlOWS program taking place during the International Polar Year.Upstream of this pluridisciplinary program aimed at understanding the hydrological processes of asmall polar hydrosystem, it was necessary to add a more specific study on the role of snow and icein the hydrological equation : this is the subject of this PhD.The glacial basin of Austre Lovénbreen (10 km2, Spitsberg – 79°N) served as a field of study in ageographical approach at local scale. Many metho…

Hydrogeochemical approach to understanding the glacier-permafrost subglacial-system interactions in a glaciated catchment of Western Spitsbergen.

COM; International audience

Evaluating the Austre Loven and its bedrock topography using Ground Penetrating Radar and differential GPS measurements.

Intérêt de l’utilisation de la photogrammétrie SfM (Structure from Motion) pour le suivi des processus nivo-glaciaires. Application au bassin du glacier Austre Lovén, Spitsberg

National audience; L’Arctique est reconnu comme un ex¬cellent indicateur des évolutions clima¬tiques contemporaines : sa sensibilité aux moindres sollicitations climatiques en fait une zone d’étude idéale. L’étude des pro¬cessus et des dynamiques glaciaires revêt, dans ce contexte, un intérêt majeur afin de mieux comprendre les impacts du climat sur la récession glaciaire observée durant cette dernière décade.

Acquisition et traitements automatiques d'images numériques haute résolution de glaciers polaires

Hydrological and geochemical approach to understand the glacier-permafrost subglacial-system interactions in a glaciated catchment of Western Spitsbergen

COM; International audience; The freshwater fluxes flowing from High Arctic glaciers mainly depend on climatic indicators (T, P) but also on other parameters like the thermal state of glacier, the water routing within and below the glacier, the permafrost distribution and the hydrodynamic characteristics of the moraines and rock structures forming the catchment. Using hydrological and geochemical methods, t he objective of the presentation is to show the relationships existing between the hydrological response of a small glacier of the Brogger peninsula (Austrelovenbre glacier), th e climatic conditions and these other parameters. I n the framework o f the Hydrosensor Flows program (IPEV 30…

Relations entre eaux souterraines, cours d'eau et pergélisol au Spitsberg occidental : exemple du bassin versant du glacier Austre Lovén (79°N, Svalbard)

COM; National audience; Dans la zone arctique et sub - arctique, la dégradation du pergélisol est l'une des conséquences visibles du changement climatique. Elle s'associe à des flux croissants d'eau, de solutés et de sédiments qui peuvent significativement impacter les zones côtières et ainsi les océans. Le réchauffement climatique conduit logiquement à une augmentation de la fonte estivale, concentrée sur quelques mois d e l'année. Les flux générés pendant la période de fonte sont des eaux peu minéralisées, le suivi hydrologique aux exutoires couplé à des investigations hydrogéologiques, effectués dans un bassin versant englacé sur la côte occidentale du Spitsberg (Austre Lovénbre : 10 km …

Fourty years of weather data to understand recent climate Change in the Artic (Svalbard, 79°N)

International audience