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You are in:  Home » Research » Research projects » Glaciology and Climate Change » Geometry and Mass Balance Changes of Langjökull, Iceland

Geometry and Mass Balance Changes of Langjökull, Iceland

Currently, about 11% (11 200km²) of Iceland is covered by ice; most contained within extensive plateau ice caps ranging in size from Hofsjökull i Loni (8km²) to Vatnajökull (8175km²). The maritime climate means these ice caps receive up to ~4 m w.e. a^-1 of snowfall in their accumulation zones and lose up to ~10m w.e. a^-1 of ice in their ablation areas. This, together with the fact they are temperate, means they are dynamically responsive to small climatically induced mass balance changes. Langjökull (925km²) is the 2^nd largest ice cap in Iceland and has surface mass balance measurements extending back to 1996 (Figure 1). To complement the mass balance measurements, we are currently analysing patterns of surface elevation changes across the ice cap. We are using three main data sets: 1. skidoo lines of GPS point measurements and a 100m resolution DEM derived from them for the entire ice cap for 1995; 2. airborne photogrammetrically-derived point measurements and a 25m resolution DEM derived from them for the southern outlet glacier, Hagafellsjökull Vestari; 3. airborne LiDAR-derived point measurements (Figure 2) and SPOT measurements and a 25m resolution DEM derived from them for the entire ice cap for 2007. Preliminary results suggest that there are marked spatial variations in elevation changes across the icecap reflecting spatial variations in surface mass balance, moderated by changes in ice dynamics. In particular, much of the elevation change observed in the south of the ice cap is associated with the surge of Hagafellsjökull Eystri in 1998/9 and, to a lesser extent, the Hagafellsjökull Vestari surge of 1979/80. Our work is being done in collaboration with Richard Hodgkins (Loughborough University), Adrian Fox (British Antarctic Survey), and Helgi Björnsson & Sverrir Guðmundsson (University of Iceland).

Figures

Fig 1. Map of Langjökull, Iceland

Figure 2. Preliminary Image showing coverage of the LiDAR 2007 data