Remote monitoriug ice velocities of the polar record and the Dark Glaciers

Measurement of ice velocities of the Antarctic glaciers is very important for studies on Antarctic ice and snow mass balance. The polar area environmental change and its influences on the global environment. Conventional methods may be used for measuring the ice velocities, but they suffer from severe weather conditions in the Polar areas. Use of satellite multi-spectral and muki-temporal images makes it easier to measure the velocities of the glacier movements. This paper discusses a new method for monitoring the glacial change by means of multi-temporal satellite images. Temporal remotely sensed images in the Ingrid Christensen coast were processed with respect to geometric rectification, registration and overlay, The average ice velocities of the Polar Record Glacier and the Dark Glacier were then calculated, with the changing characteristics analyzed and evaluated. The advantages of the method reported here include promise of all-weather operation and potentials of dynamic monitoring through suitabl     

THE ENVIRONMENTAL EVENTS ON KING GEORGE ISLAND SINCE THE LAST GLACIATION

The extension of ice sheet on King George Island during the last glaciation was an environment event since the last glaciation. At that time South Shedlands Islands were a large unified island and the ice mass on King George Island might come from the Antarctic Peninsula. The model of ice retreat and ice advance events in the Holocene show that the ice sheet was separated into three small ice caps and then dispeared gradually. At present the retreating velocity of glacier is about 1.3m each year. After the retreat of ice sheet the isostatic compensation appeared in the crust there, and then 5-6 steps of the uplifted marine terraces have been developed along the coast. The uplift rate of the crust may be 6-10mm/a.     

The tidal signals extraction from GPS data on the Amery Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Tidal motion is the source of short-term vertical motion that an ice shelf experiences, and hence has a significant impact on ice shelves. During the 2003/2004 Austral summer season, five days of GPS measurements were carried out on the front of the Amery Ice Shelf （AIS）, East Antarctica, by the 20th Chinese National Antarctica Research Expedition （CHINARE）. The GPS data was processed using GAMIT/GLOBK software with 2-hour static data segment and the vertical precision is less than 0.18 m. To verify our results for the vertical component, we compare the ice shelf GPS tidal signal with a tidal result derived from tide gauge measurements at China＇s Zhongshan Station on Antarctica. Comparison of the GPS results with the tide gauge were in good agreement in amplitude at the few cm level, which indicates that the tide under the front of Amery Ice Shelf is irregular semidiurnal tide, the maximal tidal differences is approximately 2 m. GPS data can be used to validate the ocean tide model around the Antarctic area and such studies are important to improve our knowledge of the Antarctic ice shelf mass balance and dynamical models of ice sheet/ocean interaction.     

Thermohaline structure inhomogeneity associated with polynia at the northern margin of Emery Ice-shelf

Based on the hydrographic data in austral summer during the 22nd Antarctic Expedition of China(2005/2006),some features can be found about the northern margin of Emery ice shelf as follows.The heat content in the surface layer(0-50 m) at the eastern end and the western end of the ice-shelf margin is much higher than that at the middle.The upper mixing-layer depth and the seasonal thermocline depth at the middle of the ice-shelf northern margin are much shallower than those at the both ends.However there is much less difference between the middle and the ends in the bottom layer.The remote sensing photos show that the inhomogeneity in the surface-layer water is closely related to the spatial distribution of the floes and polynia in the area.     

Interdecadal oscillations of temperatures in 1903-2002 over the Antarctic Peninula

<正> In the paper,by use of the monthly mean temperature data of 12 sta-tions in the vicinity of Antarctic Peninsula,the temperature series during 1903-2000 is founded and the interdecadal oscillation of the temperature are discussed.The results indicate that 1) There are three jumps during 1919-1923,1947-1953 and 1976-1982 in recent hundred years and the stable climate step betweentwo jump points lasted about 30 years.2)Annual mean temperature is increasedby 0.730℃ in an echelon during 1903-2000,the warming extent is dissimilarityin each season,the maximum of warming is in the winter and the minimum ofwarming is in summer.3)The ice decline trend is presented in the index of Iceconcentration in the vicinity sea of Antarctic Peninsula,which shows a-0.2053/10a drop,and the decrease trend of the ice concentration index in summerhalf year(Dec-May)is found much more obviously than that in winter half year(Jun-Nov).4)There is better negative relationship between the temperature andthe Ice concentration index in Antarctic Peninsula and its vicinity sea,which cor-relation coefficient of is exceed the significance level of 5% in summer,autumnand annual. Antarctic Peninsula,temperature,sea ice,oscillation.     

Movement and variation of four typical glaciers in the Qilian Mountains, northwestern China

We selected four typical glaciers in the Qilian Mountains and investigated their movements and variation using advanced technologies such as remote sensing,photographic measurements,and global positioning systems.The velocity of glacier movements in the Qilian Mountains is relatively low,and there has been no significant variation during the past 50 years.Glacier motion has maintained a normal style.The movement velocity of Laohugou Glacier No.12 presented a decreasing trend(by 48%) from 1960 to 2012.The movement velocity of the Qiyi Glacier also presented a decreasing trend(by 48.1%) from 1958 to 2012; it decreased by 29.4% from 1958 to 1977 and by 26.5% from 1977 to 2012.Therefore,the Qiyi Glacier's movement velocity varied greatly over the earlier 20 years(1958–1977),but presented a small decreasing trend during the latter 30 years(1977–2012).By comparing the movement velocity variation of these typical glaciers,we determined that the extent of variation was consistent among large glaciers(such as Laohugou Glacier No.12) and small glaciers(such as the Qiyi Glacier and Yanglonghe Glacier No.5),despite their different sizes.     

Genetic climatic regionalization of the Balkan Peninsula using cluster analysis

Sea Level Pressure(SLP) data for the period 1950–2012 at 61 stations located in or around the Balkan Peninsula was used. The main concept is that intra-annual course of SLP represents the best different air masses that are situated over the Balkan Peninsula during the year. The method for differentiation of climatic zones is cluster analysis. A hierarchical clustering technique–average linkage between groups with Pearson correlation for measurement of intervals was employed in the research. The climate of the Balkan Peninsula is transitional between oceanic and continental and also between subtropical and temperate climates. Several major changes in atmospheric circulation over the Balkan Peninsula have happened over the period 1950–2012. There is a serious increase of the influence of the Azores High in the period January–Marchwhich leads to an increase of SLP and enhances oceanic influence. There is an increase of the influence of the north-west extension of the monsoonal low in the period June–September. This leads to more continental climatebut also to more tropical air masses over the Balkan Peninsula. Accordinglythe extent of subtropical climate widens in northern direction. There is an increase of the influence of the Siberian High in the period October–December. This influence covers central and eastern part of the peninsula in October and Novemberand it reaches western parts in December. Thusthe climate becomes more continental.     

The movement features analysis of Laohugou Glacier No. 12 in Qilian Mountains

The Laohugou Glacier No. 12 is the largest valley glacier in Qilian Mountains, which is located in northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Movement is the basic characteristic of glaciers, and is also an important distinction from other terrestrial natural ice. Glacier changes not only reflect climate change, but also play an important role in humanity society. In the arid regions of western China, glaciers are becoming an important water source. We use the GPS receiver (South-Lingrui S82) as data platform with the aid of RTK measurement technology to observe the surface velocity of Laohugou Glacier No. 12. Surface velocity data shows that the maximum value appears at an altitude of 4,750–4,850 m during the period of 2008–2009. During this period, the west branch surface velocity reached 32.6 m per year at an altitude near 4,830 m, the east branch surface velocity reached 32.4 m per year at the altitude near 4,770 m. Comparing the surface velocity data during 2008–2009 with observation results in 1959, the glacier velocity slowed down about 11%.     

Effect of shipping activity on warming trends in the Canadian Arctic

This paper presents a detailed account of the effect of shipping activity on the increasing trends of air temperatures in the Canadian Arctic region for the period of 1980–2018. Increasing trend of temperature has gained significant attention with respect to shipping activities and sea ice area in the Canadian Arctic. Temperature, sea ice area and shipping traffic datasets were investigated, and simple linear regression analyses were conducted to predict the rate of change(per decade) of the average temperature, considering winter(January) and summer(July) seasons. The results indicate that temperature generally increased over the studied region. Significant warming trend was observed during July, with an increase of up to 1℃, for the Canadian Arctic region. Such increasing trend of temperature was observed during July from the lower to higher latitudes. The increase in temperature during July is speculated to increase the melting of ice. Results also show a decline in sea ice area has a significant positive effect on the shipping traffic, and the numbers of marine vessel continue to increase in the region. The increase in temperature causes the breaking of sea ice due to shipping activities over northern Arctic Canada.     

Amery ice shelf DEM and its marine ice distribution

The Amery Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf in East Antarctica.A new DEM was generated for this ice shelf,using kriging to interpolate the data from ICESat altimetry and the AIS-DEM.The ice thickness distribution map is conver ted from the new DEM,assuming hydrostatic equilibrium.The Amery Ice Shelf mari ne ice,up to 230 m thick,is concentrated in the northwest of the ice shelf.Th e volume of the marine ice is 2.38×10～3 km～3 and accounts for about 5.6% of t he shelf volume.     

Mountain Glacier Flow Velocities Analyzed from Satellite Optical Images

Mountain glaciers are sensitive to environment. It is important to acquire ice flow velocities over time for glacier research and hazard forecast. For this paper, cross-correlating of optical images is used to monitor ice flow velocities, and an improvement, which is called ＂moving grid,＂ is made to this method. For this research, two remote-sensing images in a certain glacier area, dur-ing different times are selected. The first image is divided into grids, and we calculated the correlation coefficient of each window in the grid with the window on the second image. The window with the highest correlation coefficient is considered the counter-part one on the first image. The displacement of the two corresponding windows is the movement of the glacier, and it is used to calculate glacier surface velocity. Compared to the traditional way of dividing an image with ascertain grid, this method uses small steps to move the grid from one location to another adjacent location until the whole glacier area is covered in the image, thus in-creasing corresponding point density. We selected a glacier in the Tianshan Mountains for this experiment and used two re-mote-sensing images with a 10-year interval to determine this method.     

Hydrological character and sea-current structure in the front of Amery Ice Shelf

<正> Hydrological character and Sea-current profiles structure are studied andanalyzed in sea-area of the front of Amery Ice Shelf,Prydz Bay with LADCP,CTDdata.These LADCP,CTD data were acquired during the 19th Chinese Antarctic Sci-entific Expedition.Results of this study agree with that,there exist four differentkinds of water masses in the area of the front of Amery Ice Shelf in the summer of Ant-arctica.Current distribution presents a semi-circumfluence which flows in at the eastand flows out in the west.Moreover,clockwise and anti-clockwise vortices werefound in upper layer and mid-layer in the Prydz Bay.Western areas of these anti-clockwise vortices are positions of inflows from Prydz Bay to Amery Ice Shelf.Thesource of these inflows is the coastal westward current originated in the east of PrydzBay.All these characteristics come down to the pattern of circumfluence,ice meltrate under Ice Shelf,scale of Ice Shelf water production and form of water exchangesbetween area of Ice Shelf and area of Prydz Bay.     

陕北黄土丘陵区干燥度变化趋势及其对植被恢复的响应(英文)

Detecting variation trend in dry-wet conditions can provide information for developing strategic measures to mitigate the impacts of global warming, particularly in dry regions. Taking the hilly region of northern Shaanxi on the Loess Plateau as a case area, this study analyzed the trend of aridity variation during 1981–2012, and explored the effect of vegetation restoration promoted by the Grain-for-Green(GFG) program implemented in 1999. The results indicated that the aridity in the region was non-significantly increased by 0.88% per year during 1981–2012, showing a drying trend. This drying trend and amplitude were changed by the influence of vegetation restoration promoted by the GFG program, based on two findings. The first one was that the aridity variation tended to increase during 1981–1999 while it turned to decrease during 2000–2012, with the regional mean relative change rate changed from 2.45% to –1.06%. This distinction was more remarkable in the loess gully region, where the vegetation was improved more obviously. The second one was that the mean vegetation coverage as indicated by EVI increased by 0.90% to 4.32% per year at county level, while the aridity decreased by 0.14% to 2.32% per year during 2000–2012. The regression analysis using the mean county data indicated that the change rate of aridity was negatively related to that of EVI with the coefficient of determination(R2) of 0.56, illustrating that around half of the aridity decline was explained by the EVI change. The mechanism of this effect was complicated, but it was found that the wind speed decline induced by the vegetation improvement could be an important contributor. It is concluded that the region became drier during 1981–2012, but the eco-restoration reduced the drying speed. However, this conclusion is involved in uncertainties, and further study based on experiments is needed to confirm the effect of the GFG-promoted vegetation restoration.     

The signature analysis of summer Antarctic sea-ice distribution by ship-based sea-ice observation

Based on the Chinese 19th National Antarctic Research Expedition,we carried out ship-based Antarctic sea-ice observa-tion on icebreaker Xue Long using Antarctic sea-ice process and climate (ASPeCt) criteria during austral summer.Sea-ice distribution data were obtained along nearly 6,500 km of the ship’s track.The measurement parameters included sea-ice thickness,sea-ice concentration,snow thickness,and floe size.Analysis showed the presence of the large spatial varia-tions of the observed sea-ice characteristics.Sea-ice concentration varied between 0 and 80 percent and reached its peak value in Weddell Sea because of the specific dynamical process affecting in summer sea-ice melting.There are large areas of open water along the study section.Sea ice and the upper snow thickness of the section varied between 10 cm and 210 cm and 2 cm and 80 cm,respectively,and each reaches its peak values near Amery ice shelf.The floe size varied from less than 10 cm and the maximum of more than 2,000 km along the section.     

2000-2016年青海湖湖冰物候特征变化（英文）

Lake ice phenology is considered a sensitive indicator of regional climate change. We utilized time series information of this kind extracted from a series of multi-source remote sensing(RS) datasets including the MOD09 GQ surface reflectance product, Landsat TM/ETM_+ images, and meteorological records to analyze spatiotemporal variations of ice phenology of Qinghai Lake between 2000 and 2016 applying both RS and GIS technology. We also identified the climatic factors that have influenced lake ice phenology over time and draw a number of conclusions. First, data show that freeze-up start(FUS), freeze-up end(FUE), break-up start(BUS), and break-up end(BUE) on Qinghai Lake usually occurred in mid-December, early January, mid-to-late March, and early April, respectively. The average freezing duration(FD, between FUE and BUE), complete freezing duration(CFD, between FUE and BUS), ice coverage duration(ICD, between FUS and BUE), and ablation duration(AD, between BUS and BUE) were 88 days, 77 days, 108 days and 10 days, respectively. Second, while the results of this analysis reveal considerable differences in ice phenology on Qinghai Lake between 2000 and 2016, there has been relatively little variation in FUS times. Data show that FUE dates had also tended to fluctuate over time, initially advancing and then being delayed, while the opposite was the case for BUS dates as these advanced between 2012 and 2016. Overall, there was a shortening trend of Qinghai Lake's FD in two periods, 2000–2005 and 2010–2016, which was shorter than those seen on other lakes within the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau. Third, Qinghai Lake can be characterized by similar spatial patterns in both freeze-up(FU) and break-up(BU) processes, as parts of the surface which freeze earlier also start to melt first, distinctly different from some other lakes on the Tibetan Plateau. A further feature of Qinghai Lake ice phenology is that FU duration(between 18 days and 31 days) is about 10 days longer than BU duration(between 7 days and 20 days). Fourth, data show that negative temperature accumulated during the winter half year(between October and the following April) also plays a dominant role in ice phenology variations of Qinghai Lake. Precipitation and wind speed both also exert direct influences on the formation and melting of lake ice cover and also cannot be neglected.     

喜马拉雅地区纳木那尼的化学离子特征

A 6-m ice core was recovered in 2004 from the Naimona＇Nyi Glacier, the middle Himalayas. Empirical orthogonal function （EOF） analysis on the major ion reveals that EOF1 represents the variations of majority of ions which may be originated from crustal aerosols. Comparing the calcium concentrations from the Naimona＇Nyi with these from Dasuopu, East Rongbuk and Guliya ice cores, it is observed that calcium, a good indicator of the input of crustal aerosol in snow, concentrates mostly in the Guliya ice core located on the northern Tibetan Plateau, and gradually decreases from west to east in the Himalayas.     

亚洲季风气候边缘区毛乌素沙地南部晚第四纪降水定量重建初探(英文)

We present the first quantitative estimation of monsoon precipitation during the late glacial–Holocene in the sandy land of northern China, based on organic carbon isotopic composition data from a loess-sand sequence at margin of the Mu Us sandy land. We use the relationship between monsoon precipitation and the carbon isotopic composition of modern soils as an analogue, with a minor modification, to reconstruct precipitation back to c. 47 ka ago. The preliminary results indicate that annual monsoon precipitation was high after 8 ka, with an average of 435 mm; and it decreased during 18 and 8 ka with a mean value of 194 mm. The precipitation value of 47-18 ka varied between the two. We compare the reconstructed precipitation with other records and paleoclimatic modeling results, showing that our record agrees with reconstructions of the monsoon precipitation from other sources, even capturing short climatic events such as the Younger Dryas. We suggest that solar irradiance, high-latitude temperature/ice volume and local evaporation have together modified moistures in the sandy land.     

祁连山老虎沟冰芯记录的高山区大气降水变化（英文）

The net accumulation record of ice core is one of the most reliable indicators for reconstructing precipitation changes in high mountains.A 20.12 m ice core was drilled in 2006 from the accumulation zone of Laohugou Glacier No.12 in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau,China.We obtained the precipitation from the ice core net accumulation during 1960-2006,and found out the relationship between Laohugou ice core record and other data from surrounding sites of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau.Results showed that during 1960-2006,the precipitation in the high mountains showed firstly an increasing trend,while during 1980 to 2006 it showed an obvious decreasing trend.Reconstructed precipitation change in the Laohugou glacier basin was consistent with the measured data from the nearby weather stations in the lower mountain of Subei,and the correlation coefficient was 0.619(P<0.001).However,the precipitation in the high mountain was about 3 times more than that of the lower mountain.The precipitation in Laohugou Glacier No.12 of the western Qilian Mountains corresponded well to the net accumulation of Dunde ice core during the same period,tree-ring reconstructed precipitation,the measured data of multiple meteorological stations in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau,and also the changes of adjacent PDSI drought index.Precipitation changes of the Laohugou glacier basin and other sites of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau had significantly positive correlation with ENSO,which implied that the regional alpine precipitation change was very likely to be influenced by ENSO.     

Modeling seasonal variations of ocean and sea ice circulation in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas:A model-data fusion study

A 3.8-km Coupled Ice-Ocean Model(CIOM) was implemented to successfully reproduce many observed phenomena in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas,including the Bering-inflow-originated coastal current that splits into three branches: Alaska Coastal Water(ACW),Central Channel,and Herald Valley branches.Other modeled phenomena include the Beaufort Slope Current(BSC),the Beaufort Gyre, the East Siberian Current(ESC),mesoscale eddies,seasonal landfast ice,sea ice ridging,shear,and deformation.Many of these downscaling processes can only be captured by using a high-resolution CIOM,nested in a global climate model.The seasonal cycles for sea ice concentration,thickness,velocity,and other variables are well reproduced with solid validation by satellite measurements.The seasonal cycles for upper ocean dynamics and thermodynamics are also well reproduced,which include the formation of the cold saline layer due to the injection of salt during sea ice formation,the BSC,and the subsurface upwelling in winter that brings up warm,even more saline Atlantic Water along the shelfbreak and shelf along the Beaufort coast.     

Summer fast ice evolution off Zhongshan Station,Antarctica

Based on the field data acquired in the program of fast ice observation off Zhongshan Station,Prydz Bay,East Antarctica during the austral summer 2005/ 2006,physical properties evolution of fast ice during the ice ablation season is ana- lyzed in detail.Results show that the annual maximum ice thickness in 2005 occurred in later November,and then ice started to melt,and the ablation duration was 62 days;sea water under the ice became warmer synchronously;corresponding to the warming sea ice temperature,a"relative cold mid-layer"appeared in sea ice;the fast ice marginal line recoiled back to the shore observably,and the recoil distance was 20.9 km from 18 December 2005 through 14 January 2006.In addition,based on the data of sea ice thickness survey along the investigation course of MV Xuelong on December 18 of 2005,the ice thickness distribution paten in the marginal ice zone have been described:sea ice thickness increased,but the diversity of floe ice thick- ness decreased from open water to fast ice zone distinctly.