Quantitative Estimation of Black Carbon in the Glacier Ampay-Apurimac

The presence of light-absorbing particles, including black carbon in glaciers leads to a reduction in albedo (light reflection), leading to further melting of snow ice, increased amount of shortwave solar radiation and leads to the glacier. The objective has been to determine the variation in the temporal space of black carbon, the amount of light-absorbing particles and the decrease of albedo on the surface of the Ampay glacier. 10 snow samples were selected at various locations on the glacier during 2017. The light absorption heating method has been applied to measure light-absorbing particles, a technique that measures the temperature increase of the particle charge in a filter applying visible light that estimates the amount of light energy. The results show in terms of effective black carbon, the highest of 65,224 nanograms of black carbon per gram of water in the month of October and the minimum value of 20,941 nanograms of black carbon per gram of water in the month of February, typically associated with the rain. The energy absorbed by the light-absorbing particles in the Ampay glacier, the highest corresponds to the month of November with 8,952.92 J s/m2 and lowest in February with 2,747.26 J s/m2. In April, the amount of snow melted due to light-absorbing particles has been approximately 13.57 kg/m2. Melting has increased considerably in other months with the largest melting, with a value of 26.65 kg/m2, almost 7.0 kW/m2 of snow turned into water in the month of November. It is concluded that the technique of the Light absorption heating method is adequate because it is optimal for the achievement of the research objectives, it is economical, effective and has allowed quantifying light-absorbing particles in snow.

Abstract licence: CC BY

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