Correcting for Systematic Underestimation of Topographic Glacier Aerodynamic Roughness Values From Hintereisferner, Austria

Spatially-distributed values of glacier aerodynamic roughness ( z 0 ) are vital for robust estimates of turbulent energy fluxes and ice and snow melt. Microtopographic data allow rapid estimates of z 0 over discrete plot-scale areas, but are sensitive to data scale and resolution. Here, we use an extensive multi-scale dataset from Hintereisferner, Austria, to develop a correction factor to derive z 0 values from coarse resolution (up to 30 m) topographic data that are more commonly available over larger areas. Resulting z 0 estimates are within an order of magnitude of previously validated, plot-scale estimates and aerodynamic values. The method is developed and tested using plot-scale microtopography data generated by structure from motion photogrammetry combined with glacier-scale data acquired by a permanent in-situ terrestrial laser scanner. Finally, we demonstrate the application of the method to a regional-scale digital elevation model acquired by airborne laser scanning. Our workflow opens up the possibility of including spatio-temporal variations of z 0 within glacier surface energy balance models without the need for extensive additional field data collection.

Abstract licence: CC BY

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