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Late‐twentieth century changes in glacier extent in the Ak‐shirak Range, Central Asia, determined from historical data and ASTER imagery
Author(s) -
Khromova T. E.,
Dyurgerov M. B.,
Barry R. G.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2003gl017233
Subject(s) - glacier , plateau (mathematics) , advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer , glacier mass balance , precipitation , climatology , physical geography , geology , range (aeronautics) , meteorology , geography , remote sensing , digital elevation model , mathematical analysis , materials science , mathematics , composite material
Global analysis of glacier regimes reveals widespread wastage since the late 1970s, with a marked acceleration in the late 1980s. We investigate changes in the heavily glacierized Ak‐shirak Range, central Tien Shan plateau (43°N, 75°E) using air photo mapping surveys (1943 and 1977), an ASTER imagery (2001), and long term glaciological and meteorological observations. The wasting of the Ak‐shirak glacier system features a decrease in average glacier size, and an increase in the area of outcrops. A small shrinkage during 1943–1977 was followed by a greater than 20% reduction during 1977–2001 in response to increases in summer and annual air temperature and decreases in annual precipitation.