Glacier Monitoring

"Despite typical glaciers’ massive sizes, monitoring them is not always an easy task. Only specific types of small glaciers are good measures of climate change. Some glaciers are too large to measure accurately, and others are simply too unpredictable. Once scientists find a suitable glacier, they must take satellite images of the ice for a minimum of five years and compare the results. They then have to look closely at the outside edge of the glacier (the glacier’s terminus). If a large percentage of the glacier’s edge is receding then the area around the ice is growing warmer, and if a large percentage is expanding then the area is growing cooler. When enough measurements from many different parts of the world have been gathered, the researchers can determine whether the earth is growing warmer or cooler" (NASA, 2018)

Sources

NASA. (2018) At the Edge: Monitoring Glaciers to Watch Global Change. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Glaciers

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Call for abstracts - United Nations/Costa Rica/PSIPW - Sixth conference on the use of space technology for water management

Report of the United Nations/Costa Rica/PSIPW - Sixth conference on the use of space technology for water management (San José and online, 7–10 May 2024, with on-site training on 11 May 2024)

Report of the United Nations/Costa Rica/PSIPW - Sixth conference on the use of space technology for water management (San José and online, 7–10 May 2024, with on-site training on 11 May 2024)

Screenshot of the first page of the Report

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), the Government of Costa Rica, and the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW) were jointly organizing a conference to promote the use of space technology in water management to the benefit of developing countries.

The Conference was heldin San José, Costa Rica, from 7-10 May 2024, hosted by and with the support of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) on behalf of the Government of Costa Rica.

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Event

United Nations/Costa Rica/PSIPW - Sixth conference on the use of space technology for water management

Local Perspectives Case Studies

Potential consequences due to the melting Athabasca glacier, Canada

Potential consequences due to the melting Athabasca glacier, Canada

Althabasca Delta
The Athabasca glacier is our source of water and it is being reduced significantly because of climate change. We need to understand what is the data showing from the increases in temperature due to climate change, will the melting glacier increase more water loading in the Athabasca River, will that cause more flooding and at what point will we have no more glacier? What are the future predictions for the glacier as our source water? This information we will enable us to make a decision on whether we need to relocate or not. On the Peace River side, there are three hydroelectric projects, and we are talking to the companies to see if they can release water in the delta. But we need data to understand how much water they can release in the delta without causing flooding in the other areas. For example, how much water need released and in which season in order to have a healthy ecosystem downstream. Another set of data that will be useful is about landform stability. For example, tailings ponds are built to international dam standards, so if there are landform changes there could be consequences of tailings breach where the tailings will basically give out the dam will fail. We need digital topography modelling to understand what will happen in cases where tailing breach and how catastrophic that event will be.
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Stakeholder

Center for Space Science and Geomatics Studies (CSSGS), Pashchimanchal Campus, Institute of Engineering (IOE), Tribhuvan University

Center for Space Science and Geomatics Studies (CSSGS), Pashchimanchal Campus, Institute of Engineering (IOE), Tribhuvan University

The Center for Space Science and Geomatics Studies (CSSGS) is the research center with a focus on space science and geomatics applications in the following themes: disaster management, water quality, glacier, precision agriculture, air pollution, water pollution. Research areas also focus on the application of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) in forestry, agriculture and engineering.

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Grupo de Radar de Apertura Sintética of Universidad Tecnológica Nacional Facultad Regional Haedo

Grupo de Radar de Apertura Sintética of Universidad Tecnológica Nacional Facultad Regional Haedo

UTNHADEO Logo

The National Technological University – Haedo Regional Faculty (Castilian: Universidad Tecnológica Nacional - Facultad Regional Haedo (UTN-FRH)) is an affiliate of the National Technological University, the leading institution of its type in Argentina. Located in Haedo, a western suburb of Buenos Aires, it was established in 1967 and offers academic degrees in the following subjects: Aeronautical engineering, Electronic engineering, Industrial engineering, Mechanical engineering, Railway engineering.

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Person

Ortone Lois

picture showing the person

Ailin Sol Ortone Lois

Researcher Grupo de Radar de Apertura Sintética of Universidad Tecnológica Nacional Facultad Regional Haedo

Ailin Ortone holds the director position within the Synthetic Aperture Radar research group, a role she adeptly manages alongside her responsibilities as a teacher at Universidad Tecnológica Nacional - Haedo. Her expertise extends to her role as a researcher at the Remote Sensing Centre of the Argentine National Air Force, where she actively contributes to advancing knowledge in the field. Additionally, she shares her wealth of knowledge and experience as a teacher at Universidad Nacional de Luján, nurturing the next generation of professionals in the field.

Space-based Solution

Flood modeling for melting glacier - need for input

Addressed challenge(s)
Althabasca Delta

Potential consequences due to the melting Athabasca glacier, Canada

Collaborating actors (stakeholders, professionals, young professionals or Indigenous voices)
Suggested solution

Assessment of the challenge

  • Need more data about the location of the community and their usage of water
  • Split the challenge into a “glacier” and a down-stream challenge
  • No up-to-date weather data available since 2011
  • Discharge and temperature, rainfall and snow data available
  • Digital elevation surface and terrain model available

Outline steps to a solution & status

  1. Inventory of the snow cover and watershed area (completed)
  2. Build a regression model using historical data to assess the relationship between snow melt, temperature and discharge (to do)
  3. HEC-RAS for flood modelling (to do)
  4. Use climate change projections to predict future discharge and flood extents (to do)
  5. Impact assessment: downstream impact analysis of hydro-power and agriculture in case needed (to do)

Requirements

Software

Data

Physical

  • Weather station - if more detailed data are needed by the community
  • Snow monitoring (snow depth sensor)
Relevant publications
Related space-based solutions
Keywords (for the solution)
Flood modellingGlacier MonitoringHydrological cycle
Climate Zone (addressed by the solution)
Tundra
Habitat (addressed by the solution)
Region/Country (the solution was designed for, if any)
Relevant SDGs