Abstract: Recent glacier shrinkage in the Ile Ala-Tau and Kungöy Ala-Too ranges. More than 760 glaciers (～570 ㎞2) are present in the Ile Ala-Tau and Kungöy Ala-Too ranges. Small-scale glaciers (<1 ㎞2) represent only 27% of the total glacier area of all classes in the study area (Fig. 2). Glacier polygon data from Corona KH-4B data taken in 1971 and ALOS PRISM
data taken during 2006 and 2007 indicate that glacier coverage has decreased by ～15% over a span of 36 years (1971-2007).The glacier reduction differed greatly among the eight locations in the Ile Ala-Tau and Kungöy Ala-Too ranges (Fig. 3). Glacier shrinkage was particularly significant at sites 1, 6, 7, and 8 (19-20%) and comparatively low at site 4 (9%).
Topics: GLOF,
Keywords:
ALOS, Corona, Glacial lake, glacial lake outburst food (GLOF), glacier shrinkage, past GLOF, the northern Tien Shan,