tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30761337102294147312024-03-19T03:50:56.077-04:00Quelccaya Ice CapNews and notes on the climate of Quelccaya Ice Cap.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-69705075987519777012021-10-27T10:18:00.007-04:002021-10-27T10:22:57.082-04:00Update on glacier recession<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3MHb1U_0NiMs0UFwH1P5jonGG_GBou5YPMWU1NXWHns_3_7MT8HLcByg1FND3rkdPMfAaz6ID2BT7VBrfYdPoo2Y3a_KjUOtEbInIzf2bJkXZZVU66Nw-ACCgGzZyzx0GNI6PO3Mob5eS/s2048/S-2_may18-oct21.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1552" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3MHb1U_0NiMs0UFwH1P5jonGG_GBou5YPMWU1NXWHns_3_7MT8HLcByg1FND3rkdPMfAaz6ID2BT7VBrfYdPoo2Y3a_KjUOtEbInIzf2bJkXZZVU66Nw-ACCgGzZyzx0GNI6PO3Mob5eS/w486-h640/S-2_may18-oct21.jpg" width="486" /></a></p><span face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Oh, how I miss Quelccaya!
It has been three years since we've been able to do fieldwork at
Quelccaya Ice Cap, a result of removing the AWS and the COVID-19
pandemic. Nonetheless, satellite imagery provides a glimpse at changes
continuing at the glacier.</span><br /><p><span face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">
<br />
The image pair above illustrates one portion of the ice cap margin
as it appeared last week (upper), and just prior to our last
visit, in 2018 (lower). The red dots are co-registered to provide
a perspective on examples of change over the three years. As in the past, ice
recession has not been uniform along the margin. Retreat is
especially dramatic at the formerly proglacial lake Morojanicocha.
Collaborator Gustavo Valdivia visited this area in September, was
able to walk entirely around the lake, remarking that it is
"incredible how fast the ice is retreating".<br />
<br />
Also note the change in waterlevel at the lake at the top of both
images. The obvious drop may reflect seasonal lowering during the
June - September dry season, but may also be a response to
longer-term hydrological changes associated with ice retreat.<br />
<br />
Other environmental changes at Quelccaya are less easy to
interpret from imagery at this resolution, such as the magnitude
of glacier thinning. Also, changes in the volume </span><span face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">and routing of meltwater
runoff from the glacier over time are difficult to assess from
imagery, due to the combination of seasonal and diurnal
variability, as well as the five-day image acquisition interval.<br />
<br />
The landscape around the ice cap supports tremendous biodiversity,
due largely to meltwater storage in down-valley lakes and wetlands
(bofedales). As the volume of runoff decreases, the many species
dependent upon the water are needing to adapt or relocate.<br />
<br />
Another change with biotic effects is the glacier-surface
morphology, which we have observed over the past two decades.
Quelccaya is where breeding by the world's only glacier-nesting bird
species has been observed, as described <a href="https://quelccaya.blogspot.com/2014/05/" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://quelccaya.blogspot.com/2016/05/fieldwork-at-quelccaya-april-may-2016.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="https://quelccaya.blogspot.com/2018/07/bbc-glacier-bird-filming.html" target="_blank">here</a>. These Glacier Finch
(<i>Idiopsar speculifer</i>, formerly known as White-winged Diuca Finch,
<i> Diuca speculifera</i>) will only build nests in crevasses and very
steep, fissured margins - both of which tend to disappear as the
glacier has thinned and retreated.<br />
</span><span face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br />
We remain optimistic about returning in the next few years to this
amazing place, to document and measure changes since our last
visit!<br />
</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-84724136991552234312021-01-19T15:13:00.001-05:002021-10-27T10:23:34.518-04:00Recession continues<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-gorQSBrij1u0lw3vTn6S6sqVxQzBqkrQPjPRdZt3Q6DygIdPmTuI5GSegmefs86xTS_2IlzEXJuhZVAGw-cAb2KAO9HUWSwYrVCLRmvnQnusr47rWsFRPo7PUpFapmWcRkD-WnHrJZ0V/s2048/QIC-margin_16-20.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1653" data-original-width="2048" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-gorQSBrij1u0lw3vTn6S6sqVxQzBqkrQPjPRdZt3Q6DygIdPmTuI5GSegmefs86xTS_2IlzEXJuhZVAGw-cAb2KAO9HUWSwYrVCLRmvnQnusr47rWsFRPo7PUpFapmWcRkD-WnHrJZ0V/w400-h323/QIC-margin_16-20.gif" width="400" /></a></p><p></p><p><span face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">These two Sentinel-2
images show changes over 4.5 years at a portion of Quelccaya's
western margin. The view includes Lonnie Thompson's Base Camp
(lower left) for fieldwork since the 1970s, and the marginal lake
we refer to as Morojanicocha.<br />
<br />
Some visible differences are seasonal, such as the higher water
levels in May and lower-albedo ice in the ablation zone during
November (also with less snowcover).<br />
<br />
Most notable is ongoing retreat of the ice margin, particularly
towards the bottom of the image where the ice is thinner. Ice is
no longer calving into the lake, and our colleague Gustavo
Valdivia reports that it is now possible to walk entirely around
it on rock. <br />
<br />
<br />
</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-54501857484835874602021-01-13T15:25:00.004-05:002021-01-13T15:30:23.996-05:00The importance of fieldwork<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigQEVT7OMdx34-giHLnIr3xL0_hueAmCytZYYzbx1PMedTO909g6aXylCw-WV6ESiNa8Ou-L4sN-4_RkPuQ4pMeP8vYA-D0dljmhZ3tLW7y6PvKiIHOv-P8x9zavFHikMccB4Euo1Yybfv/s767/3-Ma_QIC-oct14-4331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="691" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigQEVT7OMdx34-giHLnIr3xL0_hueAmCytZYYzbx1PMedTO909g6aXylCw-WV6ESiNa8Ou-L4sN-4_RkPuQ4pMeP8vYA-D0dljmhZ3tLW7y6PvKiIHOv-P8x9zavFHikMccB4Euo1Yybfv/w360-h400/3-Ma_QIC-oct14-4331.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">White-fronted Ground Tyrant (Muscisaxicola albifrons) with crane fly larvae and adults<br />
</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Since first visiting Quelccaya in 2003, the objective of our work
has been to accurately establish the summit climate, and
quantitatively document how climate is recorded by the glacier - illuminating what we can learn about climate from ice
cores. These efforts are documented in <a href="https://blogs.umass.edu/dhardy/publications/" target="_blank">publications</a>, with more still in preparation.<br />
<br />
Working at high elevation on the glacier requires a bit of
physical exertion (e.g., digging snowpits, wrestling with AWS
tower extensions), as well as mental concentration (e.g.,
electrical wiring, datalogger programming). In spite of these
requirements - or perhaps due to them - we also spend time
at Quelccaya simply making observations, of both abiotic
and biotic features and processes. These 'distractions' were often
fascinating, including ice caves, streamflow and
sediment transport, atmospheric convection, and abundant wildlife.<br />
<br />
Our avian observations revealed behaviors previously unknown, some
of which we have published (see <a href="https://www.geo.umass.edu/climate/quelccaya/diuca/hardy_wjo08.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://www.geo.umass.edu/climate/quelccaya/diuca/hardy_etal_wjo_2018.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="https://www.geo.umass.edu/climate/quelccaya/diuca/wils-130-04-45_s01.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>), while others
remain only partially understood. Another observation remained only in
notes and photographs until recently, involving a fly. Since 2004,
we encountered a large fly species at the AWS, typically clustered beneath
the snow surface in proximity to the tower tubing and buried
instrument enclosures. During transition-season visits in
April and October 2014, we observed the flies on the snow surface at our moraine camp
(5,200 m), crawling around in our tents, and being
eaten by birds. <br />
<br />
We posted photographs of this fly species on <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1157462" target="_blank">iNaturalist</a>, where
it remained unidentified for five years. In November, Russian
entomologist Dmitry Gavryushin observed the report and took
interest. He was able to identify the crane fly to species, based
on a speciman from Bolivia described by prominent crane fly
taxonomist <a href="http://scua.library.umass.edu/umarmot/alexander-charles-p-charles-paul-1889-1981/" target="_blank">Charles P. Alexander</a>, who was affiliated with the UMass Entomology
Department from 1922-1959. The
coincidences continue, for the type locality for <i>Dicranomyia
(Dicranomyia) perexcelsior</i> (Alexander) is Chacaltaya Glacier
in the Cordillera Real of Bolivia. This is where Niethammer (1953)
first described an association between Andean glaciers and our "Glacier Bird"
(White-winged Diuca Finch; <i>Idiopsar speculifera</i>).<br />
<br />
Our <a href="https://ccw.naturalis.nl/detail.php?id=8296&search_type=simple&name=Dicranomyia+%28Dicranomyia%29+hirsutissima" target="_blank">Quelccaya crane flies</a> are the highest-elevation observations
from anywhere in the world, which came to the attention of Pjotr
Oosterbroek at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in The
Netherlands. Pjotr's enthusiasm and initiative drew in Christophe
Dufour from the Muséum d’histoire naturelle in Neuchâtel,
Switzerland, and resulted in our <a href="https://www.geo.umass.edu/climate/doug/pubs/hardy_etal_flytimes-2020.pdf" target="_blank">latest publication</a>, on
high-elevation crane flies. Working with these two was an absolute
pleasure.<br />
<br />
Our experience at Quelccaya demonstrates that casual observations from
seldom-visited, extreme
environments are often invaluable. When making them outside of
one's field
of expertise, one can never know just how important they might be.
This is especially true during the rapid environmental changes
underway. Chacaltaya Glacier, for
example, no longer exists; no one will ever again observe crane
flies or Glacier Birds there. Sadly, this will likely also be the
case at
Quelccaya before the end of the century (<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328430552_Projections_of_the_future_disappearance_of_the_Quelccaya_Ice_Cap_in_the_Central_Andes" target="_blank">Yarleque et al., 2018</a>).</span></p><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comQuelccaya Ice Cap, Peru-13.8963387 -70.9738935-45.883373846246634 -106.1301435 18.090696446246632 -35.8176435tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-89650171413456030132020-10-08T10:25:00.006-04:002020-10-08T10:29:50.998-04:00Update (with Cranefly news)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIoofmmyL7QKcwaIeijPPlbxvACL7z2unbOBvowDRu707nzlEOvVgI1d3pDHMJtXeuusvQvzWvWVia2zfqN7Wj8Po6YNjCja9zlq9ioZXZxHZnDR9FVh8Hde4Wj0wumEXaCmkNKTTxJDTK/s2048/1-qic_july12-0235.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1357" data-original-width="2048" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIoofmmyL7QKcwaIeijPPlbxvACL7z2unbOBvowDRu707nzlEOvVgI1d3pDHMJtXeuusvQvzWvWVia2zfqN7Wj8Po6YNjCja9zlq9ioZXZxHZnDR9FVh8Hde4Wj0wumEXaCmkNKTTxJDTK/w504-h334/1-qic_july12-0235.jpg" width="504" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Our AWS on Quelccaya has been decommissioned, and everything
except deeply-buried tower tubing has been removed. Meteorological
measurements spanning 2003 to 2018 are currently being analyzed; we welcome collaboration and data-sharing inquiries.<br />
<br />
At least one aspect of our glacier field research will continue
for another year. Also, we aspire to investigate the impact of
continuing glacier recession on avian activity at Quelccaya (as
reported <a href="https://quelccaya.blogspot.com/2019/01/new-paper-birds-glaciers-at-quelccaya.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://quelccaya.blogspot.com/2018/07/bbc-glacier-bird-filming.html" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
<br />
This week we learned more about a particular insect that was
typically found
at the AWS each time we visited for service and data recovery.
Individuals and clusters of craneflies were observed beneath the snow
surface in association with the AWS tower tubes (see above and below
photos). We also observed craneflies on the snow surface near the AWS,
elsewhere on the glacier, and at our glacier-margin camp. Craneflies
appear to be an important food source for the many high-elevation bird
species in the Quelccaya area (> 5,000m).</span></p><p><span face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">
Cranefly photos were <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1157462" target="_blank">posted to iNaturalist</a> after fieldwork in April
2014, seeking identification. These were identified this summer - after 6
years - based on a single specimen from Chacaltaya in Bolivia.
Interestingly, this is the same location where the "<a href="https://quelccaya.blogspot.com/2019/01/new-paper-birds-glaciers-at-quelccaya.html" target="_blank">Glacier Bird</a>"
(White-winged Diuca Finch, <i>Idiopsar speculifera</i>) was first observed in association with glaciers; Chacaltaya no longer exists.<br />
<br />
The Quelccaya cranefly species is <i>Dicranomyia hirsutissima</i>.
According to Pjotr Oosterbroek, author of "<a href="https://ccw.naturalis.nl/" target="_blank">Catalogue of the Craneflies of the World</a>", this is the highest known Cranefly record for all 15,000+
species found throughout the world.<br />
<br />
This is yet another fascinating discovery from Quelccaya and the
Cordillera Vilcanota, during nearly 50 years of investigation begun by
Ohio State University scientists John Mercer and Lonnie Thompson.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBaSg-38rygvV0lkO2OCcAJ8DII9YxTBHxyuA5QZ3dDX8QIElJ28WKwy4XsEKZ8XwD5VsZbnOAeTLB8eHldjt65MpSfNCpeaN08Xz-KxLIz9w7m3B3Z3Ev-zdxgKEHBAPrHGEOtZyjEiM/s2048/1-qic_july12-7439.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1493" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBaSg-38rygvV0lkO2OCcAJ8DII9YxTBHxyuA5QZ3dDX8QIElJ28WKwy4XsEKZ8XwD5VsZbnOAeTLB8eHldjt65MpSfNCpeaN08Xz-KxLIz9w7m3B3Z3Ev-zdxgKEHBAPrHGEOtZyjEiM/w174-h239/1-qic_july12-7439.jpg" width="174" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTC4uJNiKDOpIEXyGKwknAfgYQzJDG5m95QzXQfvlQSPYXybdiUQDhXF46yYhHjl8gxJBlEJ4t-Tojdg887akXz3qA5Jq1D-Xd-fipkCwG08IXma1jvxsXUqN3qKsw6uEZSDPUpKJGIQz_/s833/1-cranefly-0859.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="833" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTC4uJNiKDOpIEXyGKwknAfgYQzJDG5m95QzXQfvlQSPYXybdiUQDhXF46yYhHjl8gxJBlEJ4t-Tojdg887akXz3qA5Jq1D-Xd-fipkCwG08IXma1jvxsXUqN3qKsw6uEZSDPUpKJGIQz_/w484-h378/1-cranefly-0859.jpg" width="484" /></a></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comQuelccaya Ice Cap, 08230, Peru-13.933333 -70.833333-46.29996326896255 -105.989583 18.433297268962555 -35.677082999999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-31588263566571206212019-12-13T09:15:00.002-05:002019-12-13T09:15:49.724-05:00Quelccaya Images<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">A new index (of sorts) has been compiled to better organize
Quelccaya images depicting the weather station, snowpit
measurements and sampling, as well as other aspects of fieldwork:
<a href="https://blogs.umass.edu/dhardy/quelccaya-gallery/" target="_blank">Quelccaya Gallery</a>.<br />
<br />
Links to images of birds living and nesting around & on the
glacier are <a href="https://blogs.umass.edu/dhardy/glacierbirds/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-33387843060404278612019-01-24T11:59:00.001-05:002020-10-07T14:57:48.672-04:00New paper: birds & glaciers at Quelccaya<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyE7dtr_OqQCWHhHYS-Uszrp3HbLmFak27eehRkR6jbUcSN_fruODq2zrpojhrfYJN2pbCwzxdzgxxb09W2oDrrSjZOjqJstGLXs6SLRq9WrSYlIwM4LImVfLRmEPFAxzfDPwt14Fe2-g6/s1600/1-HR_glossy-0564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1600" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyE7dtr_OqQCWHhHYS-Uszrp3HbLmFak27eehRkR6jbUcSN_fruODq2zrpojhrfYJN2pbCwzxdzgxxb09W2oDrrSjZOjqJstGLXs6SLRq9WrSYlIwM4LImVfLRmEPFAxzfDPwt14Fe2-g6/s400/1-HR_glossy-0564.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Important scientific information has been emerging from research at </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Quelccaya
Ice Cap for nearly 50 years, from ice core records, glacial geology
studies, and meteorological measurements. In recent years, research has
also yielded new biological findings, revealing the </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">importance of glaciers</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> to the lives of birds in the High Andes.<br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We published a paper in
<a href="https://www.geo.umass.edu/climate/quelccaya/diuca/hardy_wjo08.pdf" target="_blank">2008</a> documenting nesting on glacier ice at Quelccaya by White-winged
Diuca-Finches. Diucas are a medium-size tanager species found in the
High Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, and prior to our new publication
were the <i>only bird known to routinely build nests directly on glacier ice</i>. This species is also among the highest-elevation nesting species in the world </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">–</span>
to at least 5400 meters (18,000 feet) – despite an environment with
average temperatures below freezing, high winds, frequent snowfall, and
intense solar radiation.<br />
<br />
Our <a href="http://www.wjoonline.org/doi/abs/10.1676/17-00029.1" target="_blank">paper in the latest</a> <i>Wilson Journal of Ornithology</i> provides
new details on this unique behavior. Ten years of additional
observations include fieldwork at Quelccaya outside the core dry season,
culminating in 2 weeks at the glacier in 2016 filming a Diuca nest with
2 chicks. Besides observations of multiple active nests, the paper also
documents glacier nesting by another species, the White-fronted
Ground-Tyrant, and describes nocturnal roosting within or under a
glacier by 5 different species. The publication includes an online
Supplement (also available <a href="https://www.geo.umass.edu/climate/quelccaya/diuca/wils-130-04-45_s01.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>) containing additional images, and
links to the BBC/PBS film.<br />
<br />
Nesting and roosting on glaciers are adaptations to the harsh
environment at high elevations in the Andes, as cavities within the ice
provide both a protected microclimate and protection from predators. Are
glaciers important to other species, elsewhere? What happens when the
glaciers are gone, victims of climate change? <br />
<br />
Andean glaciers are shrinking rapidly, and even the largest are likely to disappear
this century. Although undocumented until only 10 years ago, the
lives of several bird species appear to be dependent upon these
glaciers. Their loss may have a direct, negative effect on biodiversity
of the High Andes - in addition to other impacts, such as water
resources.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-60380070908727200352018-10-03T13:50:00.001-04:002018-10-03T13:50:55.887-04:00Seasonal change<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The second half of September at Quelccaya is typically characterized by increasing snowfall, as the
dry season concludes. Cloudiness increases rapidly at this time of
year, as evidenced and measured by sharply increasing longwave radiation receipt. Air temperature continues a steady increase into November.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">These aspects of Quelccaya climate are illustrated by the 2 images below, acquired by Senitinel-2 only 5 days apart. On 27 September (upper image), fresh snow is evident at higher elevations of the Vilcanota, particularly on glaciers and eastern portions of this scene. By 2 October (through high thin clouds), fresh snow had ablated from the landscape (middle image). Lower elevations of Quelccaya Ice Cap also become snow-free, revealing the transient snowline (also see lower image).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Further evidence of this seasonal change in climate is provided by the lower image - an enlargement of yesterday's image -
showing the apparent disappearance of ice cover from a marginal lake (circled).
In July this ice was thick enough to support a person walking across the
lake.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAMQ-a-ojLhdNvwRXiRuTwmHaTAeTLKRZiaW8s-pJgwcy2u8kvkvEA9JbNKskdUtAzqx7s5uGfwhUtvS6Gj_fjEy9Z99HSLwjEXmu_J_YmtaJH4B_e6n6FYkxnKDKHKZsUbB2Nkt7hOA2X/s1600/Sentinel-2+L1C+from+2018-10-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="905" data-original-width="1600" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAMQ-a-ojLhdNvwRXiRuTwmHaTAeTLKRZiaW8s-pJgwcy2u8kvkvEA9JbNKskdUtAzqx7s5uGfwhUtvS6Gj_fjEy9Z99HSLwjEXmu_J_YmtaJH4B_e6n6FYkxnKDKHKZsUbB2Nkt7hOA2X/s400/Sentinel-2+L1C+from+2018-10-02.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSr5Rd2PXKJ8rb3hm02OxHaAJrEgczKGS9AB-v-moiqUCVqGTM3hrHbaE5kQUDldOIpmHpMKcJVyL1DtGDXihMRzdRWxzp5vOtfQUINkWlAp1jtvBypR5t9UQoJHY1FUhKO0AdeFmtGMFd/s1600/S-2_2018-10-02_margin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="548" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSr5Rd2PXKJ8rb3hm02OxHaAJrEgczKGS9AB-v-moiqUCVqGTM3hrHbaE5kQUDldOIpmHpMKcJVyL1DtGDXihMRzdRWxzp5vOtfQUINkWlAp1jtvBypR5t9UQoJHY1FUhKO0AdeFmtGMFd/s320/S-2_2018-10-02_margin.jpg" width="297" /></a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-58670426175708586842018-09-07T08:55:00.000-04:002018-10-16T19:38:09.065-04:00Return from fieldwork, forthcoming papers [updated]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFkp0hD0rqLknEhtHS8ZMN_BfjyLzffOaqjnGd2EYsAWNjuUpfRBv36JRLjHW5N_1pXoG1A-UFSw7bcjuqs2JhfRiC3KJI1MvUdQMUCNHmFJ-KVZYaFEBqePqtfVozDBlVRX11zOGgNbic/s1600/boulder3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="1600" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFkp0hD0rqLknEhtHS8ZMN_BfjyLzffOaqjnGd2EYsAWNjuUpfRBv36JRLjHW5N_1pXoG1A-UFSw7bcjuqs2JhfRiC3KJI1MvUdQMUCNHmFJ-KVZYaFEBqePqtfVozDBlVRX11zOGgNbic/s400/boulder3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">
August fieldwork was successful and fun, despite rather unstable weather. Considerable dry-season snow blanketed south-facing slopes and the entire glacier, yet little new snow occurred during our ~10 days at Quelccaya. The panorama above shows Boulder Lake and one lobe of the glacier where we have conducted observations since 2003; Lonnie Thompson has worked here since 1974. More photos and details of recent fieldwork will be posted in the next week or two.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">A variety of new papers will soon be available, so look for links on this website. As indicated below, some are closer to publication than others...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="color: red;">[<b>UPDATE 10/16</b>]</span> Yarleque, C., M. Vuille, D.R. Hardy, O.E. Timm, J. De la Cruz, H.
Ramos, and A. Rabatel. Projections of the future disappearance of the Quelccaya Ice Cap in the Central Andes. 2018. <i>Scientific Reports</i>. To be freely available on 22 October from <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-33698-z" target="_blank"><i>Nature</i></a>!<br />
<br />
Hardy, S.P., D.R. Hardy, and K. Castañeda Gil. Avian nesting and
roosting on glaciers at high elevation, Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru.
Accepted 20 Aug. for <i>Wilson Journal of Ornithology</i>.<br />
<br />
Hurley, J.V., M. Vuille, and D.R. Hardy. On the interpretation of
the ENSO signal embedded in the stable isotopic composition of
Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peru. Submitted to <i>JGR-Atmospheres</i>.<br />
<br />
Yarleque, C., M. Vuille, D.R. Hardy, O.E. Timm, and H. Ramos, Future
projections of precipitation variability over the eastern Central Andes.
Submitted to <i>Frontiers</i>.<br />
<br />
Chadwell, C.D., D.R. Hardy, C. Braun, and H.H. Brecher. Thinning of the
Quelccaya Ice Cap over the last thirty years. In revision/reorganization.<br />
<br />
Hardy, D.R., R.S. Bradley, et al. The summit climate of Quelccaya Ice Cap. In preparation.</span><br />
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-6166432050504523522018-08-09T11:26:00.000-04:002018-08-09T11:26:52.922-04:00More snow this week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu2OfAFElWtWLaFONi_DIsFSGr452eELnsy_P6N-LGYlSol7cq4Y6ZPp-_Bx3XVHDWg7iuz0jUa01Dc6hyphenhyphenLA4p0WRupStDwOz53MaycvdP14CJYGUtGaPR4x9dtrellKRkuCqkriFjVkET/s1600/S-2_vilcanota_8aug2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu2OfAFElWtWLaFONi_DIsFSGr452eELnsy_P6N-LGYlSol7cq4Y6ZPp-_Bx3XVHDWg7iuz0jUa01Dc6hyphenhyphenLA4p0WRupStDwOz53MaycvdP14CJYGUtGaPR4x9dtrellKRkuCqkriFjVkET/s400/S-2_vilcanota_8aug2018.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">As forecast by SENAMHI, the Vilcanota has received more snow. The Sentinel-2 image from yesterday shows snowcover surrounding Sibinacocha, as well as the area around the hamlet of Phinaya.</span><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-21088557785041208122018-08-07T08:38:00.000-04:002018-08-07T16:13:14.816-04:00weather forecast: more of the sameThe weather forecast for today and tomorrow from SENAMHI calls for rain and snow of moderate to strong
intensity in the mountains, with hail expected above 3,000 m; wind gusts to 45 km/hr.<br />
<br />
Quelccaya's location here is indicated by the red circle. "Danger Level 3"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5aIOVsfK6qTl-xyOtA6RMJbttKsXc6Xev5IU8boAEu-FYMvsJqD2GpO5cb5es7z1zQTzLbNxtN0gT1Gnq6FjB_tJBHQScrHhl6kr9kSdZmurheby-4DFj9P_ZmbijRaw6FKno4KmNguWM/s1600/senamhi_7-8aug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5aIOVsfK6qTl-xyOtA6RMJbttKsXc6Xev5IU8boAEu-FYMvsJqD2GpO5cb5es7z1zQTzLbNxtN0gT1Gnq6FjB_tJBHQScrHhl6kr9kSdZmurheby-4DFj9P_ZmbijRaw6FKno4KmNguWM/s400/senamhi_7-8aug.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And it appears the forecast was accurate, with restricted travel...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_KIaET68ieg-WbcspiUTpvcxJaHiBL66U1_UB1z7aeLa3XjBOFS1YekTFhjcOCJowvxkPRg1QeMOFysHJghCmFZff8cHelWcwee8l5hWVQbt2fFsomjkEIO3m2WvSNkOcXeOIjX6Gq37/s1600/Screenshot_2018-08-07+%2523TVPer%25C3%25BAInforma+hashtag+on+Twitter.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1600" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_KIaET68ieg-WbcspiUTpvcxJaHiBL66U1_UB1z7aeLa3XjBOFS1YekTFhjcOCJowvxkPRg1QeMOFysHJghCmFZff8cHelWcwee8l5hWVQbt2fFsomjkEIO3m2WvSNkOcXeOIjX6Gq37/s400/Screenshot_2018-08-07+%2523TVPer%25C3%25BAInforma+hashtag+on+Twitter.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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#TVPerúInformaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-50986534962801639452018-08-04T21:08:00.000-04:002018-08-04T21:08:31.749-04:00August begins snowy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg060Tn8ARquXCg8qQbK9ZvDR8HAb0dvtspTsg6uzwnMSLJc7RCBK8dOYPMBkeZ3LROeQHcIB8zMxq9koTeSToBXPig9o1v_xwMH4upUTUMXJuYbWSpWTaaEftLRgPchk2KgRmkq8Tgx_b/s1600/S-2_3aug2018_cv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="911" data-original-width="1600" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg060Tn8ARquXCg8qQbK9ZvDR8HAb0dvtspTsg6uzwnMSLJc7RCBK8dOYPMBkeZ3LROeQHcIB8zMxq9koTeSToBXPig9o1v_xwMH4upUTUMXJuYbWSpWTaaEftLRgPchk2KgRmkq8Tgx_b/s400/S-2_3aug2018_cv.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHbYKJ1hfNqqTid0ZB3yrx9hPu6geD6nGcSnPV3bAXo3UJ6ZhKBC-4BJORjPlS7hmBlP9V9fV13Fpg-obeJgZaWyMKMYf0-a4EkOSprmOidoTaH9TvaJ8eoRBogUsPv9PVJ3eMoaVROtst/s1600/S-2_30may2018_cv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="911" data-original-width="1600" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHbYKJ1hfNqqTid0ZB3yrx9hPu6geD6nGcSnPV3bAXo3UJ6ZhKBC-4BJORjPlS7hmBlP9V9fV13Fpg-obeJgZaWyMKMYf0-a4EkOSprmOidoTaH9TvaJ8eoRBogUsPv9PVJ3eMoaVROtst/s400/S-2_30may2018_cv.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Sentinel-2 acquired an image of the Cordillera Vilcanota yesterday, 11 days since their previously-published image (via EO Browser)... and fresh snowcover is still widespread.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Compare these two identical scenes, from 3 August (upper) and the last time snowcover was restricted to the highest elevations, on 30 May (lower) - two months ago!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">The community of Phinaya, where many alpaca and llama herders are based, is located within the red circle. During June and July, snowcover appears to have been only occasional at this elevation. The smaller red hexagon is the Quelccaya weather station location (5,680 m), illustrating that the transient snowline has remained below the glacier margin (approx. 5,300 m) since May.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Fieldwork begins in a week!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-60223184564115188212018-07-25T11:30:00.000-04:002018-07-27T19:11:36.353-04:00¡Tanta nieve! So much snow! [updated x2]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghscd612GWbbJmLF8JFVg3QKJapbBczOXpf7dnNWtqNKR_Qt7zlGuWh0ztIjrxjrqfphweofabJCmDeUpi7RbEtAU1M-Yd2EedmBmsPS3zZH6zvTbADz7TnbPrQhdTAcPx3yXky-kc4yAu/s1600/QIC_S-2_24july18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="842" data-original-width="1600" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghscd612GWbbJmLF8JFVg3QKJapbBczOXpf7dnNWtqNKR_Qt7zlGuWh0ztIjrxjrqfphweofabJCmDeUpi7RbEtAU1M-Yd2EedmBmsPS3zZH6zvTbADz7TnbPrQhdTAcPx3yXky-kc4yAu/s400/QIC_S-2_24july18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">The snowy dry season of 2018 continues in the Cordillera Vilcanota.
Yesterday's Sentinel-2 image (above) reveals a landscape blanketed by
snow above 4500-4700 m. Quelccaya Ice Cap (lower right) is difficult to
delineate, suggesting substantial accumulation at the margin. Hopefully
our instrumentation continues to record hourly snowfall at the summit.<br />
<br />
Note the variation in color of lakes just west of the glacier,
surrounding the area of our camp (labeled). This reflects varying
suspended sediment input, with relatively high concentrations apparently
flowing into the Qori Kalis proglacial lake (north of camp); snow is
accumulating, while also melting and delivering sediment to the lakes.
The 'double' lake to the northwest of camp (and Sibinacocha) appear dark
blue, as upstream wetlands (bofedales) filter sediment from
freshly-exposed areas proximal to the glaciers.<br />
<br />
We will be in the area during the second half of August, measuring snow
and recovering weather station data. Fieldwork will occur later than
normal, allowing an assessment of what appears to be an anomalous year.
Although this snow will be beneficial to glacier mass balance, the toll
on camelids (llama, alpaca) could be severe - without warming solar
radiation typical of the dry season.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">[<b>UPDATE 7/26</b>: </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">A press release from SENAMHI*
earlier this week (23 July) describes snowfall in the preceding 72 hours
above 3,800 m in the Andes, accumulating to 20 cm. In conjunction with
clouds, they warn of low temperatures and prolonged snowcover reducing
food for livestock.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://glacierhub.org/?s=gustavo" target="_blank">Gustavo Valdivia</a> wrote yesterday learning details of the situation in
the Cordillera Vilcanota. He received a call from the Phinaya community
president, who described the situation as critical, because a lot of
alpacas died in recent days. The local people agree that the weather is
very unusual.<br />
<br />Press releases from SENAMHI can be found <a href="https://www.senamhi.gob.pe/?p=prensa" target="_blank">here</a> (in Spanish), with a machine translation <a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.senamhi.gob.pe%2F%3Fp%3Dprensa&edit-text=" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">*SENAMHI is The National Meteorology and Hydrology Service of Peru or El Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología del Perú]</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">[<b>UPDATE 7/27</b>: Today I learned
from <a href="https://eps.wustl.edu/people/bronwen_konecky" target="_blank">Bronwen Konecky</a> (Washington University) that SENAMHI is making
daily meteorological summaries available on their website. The closest
station to Quelccaya - and one of their highest - is Sibinacocha, at </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">~4890 m (labeled on map above)</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">.
These data show 11 mm of water equivalent precipitation on 21 July,
followed by 5.9 on the 22nd. Since this automated station is located at
the southern end of the lake, the image above suggests that considerably
more snow fell at higher elevations. The regional nature of this event is demonstrated by daily totals from Sicuani (~3600 m, 45 km to the SW); very similar daily totals were recorded. <br />
<br />
To access any <a href="https://www.senamhi.gob.pe/?p=data-historica" target="_blank">SENAMHI data</a> in Peru, go here, then use the "Seleccionar"
button to select a District; zoom in on the map. Thanks, SENAMHI.]</span>
</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-38566479016211498662018-07-11T10:04:00.002-04:002018-07-11T13:16:41.741-04:00BBC Glacier Bird filming<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI-RZOeYE6arcncF83KrzMdTzmnORrC2oh4dV79TOS0o0rCpZnEx0Mz_ThywE2Q6PCIjdjvK55YcP7tDvucLw97zrmj0GXjm5C6hST49y-H89CM5sIB0VZ6gKqE2EOr8Mc1JYyt7xelFg/s1600/Screenshot_2018-07-11+Video+Diary+How+We+Were+the+First+to+Film+Glacier+Birds+Kingdoms+of+the+Sky%25284%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="794" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI-RZOeYE6arcncF83KrzMdTzmnORrC2oh4dV79TOS0o0rCpZnEx0Mz_ThywE2Q6PCIjdjvK55YcP7tDvucLw97zrmj0GXjm5C6hST49y-H89CM5sIB0VZ6gKqE2EOr8Mc1JYyt7xelFg/s400/Screenshot_2018-07-11+Video+Diary+How+We+Were+the+First+to+Film+Glacier+Birds+Kingdoms+of+the+Sky%25284%2529.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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During our <a href="http://quelccaya.blogspot.com/2016/05/fieldwork-at-quelccaya-april-may-2016.html" target="_blank">April/May 2016 fieldwork</a>,
we were joined by a BBC Natural History Unit crew. Their objective was
to film White-winged Diuca Finches nesting on the glacier, a breeding
behavior unknown among all other bird species. The project timing was fraught
with uncertainty, for only 2 other active Diuca nests had ever been
observed, and the 2015-16 El Niño event considerably impacted Quelccaya
climate (overview <a href="http://quelccaya.blogspot.com/2018/04/vilcanota-wet-season.html" target="_blank">here</a> of a manuscript now out for review). Foremost in our minds was whether we could find active nests to film, when we arrived in April.<br />
<br />
Fortunately,
our timing was perfect; we observed all stages of breeding behavior,
and successfully installed a remote camera at one of the nest sites.
After a year in production the segment aired on BBC as part of an
episode on the Andes, in the series <i>Mountain: Life at the Extreme</i>. Links to the BBC series are <a href="http://quelccaya.blogspot.com/2017/08/mountain-life-at-extreme-new-bbc-series.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://quelccaya.blogspot.com/2017/09/glacier-bird-on-bbc.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
This month, BBC Glacier Bird footage will premiere in the United States on PBS. The series takes a new name, <i>Kingdoms of the Sky</i>, with a new presenter, but otherwise appears identical: a three-part
documentary "revealing the extraordinary animals and remarkable people
who
make a home on the iconic mountain ranges of the world - Rockies,
Himalaya and Andes." The three episodes will initially air on
Wednesday evenings,
beginning with The Rockies on July 11 at 9 PM EDT. Himalaya
premieres one week later on July 18, and Andes premieres on July
25.<br />
<br />
The PBS series website is <a href="https://www.pbs.org/kingdoms-sky/home/" target="_blank">here</a>, and DVDs can be <a href="https://shop.pbs.org/kingdoms-of-the-sky-dvd/product/KOTS601" target="_blank">pre-ordered</a> now.<br />
<br />
At the moment, the Glacier Bird segment can be viewed from the
right-hand side of the series homepage. Click on "Meet the Bird
that Nests Inside Glaciers" to see the first-ever footage of <i>Diuca
speculifera</i> nestlings.<br />
<br />
Even better is an 8-minute, behind-the-scenes look at Quelccaya filming, available from PBS <a href="http://www.pbs.org/kingdoms-sky/blogs/mountain-diaries/video-diary-how-we-were-the-first-to-film-glacier-birds/" target="_blank">here</a>. Images from that clip are included above and below.<br />
<br />
Our
extended fieldwork with BBC in April 2016 was good fun, and provided new observations of
Diuca and other high-elevation species. Please check our website for the
<a href="https://www.geo.umass.edu/climate/quelccaya/diuca.html" target="_blank">Glacier Bird</a>, and stay tuned for a new publication (still in review; contact us for a synopsis of the
paper, or a pre-print).<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2nO-fAdt68t9v-iHLBflPshl7gFrBP5MvQGHTeYQvqaHzjep0OCWzUTk6HHfKLbTakhPAyi69oshqIq7vbwV-vpt9p6yj-8s6z_ppVzQ6vADXGEYuzy-G8p4OdTJAqXi42usSZKb_h5M/s1600/Screenshot_2018-07-11+Video+Diary+How+We+Were+the+First+to+Film+Glacier+Birds+Kingdoms+of+the+Sky%25281%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="794" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2nO-fAdt68t9v-iHLBflPshl7gFrBP5MvQGHTeYQvqaHzjep0OCWzUTk6HHfKLbTakhPAyi69oshqIq7vbwV-vpt9p6yj-8s6z_ppVzQ6vADXGEYuzy-G8p4OdTJAqXi42usSZKb_h5M/s400/Screenshot_2018-07-11+Video+Diary+How+We+Were+the+First+to+Film+Glacier+Birds+Kingdoms+of+the+Sky%25281%2529.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-2179494104852447412018-07-06T12:20:00.000-04:002018-07-06T12:20:02.318-04:00Still Snowy - Quelccaya and beyond<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDoylQJrQW0eWaqcshCPawFK4WqHic_kfbk1aqYShbd00KwXJU4-B06r_PyyQMOUK-9O4cE4TUY2XejRZT_A9CCvhyphenhyphenmdKhWMRLxYpQWAk00od2C8pF_0LOuyQSkJs6lrs850eV5V2EzWXo/s1600/Sentinel-2+L1C_2018-07-04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="1600" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDoylQJrQW0eWaqcshCPawFK4WqHic_kfbk1aqYShbd00KwXJU4-B06r_PyyQMOUK-9O4cE4TUY2XejRZT_A9CCvhyphenhyphenmdKhWMRLxYpQWAk00od2C8pF_0LOuyQSkJs6lrs850eV5V2EzWXo/s400/Sentinel-2+L1C_2018-07-04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">The Cordillera Vilcanota remains snowy, as illustrated by the Sentinel-2 image above from 4 July. Snowcover at high elevations, on south-facing slopes, and on glaciers has changed very little over the past month. At Quelccaya Ice Cap, bare ice is exposed only at the lowest elevations of outlet glaciers (e.g., Qori Kalis, on west side).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Extensive snowcover on the glacier is keeping the albedo high, minimizing mass loss... at least for the moment.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Quelccaya is not alone in being unseasonally snowy this year. For example, in the Karakoram Mountains (Pakistan) climbing teams on mountains such as K2 are finding dangerous avalanche conditions due to heavy snowfall, during the core climbing season. More details can be found <a href="http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2018/07/05/k2-2018-summer-season-ive-never-experienced-such-a-season-with-so-constant-bad-weather-in-the-karakoram/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://kiboice.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Kilimanjaro</a> is also unusually snowy for July, the result of above-average accumulation during the March-May wet season.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">In Northeast Greenland, the winter of 2018 brought twice as much snow as the
long-term average, and snowcover into early July remains so extensive
that <a href="https://teampiersma.org/2018/07/03/excessive-spring-snowfall-results-in-a-non-breeding-year-for-shorebirds-in-ne-greenland/" target="_blank">Sanderlings and other shorebirds</a> may not even attempt nesting this
year. The late snow is having large consequences for the ecosystem.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Finally, snow on portions of the Greenland Ice Sheet is resulting in the "least surface ice loss in decades". As Jason Box notes via Twitter (@climate_ice), these persistent extremes in patterns of atmospheric circulation are an expected signature of climate change.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-52768865687404929382018-06-15T09:14:00.000-04:002018-06-15T09:14:55.785-04:00June snow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsoIEgs2yuy0UB5yVjf5Jb10xDY4YJfTkT5O5NpYUo2LJX8G6NdD82ZoBr55-pdOMynsBCCsmVhv7Z4jXybhP9yXFp_LEFXC3F3NS_Jk9NykSywWwZKRxuwWGC2OoHW4qBNLvXGEc-ZgM/s1600/Sentinel-2+L1C%252C+True+color+on+2018-06-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="1600" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsoIEgs2yuy0UB5yVjf5Jb10xDY4YJfTkT5O5NpYUo2LJX8G6NdD82ZoBr55-pdOMynsBCCsmVhv7Z4jXybhP9yXFp_LEFXC3F3NS_Jk9NykSywWwZKRxuwWGC2OoHW4qBNLvXGEc-ZgM/s400/Sentinel-2+L1C%252C+True+color+on+2018-06-14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Several snowfall events during the first half of June have kept the landscape snowy at Quelccaya this year. In the 14 June image above (ESA Sentinel-2, bands 4,3,2) lingering snow is visible below 4,900 m in shaded locations.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Typically the dry season is underway by mid-June, often with snow only on the glacier. This year, the relatively-bright fresh snow is keeping the albedo low, reducing energy input and ablation of the glacier surface.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">D</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">espite the current situation, evidence indicates that recession of the ice margin is accelerating. Planning is underway for fieldwork in the next few months, when snowcover on the glacier will be measured and AWS data since July 2017 will be recovered. We're anxious to document 2017-18 La Niña accumulation! </span><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-52036508379787044962018-05-15T12:13:00.002-04:002018-05-15T12:13:58.184-04:00Snowcover update & ice retreat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0W8UBl6Mw8qD0jw2ehXg-oiHPBuRxk0hVwayETkOFDHqFmBNiGlxGX3nNU-9ebJQYIbE33D-Bh94hqSGMTXTtxcnjnynuDqIhYFckTNQO8VHk7c7-Oxy5xKH9gU5v87YuxoPFFJ9hyphenhyphenAs7/s1600/lake_16-18.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="300" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0W8UBl6Mw8qD0jw2ehXg-oiHPBuRxk0hVwayETkOFDHqFmBNiGlxGX3nNU-9ebJQYIbE33D-Bh94hqSGMTXTtxcnjnynuDqIhYFckTNQO8VHk7c7-Oxy5xKH9gU5v87YuxoPFFJ9hyphenhyphenAs7/s400/lake_16-18.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Quelccaya Ice Cap currently remains largely blanketed by snowcover, excepting the very lowest ablation zone (e.g., Qori Kalis outlet glacier). The GIF above contains only 2 images; the snowy scene without red annotation was acquired last week (10 May 2018). Contrast 2018 snowcover on the glacier with that 2 years earlier, at the end of March 2016.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">These images show a portion of the ice cap's western margin. We have visited this area at least annually since 2003, witnessing continuous retreat of the margin and changes in all of these proglacial lakes.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The red ellipses on the 2016 image highlight two areas where margin retreat is clearly evident. Our GPS measurements up through 2017 at the lower section indicate a retreat rate of 10-15 m/year. At the small red circle by the larger lake, the area of bedrock near the circle has expanded, and only a small portion of the glacier still extends into the lake (<a href="http://quelccaya.blogspot.com/2015/01/margin-retreat.html" target="_blank">contrast 2013</a>). Throughout our years of fieldwork in the area we have observed ice calving into this lake, which began forming in ~1985 (Thompson et al., 2013). Within the next year or two the glacier will no longer reach the lake.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">One consequence of
Quelccaya margin retreat and thinning is loss of suitable nest sites for
the "Andean Glacier Bird" (White-winged Diuca-Finch, </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><i>Idiopsar speculifer</i>; </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">formerly <i>Diuca speculifera</i>). Until the mid-2000s the area near the lower ellipse supported a relatively high density
of nests, built directly on the ice (<a href="https://www.geo.umass.edu/climate/quelccaya/diuca/hardy_wjo08.pdf" target="_blank">Hardy and Hardy, 2008</a> and <a href="https://www.geo.umass.edu/climate/quelccaya/diuca.html" target="_blank">here</a>).
As ice at this margin thinned and became less steep, the area was
abandoned for nesting. More recently, the area near the small circle has been used for nesting (e.g.,
<a href="https://www.geo.umass.edu/climate/quelccaya/diuca/active_nest-2/index.html" target="_blank">2014 oblique photo</a> of margin at the lake), but as the ice becomes
thinner the birds will need to move up in elevation to find suitable,
steep ice slopes. Furthermore, the Glacier Bird is not the only bird species impacted by ice recession; a new manuscript detailing this is currently in review (and available upon request).<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Ref: Thompson, L.G., E. Mosley-Thompson, M.E. Davis, V.S. Zagorodnov, I.M. Howat, V.N. Mikhalenko, and P.-N. Lin. 2013. </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Annually resolved ice core records of tropical climate variability over the past ~1800 years. Science, vol. 340, 945-950. 10.1126/science.1234210<br />
</span>
</span><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-70897004719911001302018-04-03T16:19:00.001-04:002018-04-03T16:19:53.422-04:00Vilcanota wet season<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ccDe16DwVulc521GT_yemIijqNiPdvFEKll3SQUT17HQ_Yay4CxRL9Na2Gx664kTi10t9J7-mLY6zIxs_q_DdKIfbxh8lsFLGCrpRHDesaeQ5kHcelyV2cobWQL56RFo_0IZc08PD778/s1600/vilcanota_S-2_31mar18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1041" data-original-width="1600" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ccDe16DwVulc521GT_yemIijqNiPdvFEKll3SQUT17HQ_Yay4CxRL9Na2Gx664kTi10t9J7-mLY6zIxs_q_DdKIfbxh8lsFLGCrpRHDesaeQ5kHcelyV2cobWQL56RFo_0IZc08PD778/s400/vilcanota_S-2_31mar18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Image above: A portion of the Cordillera Vilcanota, including Nevado Ausangate (upper left), Sibinacocha (the big lake), and Quelccaya Ice Cap on 31 March 2018 (Sentinel-2 image).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Our ~15
years of measurements reveal clear relationships between ENSO and climate at
Quelccaya. A detailed documentation of these is nearly ready for submission,
primarily authored by collaborator <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-hurley-7444b771/" target="_blank">John Hurley</a> and titled "ENSO
variability of Quelccaya Ice Cap </span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">d</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">18</span></sup></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">O”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Our
understanding of Quelccaya's response to ENSO will be further refined when we
are able to examine accumulation resulting from the ongoing La Niña event (2017-18).
Since last September, negative sea surface temperature anomalies have persisted in
the east-central equatorial Pacific. These SST anomalies have been slightly more negative than last year, which followed very <i>warm</i> anomalies associated with the 2015-16 El Niño.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Quantifying
the timing and properties of this newest accumulation cannot occur until we visit the
weather station, since our data telemetry system failed in 2017. However,
satellite imagery suggests that snowfall has been considerable this year.
The image above provides the first relatively-clear view of the glacier and
surrounding terrain in several months. In this ESA Sentinel-2
"natural-color" image (bands 4, 3, and 2), glaciers and higher peaks
are entirely snow covered, and a dusting of snow is visible on terrain west and
south of Quelccaya.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Greater
detail can be seen in the cropped image below, showing only Quelccaya - and revealing that
glacier ice is not exposed even at the lowest elevations (~5,200 m).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Finally,
the GIF image at the bottom shows the Sentinel-2 EO
Agriculture composite product, on approximately 1 April of the past 3 years.
Note in particular the vegetation color difference between the El Niño year 2016, and
the next two wet seasons during cold phase ENSO events. Also, there appears to be more snow around the glacier margin this year than in April of 2017. Our ENSO paper will
document such ENSO variabilty at the summit of Quelccaya, in terms of snowfall seasonality, the vapor
initial </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">d</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">18</span></sup></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">O</span> values, and air temperature.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIGsa77Ra5DYTR9hyphenhyphenpCViQk8AdLBKy9a0YQxLLeQ67h1hxkojELB1SbP6LyWNaQTPZL9yZHhwf8ytHwYqbttLWVemNGEvfZBKkoPzc7uMHvJh5q7SuebHCUSUi2GVRzPPpNgwS9tOR2Ina/s1600/QIC_S-2_31mar18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1035" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIGsa77Ra5DYTR9hyphenhyphenpCViQk8AdLBKy9a0YQxLLeQ67h1hxkojELB1SbP6LyWNaQTPZL9yZHhwf8ytHwYqbttLWVemNGEvfZBKkoPzc7uMHvJh5q7SuebHCUSUi2GVRzPPpNgwS9tOR2Ina/s400/QIC_S-2_31mar18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7VSkBN1svH4EncgLdbhj4EA_pwMGYtYIQ0dBG34nseX4J1WNzYRmNmj5xF7qH3uLdl3BxN2GBS2Gehf_Y8qCQB3vh-lUwMPfXt2JcaQyjGk6X7d3gL68eEtn4sVglOftg4QmtP3dfd_DK/s1600/veg_16-17-18.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="1045" height="601" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7VSkBN1svH4EncgLdbhj4EA_pwMGYtYIQ0dBG34nseX4J1WNzYRmNmj5xF7qH3uLdl3BxN2GBS2Gehf_Y8qCQB3vh-lUwMPfXt2JcaQyjGk6X7d3gL68eEtn4sVglOftg4QmtP3dfd_DK/s640/veg_16-17-18.gif" width="640" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-75593668195150517622017-11-21T16:11:00.001-05:002017-11-21T16:11:05.089-05:002017 dry season - towards the end<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgquer_zbEhXpg2-fYxkwAt6TZQCWqFLXq40sopccWJOY-Iwy3nv_mf53Mrq6uMjFDOtMqy3gP5M9MnMz-cNFOX9eT00iNFtGjSZliWsvnLj098YG7wCOAqS0b5GL3KJsRa5z__Y8ZjSsSJ/s1600/L1C_T19LBE%252BCE_A011905_20171002T150618.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="851" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgquer_zbEhXpg2-fYxkwAt6TZQCWqFLXq40sopccWJOY-Iwy3nv_mf53Mrq6uMjFDOtMqy3gP5M9MnMz-cNFOX9eT00iNFtGjSZliWsvnLj098YG7wCOAqS0b5GL3KJsRa5z__Y8ZjSsSJ/s400/L1C_T19LBE%252BCE_A011905_20171002T150618.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Satellite imagery from earlier this month show that the 2017-2018 accumulation season began sometime within the past month. The image above from 2 October shows a familiar snowline pattern, as ablation continued. We won't know exactly when accumulation began at the summit until our next visit to the AWS, as telemetry was not restored during July fieldwork. Will there be a La Niña signal in accumulation this year?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-66432963963334137672017-09-08T11:55:00.001-04:002017-09-08T11:55:08.871-04:00Glacier Bird on BBC<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0T3Wb4pd7ycpPTun9VlV9RHV21KNUgoJvWyf324ywlhSy3RqIvqBAGk8lIbuBYkavUsNrDaGUDMGo-kTjzak5i4C-dmDzFzeHb-0yyb_2BYNRsrmTXPfBHPqCTIjQiWEiIhWStuKE-vk3/s1600/bbc2_glacier-birds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="1326" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0T3Wb4pd7ycpPTun9VlV9RHV21KNUgoJvWyf324ywlhSy3RqIvqBAGk8lIbuBYkavUsNrDaGUDMGo-kTjzak5i4C-dmDzFzeHb-0yyb_2BYNRsrmTXPfBHPqCTIjQiWEiIhWStuKE-vk3/s400/bbc2_glacier-birds.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0956rpl" target="_blank">final episode</a> of BBC TWO's new documentary series about mountains will air at 9 pm on 13 September, featuring a variety of sequences filmed in the Andes.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Among the Andes sequences will be a segment filmed at Quelccaya, as described above. Several wonderful "behind the scenes" clips have been produced for the Glacier Bird film, one of which is <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05fdmvj" target="_blank">here</a> (hopefully available soon in North America). A link to the page above, with an embedded clip, is <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/31kqyFzTvWxNSHC0NKDmLGZ/glacier-birds" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since the time of filming - just last year - science has moved forward: we have discovered a second species of bird which also nests on the glacier (Hardy et al., submitted to <i>Wilson Journal of Ornithology</i>), and Glacier Bird's taxonomic classification has changed from <i>Diuca speculifera</i> to <i>Idiopsar speculifer</i>. The common name in English remains White-winged Diuca-Finch, but this too may change because the bird is not a Diuca-Finch!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For those not in the UK, the series will be broadcast in North America by PBS at a later date.</span><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-51782334736706763892017-08-29T19:16:00.001-04:002017-08-29T19:16:23.299-04:00"Mountain: Life At The Extreme" (new BBC series)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3xdmT_mGmsnIUDpV5lEJExVFjcwirmniWphr6993zeB5JOTOpfM9j9_EyYfaXyoMv4Oo9NEKeSk_ZFsU9OyfmTRMdMTfXlQQmVkEgDyfAVxuJDBWt-AQRqR7jKZQVe-F65s4e5MlJiSn/s1600/mtns_bbc2_first-website.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1166" data-original-width="1600" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3xdmT_mGmsnIUDpV5lEJExVFjcwirmniWphr6993zeB5JOTOpfM9j9_EyYfaXyoMv4Oo9NEKeSk_ZFsU9OyfmTRMdMTfXlQQmVkEgDyfAVxuJDBWt-AQRqR7jKZQVe-F65s4e5MlJiSn/s400/mtns_bbc2_first-website.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">On Wednesday evenings at 9 pm
starting 30 August, television network BBC TWO will be airing a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b093xhxm" target="_blank">new 3-part documentary series</a> exploring three different mountain ranges: the Rockies, the Himalaya and the Andes.<br />
<br />
Each episode is more than a natural history program in that it depicts examples of both the "extraordinary animals and remarkable people" living in
these extreme environments (quote credit <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/847048/Mountain-Life-on-the-Extreme-BBC-mountain-documentary" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
<br />
The Rocky Mountain </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">sequences
feature wolverines, extreme skier Hilaree O'Neill, big horn sheep, and
Native American horse racing - among others. Clips and more are
available on their website:
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b093x4gb><br />
<br />
The Himalaya episode also features </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">animals, along with the people comprising remarkable ancient cultures. One exciting sequence follows
Nepali ultrarunner Mira Rai through a race. (<a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/2170971/bright-light-mira-rai" target="_blank">Mira is featured</a> in the May
2017 issue of Outside Magazine, and will be running one of the UTMB
races in Chamonix this week.) For more on the episode, including clips and updated information, check the BBC website: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b094klt5><br />
<br />
Details on the final episode airing 13 September have not yet being released. This post will be updated when they are - for it includes a sequence on our work at Quelccaya.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately for North Americans, BBC TWO is not available. There will be rebroadcasts by PBS, but dates are not yet available.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-8477596538004985202017-08-15T14:52:00.002-04:002017-08-15T14:52:40.875-04:00dry-season weather<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18NBHGV1gq0nC66DN0A8ZgiejKzk9JVmcSngiMd_bfStrYx5tNWfxb4BDnYwd16w3EktlWmQe5vNG02Mbz0lJwwBbEGX2s9_8ZndezSMfZJcvTWrqfTWruxW-NlW4A4va3jSR2sJHVZyw/s1600/1-group_sm-3909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="1200" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18NBHGV1gq0nC66DN0A8ZgiejKzk9JVmcSngiMd_bfStrYx5tNWfxb4BDnYwd16w3EktlWmQe5vNG02Mbz0lJwwBbEGX2s9_8ZndezSMfZJcvTWrqfTWruxW-NlW4A4va3jSR2sJHVZyw/s400/1-group_sm-3909.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We visited Quelccaya for fieldwork during July this year and experienced a long interval of sunny, dry weather. Although July is solidly within the core winter dry season, the atmosphere was particularly dry at this time; the cloud visible in the background above was literally the largest we saw during our time at the ice cap.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Below are two oblique views of the glacier margin, on the day that we arrived in the area (20 July) and the day we departed (27 July). Due to funding constraints, this was a relatively short trip. After 8 days of clear sky and intense solar radiation, some might expect to see more change in the transient snowline than
the images show. In other years of fieldwork this has certainly been the case. This
year, the areas of greatest apparent change over the interval are
highlighted by the red ellipses. Although these areas were determined subjectively from the images, rather than measurements of snow depth, two clear-sky satellite images roughly bracketing the period reveal a similar pattern </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">(see below).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Why so little ablation of snow, within a zone which is both thinning and retreating rapidly in recent decades? Most likely, this was due to the combination of dry atmosphere and low wind speed during this interval. With a negative
vapor pressure gradient due to the dry air, any available energy went
toward sublimation, requiring ~8 times more energy per kilogram than
melting. Furthermore, low wind speed suppressed turbulent transfer of latent heat. At the summit, relative humidity was typically ~10 percent (vapor pressure <2 hPa) and rarely rising to 50 percent during the afternoons.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Despite little ablation during this brief interval of the dry season, recession of the ice cap in this area is accelerating. A subsequent post and paper will quantify retreat we have been measuring since 2008, revealing the profound changes associated with the 2015-16 El Niño event.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIh79qDJq4Yuw1ncGnXjrhOGkjkxvJl8KjtJypJVq-f-y8D83T-ddSwpcc1_yXJTJDKo3LvsBuV2vPCDf3pyKMcsfXdvLai7AIxMaT_VU5s5zhTWLrm9QHr-7zFliOMCTvyOPu6gUyhdrF/s1600/margin-chg_july2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="1600" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIh79qDJq4Yuw1ncGnXjrhOGkjkxvJl8KjtJypJVq-f-y8D83T-ddSwpcc1_yXJTJDKo3LvsBuV2vPCDf3pyKMcsfXdvLai7AIxMaT_VU5s5zhTWLrm9QHr-7zFliOMCTvyOPu6gUyhdrF/s400/margin-chg_july2017.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPwS4-pxi8cOC4RCG7eoFaIwwn5aob6Za69UYTwDgc2Rl9kjh9sAlXFLFunyA1H-OBCuXTUfg2F64mzX5krIzw7ofX5bsX5mEZKobEb-JRv8IBk3n8IvKOsPowJzXGIowj_B0B1takFMCu/s1600/margin_24jul-2aug_2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="394" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPwS4-pxi8cOC4RCG7eoFaIwwn5aob6Za69UYTwDgc2Rl9kjh9sAlXFLFunyA1H-OBCuXTUfg2F64mzX5krIzw7ofX5bsX5mEZKobEb-JRv8IBk3n8IvKOsPowJzXGIowj_B0B1takFMCu/s400/margin_24jul-2aug_2017.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-63360347322389353832017-06-19T21:35:00.001-04:002017-06-19T21:35:48.997-04:00dry season begins?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHtwSMq-MBhKSNXw0xsASdCRwoTN2Ulq9YDNwCctqquNpwCCdFuf3p5zOTgafUeahfORtnRd1a86CzOrrN_LOBia9yWRycX0RyjTJb2lnQH4lPKih6RVc7VIFw1oEpyEu2UQYnIa1B7SjB/s1600/L1C_T19LBE_A010332_20170614T150030_1004-local_crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="678" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHtwSMq-MBhKSNXw0xsASdCRwoTN2Ulq9YDNwCctqquNpwCCdFuf3p5zOTgafUeahfORtnRd1a86CzOrrN_LOBia9yWRycX0RyjTJb2lnQH4lPKih6RVc7VIFw1oEpyEu2UQYnIa1B7SjB/s400/L1C_T19LBE_A010332_20170614T150030_1004-local_crop.jpg" width="387" /></a></div>
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Beautiful clear weather at Quelccaya at the end of last week. The transient snowline appears to be rising, as evidenced by the darker areas of bare ice around the ice cap margins. Note that some snow still exists on high ridges around Quelccaya.<br />
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Great products coming from the European Space Agency (ESA) these days, and planned for the future. Hopefully NASA Earth observation will begin receiving more support and recognition, after the U.S. 2018 mid-term elections!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-43391363129976729392017-05-15T10:48:00.001-04:002017-06-01T07:46:01.823-04:002016-17 accumulation [updated]<br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJcjMsIRiJW57ezkslbjbQBZ8ZgihbcnmJxh05TSnoe7PdxlwQdCJWIGXGgZ5z0OtbBAR8bz9FUyllAPoLtvN7x3SM-mOPDcQcLrvfOtuWyZTGzHBfSbfac6a098RGR0vPf-edNFFWDgc/s1600/L8_14may2017_0946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJcjMsIRiJW57ezkslbjbQBZ8ZgihbcnmJxh05TSnoe7PdxlwQdCJWIGXGgZ5z0OtbBAR8bz9FUyllAPoLtvN7x3SM-mOPDcQcLrvfOtuWyZTGzHBfSbfac6a098RGR0vPf-edNFFWDgc/s400/L8_14may2017_0946.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">The current accumulation season began ~8 months ago, almost immediately after a Landsat image was acquired on <a href="http://quelccaya.blogspot.com/2016/10/snowline-continues-rising.html" target="_blank">16 September</a>. Last year was thus an atypical situation in which the ELA can be known with some confidence, which for 2016 was ~5600 m.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Excepting the first half of
November, accumulation steadily increased into early April. Although the
rate of accumulation then decreased, telemetry reveals that snowfall
continues, as illustrated by the image above - depicting the area yesterday through high clouds. Note that fresh snow is visible on the landscape even at elevations below the glaciers. Since the mid-September minimum, 2.05 m of snow has accumulated at the AWS.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">[UPDATE 06/01: Two weeks later, snowcover on Quelccaya and the surrounding landscape shows little change, on a Landsat 8 image acquired on 30 May. Quite a contrast to last year, following reduced accumulation during the 2015-16 El Niño.] </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-12895929791359690902016-11-10T11:07:00.001-05:002016-11-10T11:10:33.891-05:00Accumulation begins for 2016-17<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1EGw6fMs6F2pLbVOvqLJdeJYuqMaVtN4w3kJVYWHxDmdV18udQ4424xVOQOkR6C5TZ3QOA7RCEXsVWchaKUS7-J1_azPX0LTXhS-Igcbki_CiX1BeRkPhSThtEyGN4fl9W_p7Ftnide42/s1600/LC80030702016308LGN00_3nov2016_crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1EGw6fMs6F2pLbVOvqLJdeJYuqMaVtN4w3kJVYWHxDmdV18udQ4424xVOQOkR6C5TZ3QOA7RCEXsVWchaKUS7-J1_azPX0LTXhS-Igcbki_CiX1BeRkPhSThtEyGN4fl9W_p7Ftnide42/s400/LC80030702016308LGN00_3nov2016_crop.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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New accumulation is underway at Quelccaya. The image above depicts the ice cap and surrounding terrain on 3 November, thanks to NASA & USGS! Contrast snowcover on the ice cap last week with that shown below on 16 September.<br />
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Telemetry of snowfall measurements from the Quelccaya AWS shows that about 6 cm of additional ablation occurred in the week following when the image below was acquired. Between then and 3 November (see above), the AWS recorded 32 cm of snow accumulation - which very likely indicates that the next wet season is underway. So, although net accumulation for the 2015-16 El Niño will be much below average, it appears that the event will indeed be recorded at the summit. This may not have been the case if the wet season began later, as is more typically the case.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3076133710229414731.post-53555827046918015382016-10-06T09:50:00.002-04:002016-10-06T09:50:51.710-04:00Snowline continues rising<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARMZftS4Db9lTS2lnb72ZRMMGI2q2sO7oAbCwIimJNlSCIej6ePM7LUpqhx-COUXGX2Xgum58_xtRx3Xd83_4dvj2TBb5YcJQzorqLTd1oWzHyLCLv5I4wiLG7kOdA79DP9msabygVd67/s1600/LC80030702016260LGN00_crop_16sep2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARMZftS4Db9lTS2lnb72ZRMMGI2q2sO7oAbCwIimJNlSCIej6ePM7LUpqhx-COUXGX2Xgum58_xtRx3Xd83_4dvj2TBb5YcJQzorqLTd1oWzHyLCLv5I4wiLG7kOdA79DP9msabygVd67/s400/LC80030702016260LGN00_crop_16sep2016.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The transient snowline at Quelccaya reached ~5600 m in mid-September, as illustrated on the Landsat 8 image above. Had the wet season begun by then, only the upper ~100 m of the ice cap would have seen net accumulation for the El Niño year 2016. However, it is likely that ablation continued after the time of this image.<br />
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A subsequent Landsat image was acquired on 2 October. New snowcover is visible south of Quelccaya, but cloud cover obscures the ice cap. So, we must wait for the next few satellite passes to see whether the snowline continues rising - or if the new wet season has begun. The first opportunity for this assessment will be in ~10 days.<br />
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This situation demonstrates a difficulty of mapping minimum snowcover extent from satellites. Thin high clouds (as in this image) or scattered cumulus clouds still allow snowcover assessment, yet cloud cover thick enough to obscure the ground prevents mapping. As a result, the spatial extent of accumulation cannot be accurately determined by remote sensing some years.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0