RAPID: 2009 Dry-Season Ablation on Kilimanjaro Glaciers: a Measurement and Dating Opportunity

该奖项由美国国家科学基金会快速反应研究项目（Rapid）资助，用于在乞力马扎罗山冰川所在地开展实地工作，以更好地了解冰川冰的消融（损失）。乞力马扎罗山上的冰川被气候学家称为热带地区加速全球气候变暖的风向标。2000年，在乞力马扎罗山的冰川上钻取了一系列冰芯，同时获得了航拍照片，一个自动气象站（AWS）开始在北部冰原（NIF）上运行。冰芯表明，NIF在整个全新世持续存在，它包含了近12000年的环境条件记录。2007年10月，随着十年来质量平衡最积极的一年即将结束（即下雪最多），航空照片再次被拍摄。这些数据显示，在2000年，26%的冰覆盖面积消失了，唯一一个完全在山顶火山口内的冰川面积减少了39% （Furtwängler）。到2009年10月，即第二组航拍照片两年后，水平冰川表面的冰损失量预计将等于或超过前8年的损失量。自2008年6月以来，乞力马扎罗山冰川几乎连续不断地失去冰，原因是降雪间隔时间较长，冰表面的反照率（反射率）越来越低。研究人员推测，至少在2009年10月之前，消融可能会加速。因此，及时收集样本并进行测量，将冰川的损失置于自然和人为变化的背景下。为了验证他的理论，研究人员将于2009年9月在乞力马扎罗山山顶进行一系列实验并安装监测设备，为期6-7天。这个时间在下一个雨季之前，是野外工作最有效和最安全的时间。该提案符合RAPID计划的要求，因为它确定了一个重要的科学问题（即，匿名的冰的快速损失），必须及时解决（即，在山上干湿季节之间的短暂间歇期间）。预计该项目产生的数据将有助于更好地了解非洲的古气候和现代气候变化，并有助于减少这座著名山峰上冰川-气候关系的不确定性。

This award, under the auspices of the NSF program for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grants, uses funds to conduct field work at the site of the Mt. Kilimanjaro glacier to better understand the ablation (loss) of glacial ice. The glacier atop Mt. Kilimanjaro has been cited by climatologists as a bellwether from the Tropics of accelerating global climatic warming.A series of ice cores were drilled through Kilimanjaro's glaciers in 2000, when aerial photographs were obtained and an automated weather station (AWS) began operating on the Northern Ice Field (NIF). The ice cores indicate that the NIF has persisted throughout the Holocene, and that it contains a record of environmental conditions spanning nearly 12,000 years. In October 2007, as the most positive mass balance year of the decade was ending (i.e., snowiest), air photos were flown again. These revealed that 26 percent of the area covered by ice in 2000 was gone, with a 39% area decrease in the only glacier wholly within the summit crater (Furtwängler). By October 2009, two years after the second set of air photos, ice loss from horizontal glacier surfaces is expected to equal or exceed that lost through the first ~8 years. The Kilimanjaro glacier has been losing ice nearly continuously since June 2008 due to a prolonged interval with little snowfall and increasingly low albedo (reflectivity) of the ice surface. It is hypothesized by the researcher that ablation will likely accelerate until at least October 2009.Consequently, it is timely to collect samples and make measurements to place the loss of the glacier in the context of natural and anthropogenic change. To test his theory, the researcher will conduct a series of experiments and install monitoring equipment over a period of 6-7 days at the summit of Kilimanjaro in September 2009. This timing precedes the next wet season and is the most effective and safest time for fieldwork. The proposal meets the requirements of the RAPID program because it identifies an important science question (i.e., anonymously rapid loss of ice) that must be addressed in a timely manner (i.e., during the brief interlude between wet and dry seasons on the mountain).It is anticipated that the data resulting from this project will contribute to a better understanding of both paleoclimate and modern climate variability in Africa and will help decrease uncertainty about the glacier-climate relationship on this well-known mountain.