A meteorological network to monitor glacier change in western Canada

山地冰川和冰帽是地球水文循环的重要组成部分，也是近期气候变化的关键指标之一。在全球范围内，冰川的质量损失导致了海平面的持续上升。在区域和地方尺度上，冰川融水在一年中干燥和温暖的部分是河流流量的重要贡献者。在加拿大西部，维持冰川径流的低流量对维持水生生态系统和水力发电至关重要。为了模拟冰川最近和未来的质量变化，必须了解冰川-大气界面的过程。然而，这些过程只在本地区和全世界的少数冰川上观察到。我们建议建立一个由四个气象站组成的网络，在加拿大西部不同气候条件下的冰川上测量能量平衡的所有组成部分。该网络将在其他稀疏仪器的领域提供关键所需的数据。此外，气象网络将大大提高我们对气候变率和变化在该地区水循环中的作用的认识。评估冰川对区域水文循环的过去、现在和可能的未来贡献，对于不列颠哥伦比亚省和加拿大其他地方的水资源管理和商业活动非常重要。该项目将通过研究冰川表面的全能量耦合，提高对冰川-大气界面过程的认识，并有助于改进区域尺度上冰川质量变化的模拟。

Mountain glaciers and ice caps are important elements of the Earth's hydrological cycle and are one of the key indicators of recent climate change. On a global scale, the mass loss from glaciers contributes to ongoing sea level rise. On a regional and local scale, glacier melt-water is an important contributor to river flow during the dry and warm parts of a year. In western Canada, maintenance of low flows by glacier runoff is essential to sustain aquatic ecosystems and hydropower generation. To model recent and future mass changes of glaciers it is essential to understand the processes at the glacier-atmosphere interface. However, these processes are observed on just a few glaciers in this region and worldwide. We propose a network of four weather stations, measuring all components of the energy balance, at glaciers in different climatic regimes within western Canada. The network will provide critically-needed data in an otherwise sparsely instrumented domain. Furthermore, the meteorological network will greatly advance our knowledge of the role of climate variability and change on the region's water cycle. Evaluating the past, current and possible future contribution of glaciers to the regional hydrological cycle, are very important for water resources management and commercial activities in BC and elsewhere in Canada. This project will improve understanding of processes at the glacier-atmosphere interface by investigating full energy coupling at glacier surface, and help to improve modelling of glacier mass changes on regional scale.