In-situ calibration data for mass-balance modelling of the Pemberton icefield, southwest British Columbia

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Dramatic changes to the world's glaciers and ice sheets are currently underway, registering globally as increasing sea level and locally as retreating ice margins and changes to downstream hydrology. These local changes, now occurring in western Canada and on human timescales, are increasingly relevant to applied problems including hydropower production, mining in alpine areas, and tourism and recreation. Recent model projections suggest a 70% reduction in glacier volume in western Canada by 2100, spelling a need to develop adaptation strategies for affected industries. Head-Line Mountain Holidays (HMH) has been a tour operator in the Whistler area for decades and maintains a base on the nearby Pemberton icefield, where some of the tour destinations (e.g. ice caves) have simply vanished with the retreating glacier. HMH seeks a research partnership to investigate the response of the Pemberton icefield to climate, toward a better understanding of the observed changes. Glacier change not only forces the company to identify new destinations for its clients, but complicates operations with changing traveling conditions across the icefield. The SFU Glaciology Group (SFU-GG) has substantial experience in the area of glacier-climate interactions, including the development and testing of glacier mass-balance models. We are curently involved in devising innovative statistical methods to design glacier mass-balance measurement networks to calibrate and validate these models. We propose to initiate a program of field data collection that would ultimately be used to calibrate a mass-balance model for the Pemberton icefield. This field program would be coordinated with HMH and would initially focus on the sites frequented by their clients. The P.I. and two graduate research assistants would work with HMH to deploy and maintain an automatic on-site weather station with satellite or modem communications, make regular measurements of snow accumulation, and install instrumentation for monitoring melt. This research partnership will provide HMH with insight into the glacier-climate interactions relevant to their operations on the Pemberton icefield, using novel methods supported by data collected at a new local field site.