U.S.-Japan Cooperative Science: Computer-Aided Study of the Rapid Shrinkage of Glaciers in the Himalaya

9726704 Raymond该奖项支持华盛顿大学Charles Raymond教授和日本名古屋大学Masayoshi Nakawo教授为期三年的合作研究项目。研究人员将对喜马拉雅山冰川的迅速萎缩进行计算机辅助研究。在许多热带和亚热带山区，冰川退缩的速度特别快。在过去的二十年里，喜马拉雅冰川的物质平衡率是世界上任何地区中最负的。冰川质量的损失表明了过去半个世纪的气候变暖。然而，根据过去的气候变化对退缩进行定量解释需要阐明冰川的质量和长度与气候有关的过程。研究人员将使用结合气候输入和冰川流动的冰块再分配的模型来预测冰川的质量平衡。质量平衡模型将以日本人对喜马拉雅特有环境特征的实地观察为基础。这些因素包括主要在夏季堆积，以及岩石碎屑广泛覆盖的厚厚的覆盖减缓了融化。华盛顿的冰川地球物理小组将协助将冰流模型应用于正在研究的喜马拉雅冰川。***该项目汇集了两个具有互补专业知识和研究能力的小组的努力。研究结果应量化冰川消失作为全球气候变化重要指标的意义。研究结果还应有助于表明，覆盖在冰川碎片上的冰川的收缩在多大程度上可能对下游地区造成洪水危害。通过思想和技术的交流，该项目将扩大我们的基础知识基础，促进国际了解与合作。

9726704 Raymond This award supports a three year collaborative research project between Professor Charles Raymond of the University of Washington and Professor Masayoshi Nakawo of the University of Nagoya in Japan. The researchers will undertake a computer-aided study of the rapid shrinkage of glaciers in the Himalaya. Glaciers are retreating especially rapidly in many tropical and sub-tropical mountain regions. Over the last two decades, glaciers in the Himalaya show mass balance rates that are amongst the most negative of any region of the world. The losses of glacier mass are indicative of climate warming over the last half century. However, quantitative interpretation of the retreats in terms of past climate changes requires elucidation of the processes that relate the masses and lengths of glaciers to climate. The researchers will use a combination of models that predict the mass balance of a glacier from climate input and the redistribution of ice mass by glacier flow. The mass balance models will be based on field observation, by the Japanese, of environmental characteristics peculiar to the Himalaya. These include accumulation predominantly in the summer and retardation of melting by extensive thick covers of rock debris. The glacier geophysics group at Washington will aid in the adaptation of ice flow models to the Himalayan glaciers under study. *** This project brings together the efforts of two groups that have complimentary expertise and research capabilities. Results of the research should quantify the significance of the disappearance of glaciers as an important indicator of global climate change. The results should also help indicate the degree to which the shrinkage of debris covered glaciers can pose flood hazards for down-stream areas. Through the exchange of ideas and technology, this project will broaden our base of basic knowledge and promote international understanding and cooperation.