Glacier Monitoring for the North Coast and Cascades Network

Protocol Development Summary 

Parks where protocol will be implemented
Mount Rainier National Park
North Cascades National Park Service Complex
Olympic National Park

Importance / Issues
Glaciers are a significant resource of many mountain ranges of the world, including the three large parks in the NCCN.  Combined, the glacial resources of this network are extensive, covering 235 km2.  They are integral components of the region’s hydrologic, ecologic, and geologic systems, and they are retreating rapidly.  At NOCA, geologic mapping data and a 1998 inventory (Granshaw, 2001) indicate that glacier area has declined 44% in the last 150 years.

Monitoring Objectives

• Monitor range of variation and trends in volume of NOCA glaciers;
• Relate glacier changes to status of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and hazards;
• Link glacier observations to research on climate and ecosystem change;
• Share information on glaciers with the public and professionals

Potential Measures

• winter balance at index glaciers;
• summer balance at index glaciers;
• net mass balance at index glaciers;
• assess surface cover in late fall for each index glacier;
• assess surface features (lakes, crevasse patterns, debris cover) changes related to glacial hazards;
• glacier volume/area for index glaciers at 10-year intervals;
• glacier volume/area for all glaciers at 20 year intervals;
• glacial contribution to summer runoff for four watersheds at NOCA, two at MORA and one at OLYM

Management Applications
During the hot, dry summers in the Pacific Northwest, buffering the region’s aquatic ecosystems from seasonal and interannual droughts.  Aquatic ecosystems, endangered species such as salmon, bull trout and western cutthroat trout, and the hydroelectric and agricultural industries benefit from the stability glaciers impart to the region’s hydrologic systems.  Glaciers also provide valuable insight to climate change over longer time periods than most other climate measures (Paterson, 1981).

Protocol Development and Status
(1) Status - Glacier monitoring at NOCA is entering its 15th year, while this is the fifth year glaciers at MORA will be monitored.  University of Washington monitors Blue Glacier at OLYM using a model that relies on input from the Quillayute weather balloon.  Complete protocol for monitoring glaciers at NOCA and MORA will be completed by the end of March, 2007.  The NOCA protocol was peer-reviewed as a study plan and by reviewers with Earthwatch.  The MORA protocol will be peer reviewed, while a summary of the current approach to monitoring Blue Glacier at OLYM will be completed in 2008. 

(2)Schedule:

• Spring 2007: Implement NOCA glacier protocols and draft MORA protocol, begin to enter legacy data into relational database
• Spring - Summer 2007: Peer review of MORA glacier protocol.
• Winter 2007-2008: Adjust MORA protocol as per peer review and finalize.  Begin to write OLYM glacier protocol.
• Winter 2008: Complete OLYM protocol
• Summer 2008: Implement all three protocols

 

Status and Trends
Deliverables 2007
A) Digital

• updated GIS maps of NOCA and MORA index glaciers
• winter accumulation, summer melt, and net mass balance data for ~30 sites on 6 index glaciers
• metadata files updated annually
• estimates of glacial contribution to streamflow for five valleys (3 NOCA, 2 MORA)

B) Documents

• final NOCA glacier monitoring protocol
• peer-review draft MORA glacier monitoring protocol
• contribute Washington Snow Survey Runoff Forecast
• contribute data to World glacier Monitoring Service
• annual glacier pages for regional streamflow forecast

Contacts
Jon Riedel
North Cascades National Park Service Complex,

References
Link to Glacier Protocol References