Modelling ice thickness and storage volume of svalbard glaciers monitored through Indian Arctic Programme

In this study, glacier ice thickness distribution and storage volume has been modelled for two glaciers viz., Vestre Broggerbreen and Feiringbreen situated across the Kongsfjorden around Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard. These two high Arctic glaciers are being monitored through the ongoing efforts of the Indian Arctic Program. Here, the capability of a glacier specific shape factor parametrization approach was evaluated when paired with a parsimonoious, simple stress-driven, slope-dependent ice thickness estimation model called Glacier bed Topography2_Indian Institute of Technology Bombay version (GlabTop2_IITB). The modelled average thickness of ice for Vestre Broggerbreen and Feiringbreen Glaciers was 59 m and 92 m respectively during the study period. The obtained ice thickness estimates were found to be reliable when compared with the recent field estimates obtained through a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey. Moreover, the modelled results of both the glaciers were in good agreement with the consensus estimates of ice thickness reported in a recent study. The obtained results suggest that the modelling approach presented here can be an alternative to complex models, which requires lot of other data such as surface mass balance, surface velocity etc. Based on the modelled ice thickness distribution pertained to the year 2015, the total volume of the glacier-stored ice estimated for Vestre Broggerbreen Glacier and Freingbreen Glacier was 0.29 ± 0.04 km3and 0.65 ± 0.09 km3, respectively