He, Xinkun, Gan, Fuping, Guo, Yi, Zhuo, Yue, Yan, Bokun, Bai, Juan, Xing, Naichen, Li, Ruoyi, Dai, Lintong, and Yang, Jiangze
Studying glacier changes is essential for understanding global glacier mass balance, patterns in climate change, and the potential consequences they may have. The glaciers of Geladandong Mountain serve as a crucial water source for the Yangtze River and its downstream regions. Any changes in the glacier at the river source will directly impact the ecological environment and water recycling process downstream. This study presents an approach for monitoring Geladandong Mountain glacier elevation changes using ICESat-2 data combined with a Binned Multilevel Regression Fitting Method (BMRFM). We analysed multi-year ICESat-2 data, considering various topographic features, to understand glaciers’ annual and seasonal elevation changes. Our research reveals significant spatial heterogeneity in glacier elevation changes, influenced by altitude, slope, and aspect factors. It demonstrates the effectiveness of ICESat-2 in glacier monitoring, offering insights into the impacts of climate change on glacier dynamics. Moreover, the results indicate a predominant trend of ongoing melting at lower altitudes, with a small amount of accretion at higher elevations. Over the last two decades, the overall elevation change rate is −0.23 ± 0.12 metres per year. Seasonal analysis shows substantial glacier thickening from April to August, primarily due to increased precipitation offsetting elevated temperatures. This study offers a robust method for monitoring glaciers using satellite data, thereby advancing the precision and reliability of glacier research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]