Long-term monitoring of glacier dynamics, Lowell Glacier, Yukon

Annual Progress Report

Reporting Period: April 1, 2011 – March 30, 2012

Lowell Glacier viewed from Goatherd Mountain - June 14, 2010 (photo by P. Lipovsky)

Principal Investigator:

Panya S. Lipovsky Surficial Geologist

Yukon Geological Survey (YGS) Yukon Government

230 – 200 Main Street Whitehorse, YT, Y1A 2B5

Panya.Lipovsky@gov.yk.ca 867-667-8520

Submitted to Kluane National Park: May 11, 2012

Collaborators

Sarah Laxton, Jeff Bond and/or future field assistants, Yukon Geological Survey (YGS), 230 – 200 Main Street, Whitehorse, YT, Y1A 2B5, 867-667-8508

Peter von Gaza, Yukon Geomatics, PO Box 2703 (W-19), Whitehorse, YT, Y1A 2C6, 867-633-7998

Dr. Luke Copland, Samantha Darling & Alexandre Bevington, Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, 613-562-5800-x2826

Dr. Shad O'Neel, Glaciologist, United States Geological Survey (USGS), Alaska Science Center, 4210 University Dr., Anchorage, AK, 99508, 907-786-7088

Research Permit Information

Permit Number: KLU-2010-4752 (Application Number 5699)

Date of Issue: 25-Mar-10

Expiry Date: 30-Mar-15 Background Lowell Glacier is a large glacier located in Kluane National Park. It is approximately 70 km long and averages 5 km wide. The glacier terminates at approximately 500 m elevation in Lowell Lake, about 60 km southwest of Haines Junction. The Alsek River flows into Lowell Lake from the north and exits the south end of the lake. Before the present surge began, the distance between the glacier terminus and the base of Goatherd Mountain on the opposite side of Lowell Lake was about 4 km. Glacier surges are short periods of rapid glacier advance, likely caused by sudden changes in hydrological conditions beneath a glacier. Surging activity typically lasts for a year or two and occurs every few decades. Lowell Glacier most recently surged in 2009-2010. Prior to that, Lowell Glacier surged in 1998-1999, 1983-1984, 1968-1970 and 1948-1950. At least five times in the past 3000 years, Lowell Glacier has surged as far as Goatherd Mountain, damming the Alsek River and impounding a large lake that extended up the Alsek River valley to Haines Junction and into the Dezadeash River valley. This lake is referred to as “Neoglacial Lake Alsek”. The last time Neoglacial Lake Alsek formed was around 1850, at the end of the Little Ice Age. Neoglacial Lake Alsek also formed at least 3 times between about 1500 and 1800 A.D., and once more between 800 and 2900 years ago (Clague & Rampton, 1981). The largest of these lakes extended over 100 km, and reached depths of 200 m, making it possibly the largest Neoglacial lake in North America. Based on 1975-1979 discharge levels for Alsek River, it is estimated that once the Lowell Glacier dammed the Alsek River, the lake would have taken a year to reach Haines Junction, and over 5 years to reach its maximum extent. Eventually the glacier dams failed and each of the lakes drained catastrophically down the Alsek River into the Pacific Ocean at Dry Bay, Alaska. The floods produced giant ripples that are still visible in the Alsek River valley. Other evidence that provides a glimpse into the Neoglacial Lake Alsek history includes: staircase sets of raised beaches (visible from the Alaska Highway near Bear Creek), wave cut benches, driftwood layers along beaches, lichen density and size along river terraces, sequences of former

lake sediments and buried soils, and the presence of ice-rafted erratics. A carved wooden paddle over 2 m in length was also found in the Alsek Valley (Clague & Rampton, 1981). Project Description This purpose of this project is to document long-term glacier dynamics (surging, retreat and calving activity) and related baseline cryospheric data (climate and ground temperatures) near the terminus of Lowell Glacier. A long-term monitoring site was established on May 31, 2010 on a ridge above the southern arm of the Lowell Glacier terminus (location: 60° 15’ 20’’ N latitude, 138° 3’ 27’’ W longitude; NAD83 UTM Zone 7 coordinates: 662815 E, 6683504 N; 1270 m elevation; Figure 1). The site is approximately 650 m higher in elevation than the closest glacier surface which is located 1.5 km horizontal distance to the north. The monitoring site consists of two masts supporting terrestrial photography glacier monitoring cameras (webcam and time lapse digital SLR camera) and an automatic HOBO weather station. Long-term baseline data collected throughout the lifetime of this project will be useful for documenting current cryospheric conditions and modeling potential climate change effects in the future. The webcam photographic monitoring station can serve as an early warning system in the event of any catastrophic glacier-related natural hazards including: sudden surges, ice-damming of the Alsek River, glacial lake outburst flooding, or large ice calving events into Lowell Lake. Park visitors are able to remotely experience one of Canada’s most exciting active glacial environments by exploring photographs and near real-time weather data automatically posted hourly online. These resources also benefit Alsek River tourism operators and private rafting parties, and are useful for planning local goat surveys and private and commercial flights into the Lowell Glacier region. Summary of Activities Undertaken from April 2011 – March 2012

1) Monitoring station field maintenance:

University of Ottawa partners (Samantha Darling & Luke Copland) flew by helicopter to the Lowell Glacier monitoring site for 1 day in late-May 2011. They performed basic annual equipment maintenance, checked the operation of the weather station, swapped out the 12V battery that powers the camera equipment, and exchanged the memory card in the time lapse camera.

2) Quickbird satellite imagery acquisition:

Geomatics Yukon purchased a Quickbird satellite image (60 cm resolution) of the Lowell Glacier terminus area acquired on Sept. 12, 2012. The image was used to map the glacier’s terminal extent on that date (Figure 1).

3) Weather station satellite service plan renewal:

A further year of premium satellite service (US$720) was purchased from Upward Innovations for the weather station, extending our existing service plan to March 30, 2013. The service plan must be renewed annually until the end of the project.

4) Renewal of Parks Canada research permit:

Our research permit was extended until 30 March 2015 in order to establish a longer-term data set for more extensive analysis in the future. The scope of the project will remain identical to what was outlined in the original proposal.

Preliminary Results

1) Terrestrial Photograph Monitoring Station: The terrestrial photograph monitoring station was supplied by Shad O’Neel (USGS) and consists of a low resolution webcam with satellite transmitter and a high resolution time lapse digital SLR camera mounted to a single mast. Both cameras are pointed at the glacier terminus, looking northeast up Alsek River valley. The cameras are powered by a single sealed 100 A-hr lead-acid 12 V battery housed in a large plastic case that sits on the ground at the base of the mast. A solar panel is also mounted on the mast to maintain charge in the 12 V battery. The webcam is controlled by an “ExtraNET Avalanche” control box (http://www.crystalline.us/) and was programmed to capture and transmit an image every 2 hours via Globalstar satellite to a specified email address. The cost for this service plan is approximately US$300/year. A dedicated website was set up (http://lowellglacier.blogspot.com/) in 2010 where the webcam images were automatically posted when they were transmitted. The webcam transmitted images regularly from May 31, 2010 until January 14, 2011. Transmissions then ceased between January 14 and May 31, 2011, which may be related to power problems. The webcam transmitted for a short time thereafter until June 3, 2011, but has not operated since that time. The reason for this break in service is unknown and will hopefully be resolved during our next field visit in summer 2012. The high resolution time lapse camera consists of a Canon digital SLR securely mounted inside a Pelican case with a plexi-glass window cut out of it. The camera is programmed using an intervalometer to capture an image every 30 minutes. The DSLR images are not remotely transmitted but are stored on an internal CF memory card of large enough capacity (16 or 32 GB) to last up to 12 months before requiring manual download or replacement of the card. 11,234 photos have been collected at 30 minute intervals from the camera to date, spanning the period from May 31, 2010 to January 20, 2011. Many of these images do not show a clear image of the glacier, either because photos were taken at night or the weather did not allow a clear view of the glacier terminus. No images were captured between January 20 and the end of May, 2011, which may be due to power problems. The good quality images will be filtered out and used to generate a time lapse video of ongoing activity at the glacier terminus at a later date. For an example of a time lapse video generated from this camera for the period May 31 to August 6, 2010 see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBHRSp-hXs.

2) Weather Station: The automatic weather station installed at the monitoring site consists of a variety of HOBO-brand meteorological sensors attached to a 3 m mast. Sensors include barometric pressure, solar radiation, wind speed and direction, air temperature, relative humidity, ground surface temperature, ground temperature at 70 cm depth, rainfall and snow depth. The weather station is controlled by a HOBO Energy Pro data logger, and transmits data via an Iridium satellite tranceiver. A 20 A-hr sealed lead-acid 12 V battery and a 20 W solar panel supply power to the system. The entire apparatus was purchased from Hoskin Scientific in Vancouver BC (www.hoskin.ca) for approximately CDN$8000. Hourly data (averages of readings taken every 4 minutes) are automatically transmitted to a real-time website that is publicly accessible at https://datagarrison.com/ (User ID: 300034012127970 / Password: hobo). The cost of the service plan for the weather station satellite transmissions is US$720/year. The automatic weather station has operated fairly well during the last year, however sensor malfunctions and suspect data occurred occasionally so data from these periods was omitted.

Time series graphs summarizing the data collected from June 1, 2010 to March 31, 2012 are presented in Figures 2 through 11. Highlights from these graphs are presented below. Once several years of data have been collected it is hoped that long term trends will be detected.

Average daily air temperatures (Figures 2a & 2b) range from -27 °C to +18 °C. Two main cold snaps occurred during the last year in mid November 2011 and mid January 2012. Peak annual temperatures were experienced in mid August in 2010 and mid July in 2011.

Average daily relative humidity (Figure 3) generally varies between 60 and 100%, but occasionally dips below 40%, and as low as 29%.

Daily rainfall for the summer months (May 1 through Sept. 30) are shown in Figure 4. Maximum rainfall in both 2010 and 2011 occurred in early September. In 2010, a maximum daily rainfall of 16.6 mm and maximum hourly rainfall of 3.2 mm occurred on Sept. 5 , while in 2011, a maximum daily rainfall of 46 mm occurred on Sept. 6 and a maximum hourly rainfall of 5.6 mm was recorded on Sept. 9.

The snow depth sensor reported unreasonable data almost continuously throughout the past year, therefore no data are presented for this period. The reason for this malfunction will be investigated in summer 2012. Snow depths the previous winter (Oct. 2010 – May 2011) reached 124 cm by early February 2011 and snow cover was present from early October, 2010 to the end of May, 2011 (Figure 5).

Daily solar radiation levels are summarized in Figure 6. A maximum daily average of 378 W/m

2 was recorded on June 23, 2011. The sensor malfunctioned on July 5, 2011 and did

not work again until it was remotely reset on October 12, 2011, so a gap is present in the graph for this period. The reason for this malfunction is unknown.

Wind data are presented in Figures 7 and 8. Gust strength was generally between 20 and 80 km/hr, but extremely strong gusts of up to 170 km/hr were recorded several times since July 2011. Southerly wind directions (Figure 8) dominated.

Atmospheric pressure trends are shown in Figure 9. Average daily pressure generally varied between 84 and 88 kPa, but reached as high as 89 kPa and as low as 83 kPa. Suspect data outside this range occurred from Dec. 16, 2011 – Jan. 11, 2012 so the data was filtered out and a gap is shown on the graph for this period.

Ground temperature data is shown in Figures 10 and 11. Average daily ground surface temperatures (Figure 10) and ground temperatures at 70 cm depth were colder and much more variable during the winter of 2011/2012 than during the previous winter. One possible cause for this would be potentially lower snow cover and therefore less ground insulation.

3) Satellite Imagery Analysis:

Alexandre Bevington and Luke Copland (2011) from the University of Ottawa mapped changes in velocity and extent of Lowell Glacier using repeat satellite imagery in the previous reporting period. They determined that the most recent Lowell Glacier surge started in late May 2009 and continued until late summer 2010, with the surge maximum occurring on Feb. 28, 2010. They found that the Lowell Glacier travelled up to 3.7 km during the 2009-2010 surge, while the south arm terminus extended 2.5 km past its pre-2009 position. They also reported that each of the surges since 1970 have become progressively less extensive. The extent of the Lowell Glacier terminus on Sept. 12, 2011 was mapped by YGS from a Quickbird image which was acquired by Geomatics Yukon. This outline was compared with the

extent mapped from a helicopter GPS survey on May 31, 2010 (Figure 1). The frontal position of the glacier did not change significantly and retreated less than 250 m during this period, but considerable ice loss did occur from the sides of the two ice lobes due to calving into Lowell Lake. The southern lobe suffered much more ice loss than the northern lobe, as only a narrow neck of ice (as little as 130 m wide) remained extending to the terminus in September 2011.

4) Public Outreach:

A web page is currently being hosted by YGS to provide general information on conditions at Lowell Glacier: http://www.geology.gov.yk.ca/821.html. The website contains links to time lapse videos, webcam images, and real-time weather station data.

Future Work The second year of weather station monitoring (with the exception of the snow depth sensor) has continued fairly successfully, but some problems were experienced with the webcam and DSLR camera equipment. These problems will hopefully be resolved during a site maintenance visit in late spring or early summer 2012. We intend to maintain all of the equipment on site at least until the expiration of our current research permit in spring 2015, or longer if permission is granted at that time. Both the photo and weather monitoring stations will be fully decommissioned and removed from site by YGS at the end of the project. Long-term data collected from the weather and photographic monitoring stations will allow us to characterize glacier dynamics (retreat, advance, calving, or river damming events), local climate and ground temperature conditions. The data contributes to improved understanding of the local physical environment and associated natural hazards, which will enhance park interpretation, assist natural hazard risk management within the park, support recreational users, and provide baseline data to support future analysis of climate change impacts. Data Sharing Digital photographs, weather station data and GIS files derived from satellite imagery will be made available to Parks Canada staff upon request. References Bevington, A. and Copland, L., 2011. Characteristics of the 2009-2010 surge of the Lowell Glacier, Yukon Territory, Canada. University of Ottawa poster presented at the 2011 Ottawa-Carleton Student Northern Research Symposium, March 4, 2011 Clague, J.J. and Rampton, V.N., 1982. Neoglacial Lake Alsek. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, vol. 19, issue 1, pp 94-117. Clarke, G.K.C. and Holdsworth, G, 2002. Glaciers of the St. Elias Mountains. In: Glaciers of North America, edited by R.S. Williams and J. G. Ferrigno. U.S. Geological Survey professional paper 1386-J-1, pp J301-J328.

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YGS webcamtime lapse cameraweather station

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Figure 1 - Lowell Glacier Extent2009/10/15 (estimated from photographs)

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Figure 2a Average Daily Air Temperature, Lowell Glacier (60º 15' 20'' N / 138º 3' 27'' W, 1270 m elevation)

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Figure 3 Average Daily Relative Humidity, Lowell Glacier (60º 15' 20'' N / 138º 3' 27'' W, 1270 m elevation)

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Figure 4 Daily Rainfall (May through September), Lowell Glacier

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Figure 5 Daily Snow Depth, Lowell Glacier (Oct. 2010 - May 2011)

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Figure 6 Daily Average and Maximum Solar Radiation, Lowell Glacier

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Figure 7 Maximum Daily Wind Gust Speed, Lowell Glacier (60º 15' 20'' N / 138º 3' 27'' W, 1270 m elevation)

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Figure 8 Average Daily Wind Direction, Lowell Glacier

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Figure 9 Average Daily Pressure, Lowell Glacier

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Figure 10 Average Daily Ground Surface Temperature, Lowell Glacier

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Figure 11 Average Daily Ground Temperature at 70 cm Depth, Lowell Glacier

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