Multitemporal characterization of a proglacial system: A multidisciplinary approach

Abstract

The recession of Alpine glaciers causes an increase in the extent of proglacial areas and leads to changes in the water discharge and sediment balance (morphodynamics and sediment transport). Although the processes occurring in proglacial areas are relevant not only from a scientific point of view but also for the purpose of climate change adaptation, there is a lack of work on the continuous monitoring and multitemporal characterization of these areas. This study offers a multidisciplinary approach that merges the contributions of different scientific disciplines, such as hydrology, geophysics, geomatics, and water engineering, to characterize the Rutor Glacier and its proglacial area. Since 2020, we have surveyed the glacier and its proglacial area using both uncrewed and crewed aerial surveys (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8089499, ; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10100968, ; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10074530, ; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10101236, ; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7713146, ). We have determined the bathymetry of the most downstream proglacial lake and the thickness of the sediments deposited on its bottom (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7682072, ). The water depth at four different locations within the hydrographic network of the proglacial area (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7697100, ) and the bedload at the glacier snout (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7708800, ) have also been continuously monitored. The synergy of our approach enables the characterization, monitoring, and understanding of a set of complex and interconnected processes occurring in a proglacial area.