Valley glaciers are a vital water source for major river systems that impact the livelihoods of mountain communities. Satellite-derived surface elevation changes of the world’s glaciers have revealed an accelerated but contrasting pattern of global glacier mass loss. Understanding and predicting changes in surface mass balance (SMB) is essential to prepare for and address the potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts of glacier retreat. However, uncertainty remains in our knowledge of the influence of different climatic and morphological variables on SMB of such glaciers.
This study investigates the relationship between climatic and morphological variables and the distributed point mass balance for Scandinavian glaciers using statistical data analytic models.