| Title | A glacier condition and thresholding rubric for use in assessing protected area / ecosystem functioning |
| Download | Downloads |
| Author | Demuth, M N; Ednie, M |
| Source | Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8031, 2016, 53 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/297892 |
| Year | 2016 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Subjects | surficial geology/geomorphology; glaciers; glacier surveys; ecosystems; terrain sensitivity; runoff; glacial deposits; ice conditions; massive ice; mass balance; Quaternary |
| Illustrations | block diagrams; photographs; plots |
| Viewing | |
| Natural Resources Canada Library - Ottawa (Earth Sciences) |
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| Program | Essential Climate Variable Monitoring, Climate Change Geoscience |
| Released | 2016 04 22 |
| Abstract | (Summary)
Glaciers are found in many of Canada's Arctic and alpine regions. Short and long-term changes in their mass play a significant role in regional and global sea-level change; and
modulate mountain runoff that impacts natural and human system functioning. Many of Canada's glaciers lay within protected areas such as National Parks and Reserves and Provincial Parks. Employing its Reference Glacier-Climate Observing System
(Appendix A) the Geological Survey of Canada issues data reports and research on the state of Canada's glaciers. This forms part of Canada's international commitments towards the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In
parallel, Canada's National Parks are required, under the Canada National Parks Act and the United Nations Heritage Convention, to report on the "State of the Park" ecosystem integrity and therein detail the "condition" of various Park bio-physical
elements. The conditions and related thresholds inform a framework for Park and ecosystem functioning management. While regional climate and glaciers cannot be "managed", understanding the effects of their fluctuations on downstream bio-physical
elements permits the development of management strategies for those elements. Geological Survey of Canada Open File 8031: i) reviews the methods by which glacier mass balance and related metrics can be measured; including the theoretical and
practical basis for placing contemporary glacier mass balance measurements in a longer term context; and ii) proposes a rubric and methodology by which a glacier condition may be determined on an annual basis for a single site or multiple sites
within a region. The rubric is based on a commonly reported mass balance metric, the Accumulation Area Ratio (AAR) - the ratio of a glacier's accumulation area to its total area. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
Glaciers are found in many of Canada's Arctic and alpine regions. Short and long-term changes in their mass play a role sea-level change; and modulate
runoff that impacts natural and human system functioning. Many of Canada's glaciers lay within protected areas such as National Parks and Provincial Parks. Alongside reports on the state of Canada's glaciers issued by the NRCan as part of
international commitments towards the goals of the UNFCCC, Canada's National Parks are required, under the Canada National Parks Act, to report on the "State of the Park", its Ecosystem Integrity, and therein, the "condition" of various Park
bio-physical elements. The conditions and related thresholds inform a framework for Park and ecosystem functioning management. This Open File: i) reviews the methods by which glacier mass balance is measured; ii) details the theoretical and practical
basis for placing contemporary glacier mass balance measurements in a longer term context; and iii) proposes a rubric and methodology by which glacier condition and thresholds may be measured and reported. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 297892 |
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