Developing an Argentinean glacier inventory: first results from the Southern Patagonia Icefield submitted to GLIMS

DELGADO, SILVIA; MASIOKAS, MARIANO; PITTE, PIERRE; VILLALBA, RICARDO

Valdivia, Chile

Conferencia; International glaciological Conferencia. Ice and climate change: a view from the south; 2010

CECS

Most glacier inventories for the Argentinean portion of the Andes(22°-55°S) are out-of-date and limited to few areas in the Cordillera.Here, we report on the first results from the ongoing research project“Perspectives for the development of a National Glacier Inventory:A Methodological Approach”, which have been submitted to theGLIMS database (Global Land Ice Measurements from Space) asa first contribution of IANIGLA to this international programme. Theinventory is based on ASTER satellite imagery and ASTER-basedDEMs, and includes all glaciers between Lago San Martín (49°S) andLago Viedma (49°30’S) on the northeastern margin of the SouthernPatagonia Icefield. This area contains a variety of glaciers with differentsizes and characteristics that allow testing different methodologicalapproaches in a relatively reduced area. In addition, glacialdeposits related to the Little Ice Age fluctuations have also beenidentified for selected glaciers in the region. The main limitation forthe glacier inventory is the lack of good quality, cloud-free imagesfor the area. Thirty five glaciers, representing a total glacier area of160 km2, were identified in an ASTER late summer image (20 Feb2005). Presently, we are extending the inventory to other regionsin Argentina, including those with larger proportion of debris-coverand rock glaciers. Based on these preliminary inventories we willdevelop a methodological protocol that includes standard procedures,management and submission of information to the Argentineanglacier database and international databases including GLIMS.