Reinthaler J.; Paul F.; Granados H.; Rivera A. & Huggel C. (2019) : “Area changes of glaciers on active volcanoes in Latin America between 1986 and 2015 observed from multi-temporal satellite imagery” Journal of Glaciology, doi.org/10.1017/jog.2019.30.

Resumen / Abstract.

Glaciers on active volcanoes are subject to changes in both climate fluctuations and volcanic activity. Whereas many studies analysed changes on individual volcanoes, this study presents for the first time a comparison of glacier changes on active volcanoes on a continental scale. Glacier areas were mapped for 59 volcanoes across Latin America around 1986, 1999 and 2015 using a semiautomated band ratio method combined with manual editing using satellite images from Landsat 4/5/7/8 and Sentinel-2. Area changes were compared with the Smithsonian volcano database to analyse possible glacier-volcano interactions. Over the full period, the mapped area changed from 1399.3 ± 80 km² to 1016.1 ± 34 km² (-383.2 km²) or -27.4% (-0.92% a^-1) in relative terms. Small glaciers, especially in tropical regions lost more of their area compared to large and extra-tropical glaciers. Interestingly, 46 out of 59 analysed glaciers (78%) showed a decelerating shrinkage rate in the second period (-1.20% a^-1 before 1999 and -0.70% a^-1 after 1999). We found a slightly higher (but statistically not significant) area loss rate (-1.03% a^-1) for glaciers on volcanoes with eruptions than without (-0.86% a^-1).

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