Analysis of Winter and Summer Glacier Mass Balances

Seasonal mass balance components bw (winter balance) and bs (summer balance) as well as ct (total accumulation) and at (total ablation), can be used directly to infer climate variables. In contrast, ac (net balance of the accumulation area) and aa (net balance of the ablation area), and ba or bn (annual or net balance) can not. The traditional Alpine system of observations of ac and aa , however, can be converted to true seasonal values bw and bs if both pairs of components are simultaneously observed for some years, because a correlation between the two pairs of components exists. We analyzed bw and bs data and their mean, standard deviations and ratios of these to the corresponding net or annual balances for 50 glaciers with relatively long records representing different regions in the northern hemisphere.