Descriptive of a quantity that, whether or not it is expressed in specific units, has been measured or estimated over the entire glacier. The adjective is used to emphasize that the mass balance is th
at of the entire glacier and not that at a 'specific' location (for which the recommended term is point mass balance).
A shallow gravity wind, along the icy surface of a glacier, caused by the temperature difference between the air in contact with the glacier and free air at the same altitude. The glacier wind does no
t reverse itself diurnally as do mountain and valley winds, but it reaches its maximum intensity in the early afternoon. The glacier wind is characterized by strongly turbulent flow. See katabatic wind.
A shallow downslope wind above the surface of a glacier, caused by the temperature difference between the air in contact with the glacier and the free air at the same altitude. The glacier wind does n
ot reverse diurnally like slope and along-valley wind systems.
A shallow gravity wind, along the icy surface of a glacier, caused by the temperature difference between the air in contact with the glacier and free air at the same altitude. The glacier wind does no
t reverse itself diurnally as do mountain and valley winds, but it reaches its maximum intensity in the early afternoon. The glacier wind is characterized by strongly turbulent flow. See katabatic wind. (Or glacier breeze.)
A localized current of air occurring as a result of a glacier's melting processes; when the surface of glacial ice melts, the air above the glacier cools and becomes heavier than the surrounding air a
nd flows down the glacial valley; glacier wind can also be wind that flows out of ice caves; a kind of katabatic wind.
A method of determining mass balance in-situ on the glacier surface by measurements of accumulation and ablation, generally including measurements at stakes and in snow pits; direct method has long be
en a synonym. The measurements may also rely on depth probing and density sampling of the snow and firn, and coring. They are made at single points, the results from a number of points being extrapolated and integrated to yield the surface mass balance over a larger area such as an elevation band or the entire glacier. The internal mass balance and basal mass balance, and ice discharge if any, are treated separately.
In an ice core, fluctuations in layer thicknesses that are due not to variations in the rate of spatially averaged Annual accumulation but to redistribution of snow by the wind, including the migratio
n of snow dunes and sastrugi across the core site.