Gletscherstände des Vernagtferner 1889-1969

The Vernagtferner in the Ötztaler Alps (Tirol) has been mapped after terrestrial-photogrammetric surveying by Sebastian Finsterwalder in 1889, Otto von Gruber in 1912, and Heinrich Schatz in 1938. The new, four-colored map in the scale 1: 10.000 enclosed in this issue was composed from aerial photographs of 1969. It was conceived as topographicaI map with additional geodetic and glaciological content. The methods of survey are explained and the means of cartographic representation are discussed.

Horizontal profiles of longwave and shortwave radiation components over sea ice near Barrow, Alaska during the 2011 melt

An integrated instrument package for measuring and understanding the surface radiation budget of sea ice is presented, along with results from its first deployment. The setup simultaneously measures broadband fluxes of upwelling and downwelling terrestrial and solar radiation (four components separately), spectral fluxes of incident and reflected solar radiation, and supporting data such as air temperature and humidity, surface temperature, and location (GPS), in addition to photographing the sky and observed surface during each measurement. The instruments are mounted on a small sled, allowing measurements of the radiation budget to be made at many locations in the study area to see the effect of small-scale surface processes on the large-scale radiation budget. Such observations have many applications, from calibration and validation of remote sensing products to improving our understanding of surface processes that affect atmosphere-snow-ice interactions and drive feedbacks, ultimately leading to the potential to improve climate modelling of ice-covered regions of the ocean. The photographs, spectral data, and other observations allow for improved analysis of the broadband data. An example of this is shown by using the observations made during a partly cloudy day, which show erratic variations due to passing clouds, and creating a careful estimate of what the radiation budget along the observed line would have been under uniform sky conditions, clear or overcast. Other data from the setup's first deployment, in June 2011 on fast ice near Point Barrow, Alaska, are also shown; these illustrate the rapid changes of the radiation budget during a cold period that led to refreezing and new snow well into the melt season.

Der Vernagt-Ferner im Jahre 1889 (facsimile)

Problems resulting from mapping of glaciers with traditional techniques motivated Sebastian Finsterwalder to apply the planetable-photogrammetry to a survey of Vernagt- and Guslarferner (Ötztal Alps, Austria) in 1888/ 1889. The result of this photogrammetric survey was the map "Der Vernagt-Ferner im Jahre 1889", which had been published in four colours. This is the first map of an entire glacier in the large scale 1: 10.000 with a high accuracy. Since this remarkable map of Vernagt- and Guslarferner is almost not available a facsimile-reprint had been produced.