Climate/Glacier/Runoff Studies in Alaska: Benchmark Monitoring at Gulkana and Wolverine Glaciers, Alaska

Period of Project: 1989 to present

Chief: Rod S. March

Location: South-central Alaska

Purpose:

(1) Understand and evaluate the changing water-resource and hazard potential of glaciers and glacier- derived runoff in Alaska in relation to climate. (2) Sustain and analyze the long-term climate, mass balance, runoff, and ice-flow observations on Gulkana and Wolverine Glaciers as part of a global network of "benchmark" glacier basins reported by the World Glacier Monitoring Service. (3) Calibrate the cumulative observational data by comparison with absolute measurements of net ice-volume change.