A Novel Method Combining Remote Sensing Albedo and Differencing DEM to Estimate Annual Glacier Mass Balance

Annual mass balance (AMB) is a critical parameter to understand the rapid variation of glaciers that can serve water resource management, glacier disaster prevention, and global change studies. However, estimating AMB for widely distributed glaciers is hindered by existing satellite geodetic and albedo-based methods due to low spatio-temporal resolution or reliance on in-situ data for model calibration. In this study, we propose a novel method to estimate AMB by combining remote sensing albedo with differencing DEM data. We validated the estimated AMB with in-situ data for 88 tested glaciers in Alaska, Western Canada and USA, the European Alps, High Mountain Asia, and the Andes Mountains. The proposed method achieves an average RMSE of 495 mm w.e., its accuracy is 11.3% on average higher than that of other available AMB model data from previous studies (Snow line altitude-based method, degree day model, and DEM interpolation method), and the correlation with in-situ data for our method is 47.2% greater than that for other AMB model data. Because remote sensing albedo and differencing DEM can be available globally, the novel method proposed in this study is potentially suitable to estimate AMB for widely distributed glaciers, except for those with high debris cover ratios and surge-type glaciers.