Ice thickness of the West Kunlun glaciers revealed by airborne geophysical survey

Glacier ice thickness models are fundamental to studies of glaciology, hydrology, and climatology. They play a key role in estimating ice volume, simulating future glacier evolution, and projecting meltwater runoff changes. However, ice thickness measurements (e.g., ice penetrating radar) only cover about 14% of global glacier area and disparity exists in existing ice thickness models inferred from glacier surface information, making it difficult for glaciologists to accurately simulate and project the future evolution of mountain glaciers and its impact on global sea level change and regional water supply. This study developed a 1.98 km resolution ice thickness model of the West Kunlun glaciers by inverting geophysical data surveyed through an Airbus AS350-B3e helicopter. We analyzed the errors associated with the inversion techniques, evaluated the accuracy of the ice thickness model using ice penetrating radar data, and calculated the ice volume over the surveyed region. Through model comparisons, glacier topographic features not resolvable in previously published models were identified and their potential impacts were analyzed. The ice thickness model developed in this study could provide fundamental data sets for the study of the response of glaciers to climate change and thus contributes to an improved modeling and projection of future evolution of mountain glaciers and its impact on global sea level change and regional water supply.