Original abstract: A 41-year-long reconstructed annual mean glacier mass balance record from the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, was investigated for its climate sensitivity toward temperature, humidity and precipitation, and its links with the large-scale atmospheric circulation. On interannual timescales precipitation variability appears to be the main driver for glacier mass balance fluctuations in the Cordillera Blanca. This is corroborated by an analysis of the relationship between mass balance variations and local- to regional-scale precipitation variability. Temperature tends to enhance precipitation in driving the mass balance signal, as dry years are often characterized by warm conditions, while wet years usually coincide with cold anomalies. In some years, however, warm and wet or cold and dry conditions coincide, under which circumstances temperature minimizes or even neutralizes the...

Original abstract: We explore the small-scale spatial and temporal transferability of model parameters between two points in the ablation zone of tropical Glaciar Shallap, Cordillera Blanca, Peru (9°S, -77° W; ~4800 m a.s.l.) in order to provide a robust assessment of the performance of a process-based glacier mass-balance model. Relative surface height change is calculated at hourly time-steps, and cumulative values are compared to surface height measurements made at irregular intervals (14–64 days) over the course of two continuous hydrological years (August 2006–August 2008). Best-performing parameter combinations were determined for each point from the outcome of 1000 model simulations for which parameters were varied randomly within a defined range. With these parameter combinations measurements for a specific location and time-span are well reproduced. Transferring the parame...

Original abstract: We calculated the distributed surface mass and energy balance of Shallap Glacier, Cordillera Blanca, Peru (9° S, 77° W, 4700–5700 m a.s.l., ~ 7 km2), on hourly time steps for two years (September 2006–August 2008) using a process-based model and meteorological measurements as input. Model parameter combinations were optimized against 21 temporal readings of 20 stakes in the ablation zone of the glacier. Uncertainty caused by model input parameters and parameterization schemes was estimated using a leave-one out cross-validation scheme, which yields values of root mean square deviation (RMSD) of surface height change < 1 m (< 10% of the measured amplitude) for all stakes. With the best parameter combination (smallest RMSD) applied, the modeled annual surface mass balance of the glacier was -0.32 ± 0.4 m w.e. (water equivalent) for September 2006–August 2007 and...

Original abstract: Sublimation plays a decisive role in the surface energy and mass balance of tropical glaciers. During the dry season (May–September) low specific humidity and high surface roughness favour the direct transition from ice to vapour and drastically reduce the energy available for melting. However, field measurements are scarce and little is known about the performance of sublimation parameterisations in glacier mass balance and runoff models. During 15 days in August 2005 sublimation was measured on the tongue of Glaciar Artesonraju (8°58' S, 77°38' W) in the Cordillera Blanca, Perú, using simple lysimeters. Indicating a strong dependence on surface roughness, daily totals of sublimation range from 1–3 kg m-2 for smooth to 2–5 kg m-2 for rough conditions. (The 15-day means at that time of wind speed and specific humidity were 4.3 m s-1 and 3.8 g kg-1, respectivel...

Original abstract: Observations on glacier extent from Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia give a detailed and unequivocal account of rapid shrinkage of tropical Andean glaciers since the Little Ice Age (LIA). This retreat however, was not continuous but interrupted by several periods of stagnant or even advancing glaciers, most recently around the end of the 20th century. New data from mass balance networks established on over a dozen glaciers allows comparison of the glacier behavior in the inner and outer tropics. It appears that glacier variations are quite coherent throughout the region, despite different sensitivities to climatic forcing such as temperature, precipitation, humidity, etc. In parallel with the glacier retreat, climate in the tropical Andes has changed significantly over the past 50–60 years. Temperature in the Andes has increased by approximately 0.1 °C/decade, with only tw...