---
_id: '14779'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: The presence of a developed boundary layer decouples a glacier's response
    from ambient conditions, suggesting that sensitivity to climate change is increased
    by glacier retreat. To test this hypothesis, we explore six years of distributed
    meteorological data on a small Swiss glacier in the period 2001–2022. Large glacier
    fragmentation has occurred since 2001 (−35% area change up to 2022) coinciding
    with notable frontal retreat, an observed switch from down‐glacier katabatic to
    up‐glacier valley winds and an increased sensitivity (ratio) of on‐glacier to
    off‐glacier temperature. As the glacier ceases to develop density‐driven katabatic
    winds, sensible heat fluxes on the glacier are increasingly determined by the
    conditions occurring outside the boundary layer of the glacier, sealing the glacier's
    demise as the climate continues to warm and experience an increased frequency
    of extreme summers.
acknowledgement: This work was funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie
  Actions Grant 101026058. The authors acknowl-edge the dedicated collection of field
  data by many parties since 2001, including those acknowledged for the cited works
  on Arolla Glacier. The authors would like to thank Fabienne Meier, Alice Zaugg,
  Raphael Willi, Maria Grundmann, and Marta Corrà for assistance in the field for
  the summers of 2021 and 2022. Off-glacier data provided by Grand Dixence SA (Arolla)
  and MeteoSwiss are kindly acknowledged. Simone Fatichi is thanked for the provision
  and support in the use of the Tethys-Chloris model. We thank Editor Mathieu Morlighem
  and two anonymous reviewers whose comments have helped to improve the quality of
  the manuscript.
article_number: e2023GL103043
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Thomas E.
  full_name: Shaw, Thomas E.
  last_name: Shaw
- first_name: Pascal
  full_name: Buri, Pascal
  last_name: Buri
- first_name: Michael
  full_name: McCarthy, Michael
  last_name: McCarthy
- first_name: Evan S.
  full_name: Miles, Evan S.
  last_name: Miles
- first_name: Álvaro
  full_name: Ayala, Álvaro
  last_name: Ayala
- first_name: Francesca
  full_name: Pellicciotti, Francesca
  id: b28f055a-81ea-11ed-b70c-a9fe7f7b0e70
  last_name: Pellicciotti
  orcid: 0000-0002-5554-8087
citation:
  ama: Shaw TE, Buri P, McCarthy M, Miles ES, Ayala Á, Pellicciotti F. The decaying
    near‐surface boundary layer of a retreating alpine glacier. <i>Geophysical Research
    Letters</i>. 2023;50(11). doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2023gl103043">10.1029/2023gl103043</a>
  apa: Shaw, T. E., Buri, P., McCarthy, M., Miles, E. S., Ayala, Á., &#38; Pellicciotti,
    F. (2023). The decaying near‐surface boundary layer of a retreating alpine glacier.
    <i>Geophysical Research Letters</i>. American Geophysical Union. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2023gl103043">https://doi.org/10.1029/2023gl103043</a>
  chicago: Shaw, Thomas E., Pascal Buri, Michael McCarthy, Evan S. Miles, Álvaro Ayala,
    and Francesca Pellicciotti. “The Decaying Near‐surface Boundary Layer of a Retreating
    Alpine Glacier.” <i>Geophysical Research Letters</i>. American Geophysical Union,
    2023. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2023gl103043">https://doi.org/10.1029/2023gl103043</a>.
  ieee: T. E. Shaw, P. Buri, M. McCarthy, E. S. Miles, Á. Ayala, and F. Pellicciotti,
    “The decaying near‐surface boundary layer of a retreating alpine glacier,” <i>Geophysical
    Research Letters</i>, vol. 50, no. 11. American Geophysical Union, 2023.
  ista: Shaw TE, Buri P, McCarthy M, Miles ES, Ayala Á, Pellicciotti F. 2023. The
    decaying near‐surface boundary layer of a retreating alpine glacier. Geophysical
    Research Letters. 50(11), e2023GL103043.
  mla: Shaw, Thomas E., et al. “The Decaying Near‐surface Boundary Layer of a Retreating
    Alpine Glacier.” <i>Geophysical Research Letters</i>, vol. 50, no. 11, e2023GL103043,
    American Geophysical Union, 2023, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2023gl103043">10.1029/2023gl103043</a>.
  short: T.E. Shaw, P. Buri, M. McCarthy, E.S. Miles, Á. Ayala, F. Pellicciotti, Geophysical
    Research Letters 50 (2023).
date_created: 2024-01-10T09:28:34Z
date_published: 2023-06-16T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2024-10-21T06:01:34Z
day: '16'
ddc:
- '550'
department:
- _id: FrPe
doi: 10.1029/2023gl103043
external_id:
  isi:
  - '000999436400001'
file:
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has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '        50'
isi: 1
issue: '11'
keyword:
- General Earth and Planetary Sciences
- Geophysics
language:
- iso: eng
month: '06'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
publication: Geophysical Research Letters
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1944-8007
  issn:
  - 0094-8276
publication_status: published
publisher: American Geophysical Union
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: The decaying near‐surface boundary layer of a retreating alpine glacier
tmp:
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  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 50
year: '2023'
...