Glaciers of the conterminous United States, glaciers of the western United States: with a section on Glacier Retreat in Glacier National Park, Montana
Krimmel RM, Key CH, Fagre DB, Menicke RK. 2002. Glaciers of the conterminous United States, glaciers of the western United States: with a section on Glacier Retreat in Glacier National Park, Montana. Pages J329-J382. In Satellite image atlas of glaciers of the world, North America. United States Geological Survey. Denver. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper. 1386-J
Glaciers are found in the following States of the Western United States: Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada. According to the most recent sources, these glaciers have a total area of about 580 square kilometers. The earliest recorded glacier observations were made in 1857, and all the major glacier areas were known by the early part of the 20th century. Glacier inventories have been completed or are in progress for several mahor glacierized areas. The major source materials for modern glacier inventories of the Western United States are the various U.S. Geological Survey topographic map series at scales of 1:24,000, 1:62,500, 1:100,000, and 1:125,000 and the vertical aerial photographs used to compile these maps. Where these sources are not available, oblique aerial photographs have been used to delineate the extent of glaciers and to update glacier margins where significant change has taken place. Landsat images and digital data have been used in glacier studies in the conterminous United States. However, the spatial resolution of Landsat is such that only glaciers in the States of Washington, Oregon, Californai, Montana, and Wyoming can be effectively observed from Landsat 1, 2, and 3 data. In the remaining States, the Landsat data can often offer regional views of moraines from past glaciation and can also be useful in the study of glacial geology and the variations in seasonal snow cover. One section discusses glaciers and their recession within Glacier National Park, Montana. Detailed information about the glaciers and their history is explored, including a review of previous research works describing glacial extent in the park. Using remote sensing, and base maps from the past, the authors are able to map and quantify the recession of glaciers from earliest dates (1850) to the present (1993).
- Type
- Published Report Section
- Authors
- Krimmel, Robert; Key, Carl; Fagre, Daniel; Menicke, Richard
- Units
- CRCO , GLAC
- Keywords
- Aerial Photography, Climate Change, glacier mapping, Glacier National Park Montana, glacier retreat, glacierization in North America, Glaciers, Landsat satellite imagery, Mapping, Physical Sciences, Remote Sensing