| Term: | Area S |
| Definition: |
Extent in two spatial dimensions, always understood in mass-balance work (when the two dimensions are horizontal) to be map area, that is, the extent of the glacier or part thereof when the glacier outline is projected onto the surface of an ellipsoid approximating the surface of the Earth or onto a planar (horizontal) approximation to that ellipsoid. In mass-balance studies, except for ice discharge and for the special case of frontal ablation, lengths such as layer thicknesses are always measured parallel to the vertical axis and not normal to the glacier surface. When calculating volumes within a specified outline, the area to be used is therefore the integral of ds (an element of projected area) and not the integral of sec ds, the so-called 'true' area (where is the slope of the glacier surface). The glacier area excludes nunataks but includes debris-covered parts of the glacier. However, delineating the glacier where it is debris-covered can be very difficult, because the debris may cover stagnant ice and there may be no objective way to distinguish between the debris-covered glacier and contiguous ice-cored moraine. IHPGlacierMassBalance
GCW |
| Term: | Area S |
| Definition: | Extent in two spatial dimensions, always understood in mass-balance work (when the two dimensions are horizontal) to be map area, that is, the extent of the glacier or part thereof when the glacier outline is projected onto the surface of an ellipsoid approximating the surface of the Earth or onto a planar (horizontal) approximation to that ellipsoid. In mass-balance studies, except for ice discharge and for the special case of frontal ablation, lengths such as layer thicknesses are always measured parallel to the vertical axis and not normal to the glacier surface. When calculating volumes within a specified outline, the area to be used is therefore the integral of ds (an element of projected area) and not the integral of sec ds, the so-called 'true' area (where is the slope of the glacier surface). The glacier area excludes nunataks but includes debris-covered parts of the glacier. However, delineating the glacier where it is debris-covered can be very difficult, because the debris may cover stagnant ice and there may be no objective way to distinguish between the debris-covered glacier and contiguous ice-cored moraine. |