HEAT BALANCE ANALYSIS ON THE GLACIER WITH SUMMERPRECPITATON SEASONALITY AND EFFECT OF SNOW -A CASE STUDY OF ANDEAN TROPICAL GLACIER-

Abstract

The tropical glacier in Andes Mountain has summer precipitation seasonality. A multi-layer snow model was applied to Zongo glacier, Bolivia to evaluate the heat balance on the glacier and the effect of snow on glacier melt. Model simulation at observation point successfully accounted for variations in surface temperature on the glacier in both dry and wet season. Main components of melt heat were shortwave radiation in the dry season and long wave radiation in wet season. Melt flux in mid-wet season was lower than in early-wet season due to continuous snow cover and its high albedo. Moreover, simulation results showed that snow cover on the glacier decline the melt rate in the wet season. This result suggests that mass balance is affected by summer precipitation seasonality and vulnerable to temperature rise.