Using climate reanalysis data in conjunction with multi-temporal satellite thermal imagery to derive supraglacial debris thickness changes from energy-balance modelling

Abstract Surface energy-balance models are commonly used in conjunction with satellite thermal imagery to estimate supraglacial debris thickness. Removing the need for local meteorological data thickness estimation workflow could improve versatility and spatiotemporal application of estimation. We evaluate use regional reanalysis derive two mountain glaciers using a surface model. Results forced ERA-5 agree AWS-derived estimates within 0.01 ± 0.05 m Miage Glacier, Italy, 0.02 Khumbu Nepal. were then changes over ~20-year period Glacier Haut d'Arolla, Switzerland. observe significant increases at terminus d'Arolla margins expanding cover all glaciers. While simulated was underestimated compared point measurements areas thick debris, our approach can reconstruct glacier-scale distribution its temporal evolution multiple decades. find thin susceptible high ablation rates, where current knowledge is limited.