Erts Data in Glaciology—An Effort to Monitor Glacier Mass Balance from Satellite Imagery

Abstract

Due to increased demand for electric energy, which in Norway is produced almost entirely by hydro-electric power plants, extensive glacierized basins are now considered for future power production, However, glacier behaviour has a great impact on the annual run-off from these basins, and information about expected annual deviations from a “normal” discharge must be obtained from mass-balance studies on representative glaciers within the basin. For this reason such studies are presently performed at eight selected Norwegian glaciers; the costs involved are in the order of $3 000-$10 000 annually for each observed glacier.