Accurate knowledge of the ice thickness distribution and glacier bed topography is essential for predicting dynamic glacier changes and the future developments of downstream hydrology, which are impacting the energy sector, tourism industry and natural hazard management. Using AIR-ETH, a new helicopter-borne ground-penetrating radar (GPR) platform, we measured the ice thickness of all large and most medium-sized glaciers in the Swiss Alps during the years 2016–20. Most of these had either never or only partially been surveyed before. With this new dataset, 251 glaciers – making up 81% of the glacierized area – are now covered by GPR surveys. For obtaining a comprehensive estimate of the overall glacier ice volume, ice thickness distribution and glacier bed topography, we combined this large amount of data with two independent modeling algorithms. This resulted in new maps of the glacier bed topography with unprecedented accuracy. The total glacier volume in the Swiss Alps was determined to be 58.7 ± 2.5 km3 in the year 2016. By projecting these results based on mass-balance data, we estimated a total ice volume of 52.9 ± 2.7 km3 for the year 2020. Data and modeling results are accessible in the form of the SwissGlacierThickness-R2020 data package.

中文翻译：

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基于扩展探地雷达数据和冰川学模型的所有瑞士冰川的冰厚度分布

准确了解冰层厚度分布和冰川床地形对于预测动态冰川变化和下游水文的未来发展至关重要，这些变化正在影响能源部门、旅游业和自然灾害管理。我们使用新的直升机载地探地雷达 (GPR) 平台 AIR-ETH，测量了 2016-20 年间瑞士阿尔卑斯山所有大型和大多数中型冰川的冰层厚度。其中大多数以前从未或仅部分进行过调查。有了这个新数据集，GPR 调查现在覆盖了 251 条冰川——占冰川面积的 81%。为了获得对整体冰川冰量、冰层厚度分布和冰川床地形的综合估计，我们将大量数据与两种独立的建模算法相结合。这导致以前所未有的准确性绘制了新的冰川床地形图。瑞士阿尔卑斯山的冰川总体积确定为 58.7 ± 2.5 km3在 2016 年。通过根据质量平衡数据预测这些结果，我们估计总冰量为 52.9 ± 2.7 公里32020 年。数据和建模结果可通过 SwissGlacierThickness-R2020 数据包的形式访问。