Knowledge about the coverage and characteristics of glaciers in High Mountain Asia (HMA) is still incomplete and heterogeneous. However, several applications, such as modelling of past or future glacier development, run-off, or glacier volume, rely on the existence and accessibility of complete datasets. In particular, precise outlines of glacier extent are required to spatially constrain glacier-specific calculations such as length, area, and volume changes or flow velocities. As a contribution to the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) and the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) glacier database, we have produced a homogeneous inventory of the Pamir and the Karakoram mountain ranges using 28 Landsat TM and ETM+ scenes acquired around the year 2000. We applied a standardized method of automated digital glacier mapping and manual correction using coherence images from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite 1 (ALOS-1) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar 1 (PALSAR-1) as an additional source of information; we then (i) separated the glacier complexes into individual glaciers using drainage divides derived by watershed analysis from the ASTER global digital elevation model version 2 (GDEM2) and (ii) separately delineated all debris-covered areas. Assessment of uncertainties was performed for debris-covered and clean-ice glacier parts using the buffer method and independent multiple digitizing of three glaciers representing key challenges such as shadows and debris cover. Indeed, along with seasonal snow at high elevations, shadow and debris cover represent the largest uncertainties in our final dataset. In total, we mapped more than 27 800 glaciers > 0.02 km² covering an area of 35 520±1948 km² and an elevation range from 2260 to 8600 m. Regional median glacier elevations vary from 4150 m (Pamir Alai) to almost 5400 m (Karakoram), which is largely due to differences in temperature and precipitation. Supraglacial debris covers an area of 3587±662 km², i.e. 10 % of the total glacierized area. Larger glaciers have a higher share in debris-covered area (up to > 20 %), making it an important factor to be considered in subsequent applications (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.894707).

The application of structure-from-motion (SfM) to generate digital terrain models (DTMs) derived from different image sources has strongly increased, the major reason for this being that processing is substantially easier with SfM than with conventional photogrammetry. To test the functionality in a demanding environment, we applied SfM and conventional photogrammetry to archival aerial images from Zmuttgletscher, a mountain glacier in Switzerland, for nine dates between 1946 and 2005 using the most popular software packages, and compared the results regarding bundle adjustment and final DTM quality. The results suggest that by using SfM it is possible to produce DTMs of similar quality as with conventional photogrammetry. Higher point cloud density and less noise allow a higher ground resolution of the final DTM, and the time effort from the user is 3–6 times smaller, while the controls of the commercial software packages Agisoft PhotoScan (Version 1.2; Agisoft, St. Petersburg, Russia) and Pix4Dmapper (Version 3.0; Pix4D, Lausanne, Switzerland) are limited in comparison to ERDAS photogrammetry. SfM performs less reliably when few images with little overlap are processed. Even though SfM facilitates the largely automated production of high quality DTMs, the user is not exempt from a thorough quality check, at best with reference data where available. The resulting DTM time series revealed an average change in surface elevation at the glacier tongue of −67.0 ± 5.3 m. The spatial pattern of changes over time reflects the influence of flow dynamics and the melt of clean ice and that under debris cover. With continued technological advances, we expect to see an increasing use of SfM in glaciology for a variety of purposes, also in processing archival aerial imagery.

A new algorithm for snow cover monitoring at 250 m resolution based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images is presented. In contrast to the 500 m resolution MODIS snow products of NASA (MOD10 and MYD10), the main goal was to maintain the resolution as high as possible to allow for a more accurate detection of snow covered area (SCA). This is especially important in mountainous regions characterized by extreme landscape heterogeneity, where maps at a resolution of 500 m could not provide the desired amount of spatial details. Therefore, the algorithm exploits only the 250 m resolution bands of MODIS in the red (B1) and infrared (B2) spectrum, as well as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for snow detection, while clouds are classified using also bands at 500 m and 1 km resolution. The algorithm is tailored to process MODIS data received in real-time through the EURAC receiving station close to Bolzano, Italy, but also standard MODIS products are supported. It is divided into three steps: first the data is preprocessed, including reprojection, calculation of physical reflectance values and masking of water bodies. In a second step, the actual classification of snow, snow in forested areas, and clouds takes place based on MODIS images both from Terra and Aqua satellites. In the third step, snow cover maps derived from images of both sensors of the same day are combined to reduce cloud coverage in the final SCA product. Four different quality indices are calculated to verify the reliability of input data, snow classification, cloud detection and viewing geometry. Using the data received through their own station, EURAC can provide SCA maps of central Europe to end users in near real-time. Validation of the algorithm is outlined in a companion paper and indicates good performance with accuracies ranging from 94% to around 82% compared to in situ snow depth measurements, and around 93% compared to SCA derived from Landsat ETM+ images.

Debris-covered glaciers generally exhibit large, gently sloping, slow-flowing tongues. At present, many of these glaciers show high thinning rates despite thick debris cover. Due to the lack of observations, most existing studies have neglected the dynamic interactions between debris cover and glacier evolution over longer time periods. The main aim of this study is to reveal such interactions by reconstructing changes of debris cover, glacier geometry, flow velocities, and surface features of Zmuttgletscher (Switzerland), based on historic maps, satellite images, aerial photographs, and field observations. We show that debris cover extent has increased from ∼13 % to ∼32 % of the total glacier surface since 1859 and that in 2017 the debris is sufficiently thick to reduce ablation compared to bare ice over much of the ablation area. Despite the debris cover, the glacier-wide mass balance of Zmuttgletscher is comparable to that of debris-free glaciers located in similar settings, whereas changes in length and area have been small and delayed by comparison. Increased ice mass input in the 1970s and 1980s resulted in a temporary velocity increase, which led to a local decrease in debris cover extent, a lowering of the upper boundary of the ice-cliff zone, and a strong reduction in ice-cliff area, indicating a dynamic link between flow velocities, debris cover, and surface morphology. Since 2005, the lowermost 1.5 km of the glacier has been quasi-stagnant, despite a slight increase in the surface slope of the glacier tongue. We conclude that the long-term glacier-wide mass balance is mainly governed by climate. The debris cover governs the spatial pattern of elevation change without changing its glacier-wide magnitude, which we explain by the extended ablation area and the enhanced thinning in regions with thin debris further up-glacier and in areas with abundant meltwater channels and ice cliffs. At the same time rising temperatures lead to increasing debris cover and decreasing ice flux, thereby attenuating length and area losses.

Retreating glaciers give way to new landscapes with lakes as an important element. In this study, we combined available data on lake outlines with historical orthoimagery and glacier outlines for six time periods since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA; ~1850). We generated a glacial lake inventory for modern times (2016) and traced the evolution of glacial lakes that formed in the deglaciated area since the LIA. In this deglaciated area, a total of 1192 lakes formed over the period of almost 170 years, 987 of them still in existence in 2016. Their total water surface in 2016 was 6.22 ± 0.25 km². The largest lakes are > 0.4 km² (40 ha) in size, while the majority (> 90%) are smaller than 0.01 km². Annual increase rates in area and number peaked in 1946–1973, decreased towards the end of the 20th century, and reached a new high in the latest period 2006–2016. For a period of 43 years (1973–2016), we compared modelled overdeepenings from previous studies to actual lake genesis. For a better prioritization of formation probability, we included glacier‐morphological criteria such as glacier width and visible crevassing. About 40% of the modelled overdeepened area actually got covered by lakes. The inclusion of morphological aspects clearly aided in defining a lake formation probability to be linked to each modelled overdeepening. Additional morphological variables, namely dam material and type, surface runoff, and freeboard, were compiled for a subset of larger and ice‐contact lakes in 2016, constituting a basis for future hazard assessment.