Heat wave contribution to 2022’s extreme glacier melt from automated real-time ice ablation readings - dataset

The automatically retrieved daily mass balances at the six sites were compared to average daily mass balances over the last decade derived from seasonal in situ observations to detect and assess extreme melt events. This allows analyzing the impact that the summer heat waves which occurred in 2022 had on glacier melt. Our results indicate 23 days with extreme melt, showing a strong correspondence between the heat wave periods and extreme melt events.

The combination of below-average winter snow fall and a suite of summer heat waves led to unprecedented glacier mass loss. The Swiss-wide glacier storage change during the 25 days of heat waves in 2022 is estimated as 1.27 ± 0.10 km3 of water, corresponding to 35% of the overall summer glacier mass loss. As compared to the 2010-2020 average glacier storage change, days with extreme melt in 2022 correspond to 56% of the seasonal storage change, thus demonstrating the significance of heat waves for seasonal melt.