@article{fdi:010072018,
  title = {{M}onitoring glacier albedo as a proxy to derive summer and annual surface mass balances from optical remote-sensing data},
  author = {{D}avaze, {L}. and {R}abatel, {A}. and {A}rnaud, {Y}ves and {S}irguey, {P}. and {S}ix, {D}. and {L}etreguilly, {A}. and {D}umont, {M}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{L}ess than 0.25% of the 250 000 glaciers inventoried in the {R}andolph {G}lacier {I}nventory ({RGI} {V}.5) are currently monitored with in situ measurements of surface mass balance. {I}ncreasing this archive is very challenging, especially using time-consuming methods based on in situ measurements, and complementary methods are required to quantify the surface mass balance of unmonitored glaciers. {T}he current study relies on the so-called albedo method, based on the analysis of albedo maps retrieved from optical satellite imagery acquired since 2000 by the {MODIS} sensor, on board the {TERRA} satellite. {R}ecent studies revealed substantial relationships between summer minimum glacier-wide surface albedo and annual surface mass balance, because this minimum surface albedo is directly related to the accumulation-area ratio and the equilibrium-line altitude. {O}n the basis of 30 glaciers located in the {F}rench {A}lps where annual surface mass balance data are available, our study conducted on the period 2000-2015 confirms the robustness and reliability of the relationship between the summer minimum surface albedo and the annual surface mass balance. {F}or the ablation season, the integrated summer surface albedo is significantly correlated with the summer surface mass balance of the six glaciers seasonally monitored. {T}hese results are promising to monitor both annual and summer glacier-wide surface mass balances of individual glaciers at a regional scale using optical satellite images. {A} sensitivity study on the computed cloud masks revealed a high confidence in the retrieved albedo maps, restricting the number of omission errors. {A}lbedo retrieval artifacts have been detected for topographically incised glaciers, highlighting limitations in the shadow correction algorithm, although inter-annual comparisons are not affected by systematic errors.},
  keywords = {{FRANCE} ; {ALPES}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{C}ryosphere},
  volume = {12},
  numero = {1},
  pages = {271--286},
  ISSN = {1994-0416},
  year = {2018},
  DOI = {10.5194/tc-12-271-2018},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010072018},
}