Since the Little Ice Age, the Wheaton glacier has lost 50% of its area and 58 to 63% of its volume, with thinning and retreat accelerating in the past 40 years. This loss was quantified through sequential aerial photography and bivariate scaling analysis by the Government of Yukon. Observations from 1907 to 2005 show increased mean atmospheric temperature and winter snowfall, with temperature changes driving persistent negative mass balance.
Use Cases
- Model glacier volume loss based on aerial photography analysis
- Project watershed discharge changes based on glacier disappearance scenarios
- Analyze climate drivers of glacier mass balance based on temperature and snowfall records
- Map glacier retreat over time based on sequential imagery
Strengths
- Specific quantification of glacier loss: 50% area and 58-63% volume reduction since Little Ice Age
- Long-term climate observations spanning from 1907 to 2005
- Analysis based on sequential aerial photography and bivariate scaling
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
- Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to a single watershed in Yukon
Provenance
- Source
- Government of Yukon
- Collection Method
- Analysis of sequential aerial photography and bivariate scaling analysis
- Time Range
- Observations from 1907 to 2005, with glacier changes since the Little Ice Age
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-04-17 16:05:42.437091; freshness should be verified
- Geography
- Upper Wheaton River watershed, Yukon, Canada