The study contributes to a better understanding of accuracies and limitations of modeled ice thicknesses by taking advantage of a comprehensive data set of in-situ ice thickness measurements in the Austrian Alps and observed glacier geometries of three Austrian glacier inventories. The field data are used to calculate an improved ice thickness data set for the Austrian Alps. We found a volume of 15.9 km3 for the year 2006. The ten largest glaciers account for 25% of area and 35% of total ice volume. An estimate based on mass balance measurements from nine glaciers indicates an additional volume loss of 3.5 ± 0.4 km3 (i.e., 22 ± 2.5%) until 2016, resulting in a volume of 12.4 km3.
Helfricht K, Huss M, Fischer A and Otto J-C (2019): Calibrated Ice Thickness Estimate for All Glaciers in Austria. Front. Earth Sci. 7:68. doi: 10.3389/feart.2019.00068