Satellite telemetry of surface ablation observations to inform spatial melt modelling, Place Glacier, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract. Four automated "smart stakes" equipped with ultrasonic sensors, Arduino microcontrollers, and Iridium satellite telemetry were deployed to monitor glacier surface elevation changes at Place Glacier, British Columbia, Canada during the 2024 ablation season. The smart stakes recorded air temperature, relative humidity, and distance to glacier surface every 15 minutes from May 14 to September 21, 2024, providing high-temporal resolution melt data across an elevation gradient. Integration with airborne lidar surveys and satellite snow cover observations enabled validation and spatial extrapolation of point measurements. Temperature-index modeling using smart stake data yielded ice melt factors of -4.26 to -5.63 mm w.e. °C⁻¹ d⁻¹ and snow melt factors of -3.74 to -4.42 mm w.e. °C⁻¹ d⁻¹, consistent with previous studies. The spatial melt model estimated a total seasonal melt volume of 11.61 × 10⁶ m³ water equivalent, representing a summer mass balance of -4.14 m w.e. for the glacier. Validation against manual ablation stakes showed reasonable agreement (R² = 0.58, RMSE = 0.45 m w.e.). Event-scale analysis revealed that three discrete heat events (July 5–22, August 1–12, and August 29–September 9) accounted for over half of the total seasonal melt despite comprising only one-third of the ablation season. Maximum daily melt rates reached -87 mm w.e. d⁻¹ during these extreme events, with higher elevation sites experiencing disproportionately greater melt rates. Non-linear temperature lapse rates were observed across the glacier, highlighting the importance of distributed temperature measurements for accurate melt modeling. The low-cost smart stake system demonstrates significant potential for automated glacier monitoring, providing near real-time data transmission and enabling event-scale melt attribution studies. This multi-scale monitoring approach combining in-situ sensors, airborne lidar, and satellite observations offers a comprehensive framework for understanding glacier melt dynamics in a changing climate, though challenges remain regarding sensor stability, power management, and accounting for glacier dynamics in melt estimates.