Editorial: Observational Assessments of Glacier Mass Changes at Regional and Global Level

Observational Assessments of Glacier Mass Changes at Regional and Global Level.Glaciers represent a measurable indicator of the spatial and temporal patterns of global climate variability.Those distinct from the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets cover an area of approximately 706,000 km 2 globally (RGI Consortium, 2017), with an estimated total volume of 170 ± 21 × 10 3 km 3 , or 0.43 ± 0.06 m of potential sea-level rise equivalent (Huss and Farinotti, 2012).Retreating and thinning glaciers are icons of climate change and affect the local hazard scenario, regional water resources and glacier runoff as well as changes in global sea level.Techniques for measuring and monitoring changes to glaciers over the last century have expanded from in situ point measurements of snow accumulation and ice ablation to large regional-and globalscale surveys employing remote sensing and modeling approaches, which have shaped our understanding of world-wide glacier changes.Today, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission can be used to derive monthly regional mass changes (Wouters et al.) and has proven to be particularly effective in detecting glacier mass changes over regions with extensive ice cover (Alaska, Canadian Arctic, Russian Arctic, Svalbard, Iceland, the Southern Andes, and High Mountain Asia).However, Wouters et al. note that GRACE cannot resolve the signal from peripheral glaciers of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets and struggles to detect statistically significant signals in mountain ranges with smaller glacier covers due to weaker signals and relatively greater background noise and uncertainty.Increasingly, geodetic mass-balance records are filling the spatial-scale gap between coarseresolution gravimetry and point-based glaciological mass-balance records.Advances in digital elevation model creation, automation, and analysis from historic and contemporary sources are driving a notable increase in the availability of geodetic mass-balance records from around the world.Indeed, original works within this Research Topic alone represent 9,908 new geodetic mass balance contributions to the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) and the IPCC AR6, notably from regions of Greenland (Huber et al.), the European Alps (Davaze et al.), Iceland (Belart et al.), Northern Tien Shan (Kapitsa et al.) and the Patagonian Andes (Falashi et al.), as well as ∼8,000 updated geodetic records from the Central Andes (Ferri et al.). Advances in digital photogrammetry and improved accuracies in the 3D alignment of elevation models have rekindled the scientific value inherent to historical maps, aerial photography and declassified spy satellite imagery as exemplified by Falashi et al., Huber et al., Belart et al., and Kapitsa et al.These advances extend the temporal reach

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