Problematiche e indicazioni per un nuovo catasto dei ghiacciai italiani sulla base del confronto fra il Catasto Italiano 1959-62 e il World Glacier Inventory

Problems and indications for a new inventory of Italian glaciers based on comparison between the Italian Inventory of 1959-62 and the World Glacier Inventory

Abstract

This paper begins with a numerical analysis of seven variables (considered both singly and in pairs) of 40 glaciers of the Ortles-Cevedale Group, reported in the Inventory of Italian Glaciers, published between 1959 and 1962. These variables are analyzed either as a whole or excluding the four valley glaciers, so as to obtain a more homogeneous sample. This is followed by a similar numerical analysis of the data of 16 glacier variables reported on the WGI cards. Processing of the variables, considered singly, in both cases allowed numerical definition of central tendency, dispersion, skewness, and kurtosis. Analysis of the variables in pairs then allowed definition of the relationships existing among the variables themselves by means of the calculation of the equations of the relative linear regressions. Statistical analysis showed that all the variables were very reliable, particularly snout altitude and maximum altitude. The results also revealed that the distribution of the WGI card data is more reliable than that of the Inventory of Italian Glaciers. These results suggest that a new inventory of the Italian glaciers should contain all the variables shown on the WGI cards, as well as the two variables shown only in the previous Italian inventory (altitude of highest peak of ridge of accumulation area, and glacier inclination).