Based on glacier mass balance, air temperature and precipitation of the Qiyi Glacier from Jun. 30 to Sept. 5, 2010, a degree-day mass balance model was established to imitate the change of mass balance during this period. Observation indicates that the value of mass balance was -856.2 mm w. e., which is subjected to strong impact of air temperature and precipitation. The mass balance process can be divided into three stages, i.e., exiguous accumulation, intensive ablation and exiguous ablation. The variation trend of mass balance simulated with the degree-day mass balance model is similar to the observed one. The simulation wholly reflects the spatial distribution characteristics of glacier mass balance which increases with the increase of altitude. The experiment on climate sensitivity of mass balance shows that mass balance is very sensitive to the change of air temperature; air temperature is the key factor which influences mass balance; when air temperature rises continuously, a little increase in precipitation will have a negligible effect on mass balance.

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