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Lake outburst and debris flow disaster at Kedarnath, June 2013: hydrometeorological triggering and topographic predisposition Abstract Heavy rainfall in June 2013 triggered flash flooding and landslides throughout the Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, killing more than 6000 people. The vast majority of fatalities and destruction resulted directly from a lake outburst and debris flow disaster originating from above the village of Kedarnath on June 16 and 17. Here, we provide a systematic analysis of the contributing factors leading to the Kedarnath disaster, both in terms of hydrometeorological triggering and topographic predisposition. Topographic characteristics of the lake watershed above Kedarnath are compared with other glacial lakes across the north-western Himalayan states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and implications for glacier lake outburst hazard assessment in a changing climate are discussed. Our analysis suggests that the early onset of heavy monsoon rainfall (390 mm, June 10-17) immediately following a 4-week period of unusually rapid snow cover depletion and elevated streamflow was the crucial hydrometeorological factor, resulting in slope saturation and significant run-off into the small seasonal glacial lake. Between mid-May and mid-June 2013, snowcovered area above Kedarnath decreased by around 50 %. The unusual situation of the lake being dammed in a steep, unstable paraglacial environment but fed entirely from snowmelt and rainfall within a fluvial dominated watershed is important in the context of this disaster. A simple scheme enabling large-scale recognition of such an unfavourable topographic setting is introduced. In view of projected 21st century changes in monsoon timing and heavy precipitation in South Asia, more emphasis should be given to potential hydrometeorological triggering of lake outburst and debris flow disasters in the Himalaya.

Abstract:Seasonal and annual trends of changes in rainfall, rainy days, heaviest rain and relative humidity have been studied over the last century for nine different river basins in northwest and central India. The majority of river basins have shown increasing trends both in annual rainfall and relative humidity. The magnitude of increased rainfall for considered river basins varied from 2-19% of mean per 100 years. The maximum increase in rainfall is observed in the Indus (lower) followed by the Tapi river basin. Seasonal analysis shows maximum increase in rainfall in the post-monsoon season followed by the pre-monsoon season. There were least variations in the monsoon rainfall during the last century and winter rainfall has shown a decreasing trend. Most of the river basins have experienced decreasing trends in annual rainy days with a maximum decrease in the Mahanadi basin. The heaviest rain of the year has increased from 9-27 mm per 100 years over different river basins with a maximum of 27 mm for the Brahamani and Subaranrekha river basins. A combination of increase in heaviest rainfall and reduction in the number of rainy days suggest the possibility of increasing severity of floods. Such information is useful in the planning, development and management of water resources in the study area. Further, the majority of river basins have also experienced an increasing trend in relative humidity both on seasonal and annual scales. An increase in annual mean relative humidity for six river basins has been found in the range of 1-18% of mean per 100 years, while a decrease for three river basins from 1 to 13% of mean per 100 years was observed, providing a net increase in the study area by 2Ð4% of mean per 100 years. It is understood that an increase in areal extent of vegetation cover as well as rainfall over the last century has increased the moisture in the atmosphere through enhanced evapotranspiration, which in turn has increased the relative humidity.

Abstract:The continuous increase in the emission of greenhouse gases has resulted in global warming, and substantial changes in the global climate are expected by the end of the current century. The reductions in mass, volume, area and length of glaciers on the global scale are considered as clear signals of a warmer climate. The increased rate of melting under a warmer climate has resulted in the retreating of glaciers. On the long-term scale, greater melting of glaciers during the coming years could lead to the depletion of available water resources and influence water flows in rivers. It is also very likely that such changes have occurred in Himalayan glaciers, but might have gone unnoticed or not studied in detail. The water resources of the Himalayan region may also be highly vulnerable to such climate changes, because more than 50% of the water resources of India are located in the various tributaries of the Ganges, Indus and the Brahmaputra river system, which are highly dependent on snow and glacier runoff.In the present study, the snowmelt model SNOWMOD has been used to simulate the melt runoff from a highly glacierized small basin for the summer season. The model simulated the distribution and volume of runoff with reasonably good accuracy. Based on a 2-year simulation, it is found that, on average, the contributions of glacier melt and rainfall in the total runoff are 87% and 13% respectively. The impact of climate change on the monthly distribution of runoff and total summer runoff has been studied with respect to plausible scenarios of temperature and rainfall, both individually and in combined scenarios. The analysis included six temperature scenarios ranging between 0Ð5 and 3°C, and four rainfall scenarios ( 10%, 5%, 5%, 10%). The combined scenarios were generated using temperature and rainfall scenarios. The combined scenarios represented a combination of warmer and drier and a combination of warmer and wetter conditions in the study area. The results indicate that, for the study basin, runoff increased linearly with increase in temperature and rainfall. For a temperature rise of 2°C, the increase in summer streamflow is computed to be about 28%. Changes in rainfall by š10% resulted in corresponding changes in streamflow by š3Ð5%. For the range of climatic scenarios considered, the changes in runoff are more sensitive to changes in temperature, compared with rainfall, which is likely due to the major contribution of melt water in runoff. Such studies are needed for proper assessment of available water resources under a changing climate in the Himalayan region.

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Among the more complex and devastating interactions between climate and hydromorphological processes in mountain environments are landslide lake outburst floods (LLOFs), resulting from mass movements temporarily blocking a drainage system. This work reviews these processes in the Himalayas and highlights the high frequency of this type of phenomenon in the region. In addition, we analyse two recent catastrophic trans-national LLOFs occurring in the Sutlej river basin during 2000 and 2005. Based on high resolution satellite images, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) derived evolution of snowline elevation and discharge data we reconstruct the timing and hydrometeorological conditions related to the formation and failure of landslide dams. Results showed that the 2005 flood, originating from the outburst of the Parchu Lake, was not related to heavy precipitation, but was likely enhanced by the rapid and late snowmelt of an unusually deep and widespread snowpack. The flood in 2000 was triggered by the outburst of an unnamed lake located on the Tibetan plateau, identified here for the first time. In this case, the outburst followed intense precipitation in the lake watershed, which raised the level of the lake and thus caused the breaching of the dam. As stream gauges were damaged during the events detailed discharge data is not available, but we estimated the peak discharges ranging between 1100 m3 s−1 and 2000 m3 s−1 in 2005, and 1024 m3 s−1 and 1800 m3 s−1 in 2000. These events caused significant geomorphic changes along the river valleys, with observed changes in channel width exceeding 200 m. Results also demonstrate that remotely-sensed data enables valuable large-scale monitoring of lake development and related hydrometeorological conditions, and may thereby inform early warning strategies, and provide a basis for flood risk reduction measures that focus on disaster preparedness and response strategies.

The average distribution of precipitation provides essential input for understanding the hydrological process. The role of complex topography in mountainous basins makes the spatial distribution of precipitation different than the plain areas. Besides the rugged topography, the Himalayan basins also face the problem of limited physical accessibility and data availability.In this study, seasonal and annual distribution of rainfall with elevation and distance from the lower most station (Akhnoor) has been studied for the Chenab basin (western Himalayas). The study basin covers all the three ranges i.e. outer, middle and greater Himalayas. The rainfall stations are grouped into windward and leeward categories. The trends of spatial distribution of rainfall are discussed in detail. Attempts are also made to investigate the impact of reduced network on the mean annual rainfall of the Chenab basin. A reduction in rain gauges from 42 to 19 has resulted in an increase in the estimate of mean annual rainfall by 14% with respect to the estimate obtained using 42 stations network.

The impact of climate change is projected to have different effects within and between countries. Information about such change is required at global, regional and basin scales for a variety of purposes. An investigation was carried out to identify trends in temperature time series of 125 stations distributed over the whole of India. The non-parametric Mann-Kendall test was applied to detect monotonic trends in annual average and seasonal temperatures. Three variables related to temperature, viz. mean, mean maximum and mean minimum, were considered for analysis on both an annual and a seasonal basis. Each year was divided into four principal seasons, viz. winter, pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon. The percentages of significant trends obtained for each parameter in the different seasons are presented. Temperature anomalies are plotted, and it is observed that annual mean temperature, mean maximum temperature and mean minimum temperature have increased at the rate of 0.42, 0.92 and 0.09°C (100 year)-1 , respectively. On a regional basis, stations of southern and western India show a rising trend of 1.06 and 0.36°C (100 year)-1 , respectively, while stations of the north Indian plains show a falling trend of-0.38°C (100 year)-1. The seasonal mean temperature has increased by 0.94°C (100 year)-1 for the post-monsoon season and by 1.1°C (100 year)-1 for the winter season. Key words annual trend; India; Mann-Kendall test; percentage of significant trend; seasonal trend; temperature anomalies Evaluation de tendances de température en Inde Résumé L'impact du changement climatique devrait avoir des effets variables dans et entre les pays. Une information au sujet de ce changement est nécessaire aux échelles globale, régionale et de bassin, par rapport à une multiplicité d'enjeux. Nous avons cherché à identifier les tendances dans les séries de température de 125 stations réparties en Inde, dans son ensemble. Le test non-paramétrique de Mann-Kendall a été appliqué pour détecter les tendances monotones dans les séries de températures moyennes annuelles et saisonnières. Trois variables associées à la température, c'està-dire la moyenne, le maximum moyen et le minimum moyen, ont été considérées et analysées en annuel et en saisonnier. Chaque année a été divisée en quatre saisons principales: l'hiver, la pré-mousson, la mousson et la post-mousson. Les pourcentages de significativité de tendance obtenus pour chaque grandeur et chaque saison sont présentés. Les anomalies sont identifiées, et il apparaît que la température moyenne annuelle, la température maximale moyenne et la température minimale moyenne ont augmenté respectivement de 0.42, 0.92 et 0.09°C (100 ans)-1. Du point de vue régional, les stations du sud et de l'ouest de l'Inde montrent des tendances croissantes à hauteur de 1.06 et 0.36°C (100 ans)-1 , respectivement, tandis que les stations des plaines du nord de l'Inde présentent une tendance décroissante de-0.38°C (100 ans)-1. La température moyenne saisonnière a augmenté de 0.94°C (100 ans)-1 pour la saison d...