7 February Chamoli (Uttarakhand, India) Rock-Ice Avalanche Disaster: Model-Simulated Prevailing Meteorological Conditions

Srivastava, Piyush; Namdev, Prabhakar; Singh, Praveen Kumar

doi:10.3390/atmos13020267

Cited by 12 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…While several studies have focused on meteorological conditions prior to the rock and ice collapse (e.g., Siddique et al., 2022; Srivastava et al., 2022), there is no compelling evidence to suggest any direct external triggering. Rather, analyses suggest that long term regional climate and related cryospheric change combined with unfavorable geological structure and extremely steep topography were the main predisposing factors (Shugar et al., 2021).…”

Section: Description Of Process Chainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomorphic Process Chains in High‐Mountain Regions—A Review and Classification Approach for Natural Hazards Assessment

Mani,

Allen,

Evans

et al. 2023

Reviews of Geophysics

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Populations and infrastructure in high mountain regions are exposed to a wide range of natural hazards, the frequency, magnitude, and location of which are extremely sensitive to climate change. In cases where several hazards can occur simultaneously or where the occurrence of one event will change the disposition of another, assessments need to account for complex process chains. While process chains are widely recognized as a major threat, no systematic analysis has hitherto been undertaken. We therefore establish new understanding on the factors that directly trigger or alter the disposition for subsequent events in the chain and derive a novel classification scheme and parameters to aid natural hazard assessment. Process chains in high mountains are commonly associated with glacier retreat or permafrost degradation. Regional differences exist in the nature and rate of sequencing—some process chains are almost instantaneous, while other linkages are delayed. Process chains involving rapid sequences are difficult to predict, and impacts are often devastating. We demonstrate that process chains are triggered most frequently by progressive failures, being the result of gradual landscape weakening and not due to the occurrence of a distinct process. If fluvial processes are part of the process chain the reach (or mobility) of process chains is increased. Increased mobility can also occur if sediment deposition areas along river channels are activated. As climate changes causes glacial environments to transform into sediment‐rich paraglacial and fluvial landscapes, it is expected that the mobility of process chains will increase in the future.

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Section: Description Of Process Chainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomorphic Process Chains in High‐Mountain Regions—A Review and Classification Approach for Natural Hazards Assessment

Mani,

Allen,

Evans

et al. 2023

Reviews of Geophysics

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“…This has been assessed through time series of high spatial resolution remote sensing images of various satellites. The meteorological variables, e.g., air temperature, surface temperature, turbulent heat flux, radiative fluxes, heat and momentum transfer coefficients, specific humidity and upper wind patterns, were found to show significant departures from their usual patterns starting from 72 h until a few hours before the rock-ice avalanche event mentioned by (Srivastava et al, 2022) using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. A similar pattern was observed in the parameters downloaded from https://power.larc.nasa.gov/data-access-viewer and then the graph was plotted (Fig.…”

Section: Triggering Of the Coalescent Natural Disastermentioning

confidence: 99%

Geoinformatics Perspective of Landslide and Catastrophic Flash Floods in Dhauliganga, Uttarakhand, India

2023

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On 07 February 2021, around 10:30 hrs local time catastrophic flash flood occurred in the Dhauliganga River (a tributary of the Ganga River) near Rini village at 2000 m above MSL (mean sea level) (Chamoli District), which killed 79 people and about 125 people were missing. Part of the area belongs to Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, which is completely protected from human interventions. Further, on the Dhauliganga River, two run-of-river hydroelectric power Rishiganga Small Hydro (13.2 MW) at 1975 m above MSL and Tapovan Vishnugad (520 MW) at 1795 m above MSL projects were also severely damaged due to the devastating flash flood. More than 150 workers were also trapped in the under-construction power tunnel of the Tapovan Vishnugad project. Initial assessment on the day of the event suggested that there was a glacial burst. Later, it was evaluated through time series of high spatial resolution remote sensing images of various satellites that a large part of a north-facing triangular-shaped slope at 5540 m above MSL had failed, which was also supporting a small hanging glacier. This landslide and, consequently, massive debris flow into the Raunthi Gadhera initially blocked the flow of Dhauliganga near Rini village [at 2000 m above MSL (mean sea level)], which later failed around 10:30 hrs on 07 February 2021 and brought a catastrophic flash flood in the Dhauliganga river. Further, remote sensing images acquired around 10:33 hrs of 07 February 2021 revealed a large dust cloud which clearly unravels the sequence of events from a high-altitude landslide, collapse of a small hanging glacier, and snow avalanche to catastrophic flooding. Even after the catastrophic flash flood of 07 February 2021, an elongated lake was created due to the blocking of the flow of the Rishi Ganga River. For detailed analysis, the calculation of dimension, area and volume of the failed slope was done using the high-resolution satellite images and digital elevation model using the RAMMS modelling technique. The north-facing triangular shape had a base of about 660 m and 1100 m height and the estimated total volume calculated was 20 million cubic meters, including rocks, snow, and ice. The debris flow runout simulation of the event was performed using the RAMMS debris flow model to calculate flow depth, flow velocity and maximum pressure. Also, from high-resolution satellite images, the dimensions of the artificial Rini Lake were estimated to have a length of about 800 m, a width at the front of about 100 m and a depth of about 46m, including freshly deposited debris and silt of about 10 m. To calculate the volume of the lake, simulation of lake was done in ArcView software using digital elevation model, and it came out to be ~5 million cubic meters. The paper also emphasizes monitoring of such vulnerable areas based on high-resolution time series satellite images, which are available on a regular basis to avoid the loss of human lives in the future.

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“…While several studies have focused on meteorological conditions prior to the rock and ice collapse (e.g. Siddique et al, 2022;Srivastava et al, 2022), there is no compelling evidence to suggest any direct external triggering. Rather, analyses suggests that long term regional climate and related cryospheric change combined with unfavorable geological structure and extremely steep topography were the main predisposing factors (Shugar et al, 2021).…”

Section: Kedarnath 2013 and Chamoli 2021 As Idealized Process Chainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomorphic process chains in high-mountain regions - A review and classification approach for natural hazards assessment

Mani

Allen

Evans

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Human populations and infrastructure in high mountain regions are exposed to a wide range of natural hazards, the frequency, magnitude, and location of which are extremely sensitive to climate change. In cases where several hazards can occur simultaneously or where the occurrence of one event will change the disposition of another, assessments need to account for complex process chains. While process chains are widely recognized as a major threat, no systematic analysis has been undertaken. We therefore assemble a broad set of process chain events from across the globe to establish new understanding on the factors that directly trigger or alter the disposition for subsequent events in the chain. Based on this new understanding, we derive a novel classification scheme and parameters to aid natural hazard assessment. Most process chains in high mountains are commonly associated with glacier retreat or permafrost degradation. Regional differences exist in the nature and rate of sequencing-some process chains are almost instantaneous, while other linkages are delayed. Process chains involving rapid sequences are difficult to predict or mitigate, and impacts are often devastating. We demonstrate that process chains are initialized most frequently as threshold failures, being the result of gradual landscape weakening and not due to the occurrence of a distinct trigger. The co-occurrence of fluvial processes or activation of sediment deposition areas increases the reach of process chains. Climate change is therefore expected to increase the reach of events in the future, as glacial environments transform into sediment-rich paraglacial and fluvial landscapes.

show abstract

7 February Chamoli (Uttarakhand, India) Rock-Ice Avalanche Disaster: Model-Simulated Prevailing Meteorological Conditions

Cited by 12 publications

References 66 publications

Geomorphic Process Chains in High‐Mountain Regions—A Review and Classification Approach for Natural Hazards Assessment

Geomorphic Process Chains in High‐Mountain Regions—A Review and Classification Approach for Natural Hazards Assessment

Geoinformatics Perspective of Landslide and Catastrophic Flash Floods in Dhauliganga, Uttarakhand, India

Geomorphic process chains in high-mountain regions - A review and classification approach for natural hazards assessment

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