Appraisal of Spatiotemporal Variations in Snow Cover Dynamics using Geospatial Techniques: A paradigm from Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Abstract

Snow and glaciers in the mountain ranges of Hindu-Kush, Karakoram, and Himalayas (HKH), are supposed to be shrinking. Consequently, serious significances occur in respect of water accessibility for inhabitants of down streams. This investigation is an effort o identify the temporal variation in snow covers of Gilgit Baltistan (GB), northern Pakistan. For the calculation of the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) and estimation of snow-covered area (SCA), MODIS images for the period of 2000 to 2020 were used. Hunza, Astore, Gilgit, Diamir, Shyok, Ghanche, Skardu and Shigar are major sub-basins lying in GB with Hunza and Skardu being the mostly glaciated areas. Annual fluctuation in snow cover within GB was 10 to 80%. In accumulation season, from December to February, snow cover was almost 80% while in melting season, from July to September this area was reduced to 65-75%. The maximum and minimum Snow-Covered Area (SCA) detected in 2009 was almost 57687.85 km2 and 12083.40 km2 respectively. These results show fluctuations in SCA within the time duration of the last two decades.