Changing climate and glacio‐hydrology in Indian Himalayan Region: a review

Singh, Shaktiman; Kumar, Rajesh; Bhardwaj, Anshuman; Sam, Lydia; Shekhar, Mayank; Singh, Atar; Kumar, Ramesh; Gupta, Akhilesh

doi:10.1002/wcc.393

Cited by 68 publications

(50 citation statements)

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“…The glaciers in the Lahaul-Spiti receive precipitation throughout the year but majorly during July-September by Indian summer monsoon (ISM) and during January-April by mid-latitude winter westerlies (MLW) [2]. The warming trend of surface air temperature (e.g., 0.46 • per decade during 1971-2007) in western Himalaya is higher than the global average [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Elevation Change Rates of Glaciers in the Lahaul-Spiti (Western Himalaya, India) during 2000–2012 and 2012–2013

2016

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Abstract:Previous studies have shown contrasting glacier elevation and mass changes in the sub-regions of high-mountain Asia. However, the elevation changes on an individual catchment scale can be potentially influenced by supraglacial debris, ponds, lakes and ice cliffs besides regionally driven factors. Here, we present a detailed study on elevation changes of glaciers in the Lahaul-Spiti region derived from TanDEM-X and SRTM C-/X-band DEMs during 2000-2012 and 2012-2013. We observe three elevation change patterns during 2000-2012 among glaciers with different extent of supraglacial debris. The first pattern (<10% debris cover, type-1) indicates maximum thinning rates at the glacier terminus and is observed for glaciers with no or very low debris cover. In the second pattern (>10% debris cover, type-2), maximum thinning is observed up-glacier instead of glacier terminus. This is interpreted as the insulating effect of a thick debris cover. A third pattern, high elevation change rates near the terminus despite high debris cover (>10% debris cover, type-3) is most likely associated with either thinner debris thickness or enhanced melting at supraglacial ponds and lakes as well as ice cliffs. We empirically determined the SRTM C-and X-band penetration differences for debris-covered ice, clean ice/firn/snow and correct for this bias in our elevation change measurements. We show that this penetration bias, if uncorrected, underestimates the region-wide elevation change and geodetic mass balance by 20%. After correction, the region-wide elevation change (1712 km 2 ) was estimated to be −0.65 ± 0.43 m yr −1 during 2000-2012. Due to the short observation period, elevation change measurements from TanDEM-X for selected glaciers in the period 2012-2013 are subject to large uncertainties. However, similar spatial patterns were observed during 2000-2012 and 2012-2013, but at different magnitudes. This study reveals that the thinning patterns of debris-covered glaciers cannot be generalized and spatially detailed mapping of glacier elevation change is required to better understand the impact of different surface types under changing climatic conditions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Elevation Change Rates of Glaciers in the Lahaul-Spiti (Western Himalaya, India) during 2000–2012 and 2012–2013

2016

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“…A recent study attempted to analyze the temperature trend using the 8-day T s corrected using the difference between T s and T a calculated for 87 meteorological stations in the Chinese part of Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau [28]. Most of these published studies have compared the T a and T s at monthly or 8-day scales while several prominently used ecological and glacio-hydrological models in Himalaya that require daily temperature data as input parameter [4,29]. Moreover, such comparative studies for high mountains of Central or Western parts of Himalaya are completely missing.The observed temperatures in Himalaya are scarce and fragmented in spatiotemporal domain due to difficult terrain, inhospitable weather conditions, and logistic difficulties in setting-up the weather stations [29].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Most of these published studies have compared the T a and T s at monthly or 8-day scales while several prominently used ecological and glacio-hydrological models in Himalaya that require daily temperature data as input parameter [4,29]. Moreover, such comparative studies for high mountains of Central or Western parts of Himalaya are completely missing.The observed temperatures in Himalaya are scarce and fragmented in spatiotemporal domain due to difficult terrain, inhospitable weather conditions, and logistic difficulties in setting-up the weather stations [29]. The Himalayan mountains serve as a source of fresh water supply [30,31] and hydropower generation [32] to the densely populated mountainous regions of Indian Subcontinent.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The Himalayan rivers mainly consist of the meltwaters coming from snow and glaciers [30] and this runoff is largely dependent on the seasonal temperatures [4,33]. The glaciers in Himalaya are losing mass in general with a few exceptions [29,33]. However, the quantification of the changes evident in glacierized regions in Himalaya with respect to the changing temperatures are largely uncertain due to unavailability of well-distributed and spatiotemporally continuous network of meteorological stations [29].…”

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Quantifying the Congruence between Air and Land Surface Temperatures for Various Climatic and Elevation Zones of Western Himalaya

et al. 2019

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The surface and near-surface air temperature observations are primary data for glacio-hydro-climatological studies. The in situ air temperature (Ta) observations require intense logistic and financial investments, making it sparse and fragmented particularly in remote and extreme environments. The temperatures in Himalaya are controlled by a complex system driven by topography, seasons, and cryosphere which further makes it difficult to record or predict its spatial heterogeneity. In this regard, finding a way to fill the observational spatiotemporal gaps in data becomes more crucial. Here, we show the comparison of Ta recorded at 11 high altitude stations in Western Himalaya with their respective land surface temperatures (Ts) recorded by Moderate Resolution Imagining Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua and Terra satellites in cloud-free conditions. We found remarkable seasonal and spatial trends in the Ta vs. Ts relationship: (i) Ts are strongly correlated with Ta (R2 = 0.77, root mean square difference (RMSD) = 5.9 °C, n = 11,101 at daily scale and R2 = 0.80, RMSD = 5.7 °C, n = 3552 at 8-day scale); (ii) in general, the RMSD is lower for the winter months in comparison to summer months for all the stations, (iii) the RMSD is directly proportional to the elevations; (iv) the RMSD is inversely proportional to the annual precipitation. Our results demonstrate the statistically strong and previously unreported Ta vs. Ts relationship and spatial and seasonal variations in its intensity at daily resolution for the Western Himalaya. We anticipate that our results will provide the scientists in Himalaya or similar data-deficient extreme environments with an option to use freely available remotely observed Ts products in their models to fill-up the spatiotemporal data gaps related to in situ monitoring at daily resolution. Substituting Ta by Ts as input in various geophysical models can even improve the model accuracy as using spatially continuous satellite derived Ts in place of discrete in situ Ta extrapolated to different elevations using a constant lapse rate can provide more realistic estimates.

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“…The ever increasing temperatures have resulted in the faster melting of cryosphere reserves in the region [7,8]. Although most of the studies consider climate to be the main controlling factor in glacier recession [9][10][11], many studies identify the influence of topography [12][13][14] and debris cover on glacier retreat [15,16]. The warming trends over the region have not only accelerated the glacier melt [17][18][19] but have also changed the form of precipitation [20,21] that has resulted in persistently negative glacier mass balances in the region [22,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking the Recent Glacier Retreat and Depleting Streamflow Patterns with Land System Changes in Kashmir Himalaya, India

Rashid

Majeed

Aneaus

et al. 2020

Water

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This study reports the changes in glacier extent and streamflow similar to many Himalayan studies, but takes the unusual step of also linking these to downstream land use changes in Kashmir Valley. This study assessed changes in the area, snout, and equilibrium line altitude (ELA) of four parts of the Kolahoi Glacier using earth observation data from 1962 to 2018. Changes in the discharge of the two streams flowing out from Kolahoi Glacier into the Jhelum basin were also assessed between 1972 and 2018. Additionally, satellite data was used to track the downstream land system changes concerning agriculture, orchards, and built-up areas between 1980 and 2018. This analysis suggested a cumulative deglaciation of 23.6% at a rate of 0.42% per year from 1962 to 2018. The snout of two larger glaciers, G1 and G2, retreated at a rate of 18.3 m a −1 and 16.4 m a −1 , respectively, from 1962 to 2018, although the rate of recession accelerated after 2000. Our analysis also suggested the upward shift of ELA by ≈120 m. The streamflows measured at five sites showed statistically significant depleting trends that have been a factor in forcing extensive land system changes downstream. Although the area under agriculture in Lidder watershed shrunk by 39%, there was a massive expansion of 176% and 476% in orchards and built-up areas, respectively, from 1980 to 2018. The conversion of irrigation-intensive agriculture lands (rice paddy) to less water-intensive orchards is attributed to economic considerations and depleting streamflow.Water 2020, 12, 1168 2 of 18 to decrease in the streamflows in the Himalayan Rivers [7,[27][28][29], which could affect water availability downstream [30]. Studies suggest that the glacier recession in the Kashmir valley has already resulted in the depleted streamflows downstream [31,32]. The land system changes in the region [33][34][35][36] have been linked to depleting streamflows, economic considerations, and unplanned land transformation.The use of remote sensing data for quantifying land system changes over the Kashmir region has been widely documented [37][38][39][40]. At the same time, there is substantial scientific literature detailing the glacier retreat prevalent over the region. A recent study indicated that the glaciers in the Ladakh region are retreating at 0.55% a −1 [41], whereas another study [42] reported few stable and advancing glaciers in the Zanskar region of Jammu and Kashmir. Similar retreat estimates have been put forth for the Zanskar region for the glacier area changes carried between 1989 and 2007 [43]. However, very conservative area changes (0.16% a −1 ) have been reported for the neighboring Suru basin [44] for the glacier area changes assessed for the 1977-2017 period. In another study carried out in the Lidder watershed of the Jhelum basin, the glaciers were reported to be shrinking at 0.51% a −1 [17]. Glacier mass change over the western Himalayas has accelerated from 0.33 to 0.5 m w.e. (water equivalent) per year between 1970-2000 and 2000-2010, respectively [45]. Ther...

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Changing climate and glacio‐hydrology in Indian Himalayan Region: a review

Cited by 68 publications

References 103 publications

Elevation Change Rates of Glaciers in the Lahaul-Spiti (Western Himalaya, India) during 2000–2012 and 2012–2013

Elevation Change Rates of Glaciers in the Lahaul-Spiti (Western Himalaya, India) during 2000–2012 and 2012–2013

Quantifying the Congruence between Air and Land Surface Temperatures for Various Climatic and Elevation Zones of Western Himalaya

Linking the Recent Glacier Retreat and Depleting Streamflow Patterns with Land System Changes in Kashmir Himalaya, India

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