Need of integrated monitoring on reference glacier catchments for future water security in Himalaya

Azam, Mohd Farooq

doi:10.1016/j.wasec.2021.100098

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…In the present study, we applied a mass-and energy-balance model to simulate the B a on two climatically contrasting glaciers of DBG (central Himalaya) and CSG (western Himalaya), where relatively good field observations are available (Azam et al, 2018). The selected glaciers are reference glaciers in the HK (Azam, 2021). The model is forced with long-term, bias-corrected meteorological ERA5 reanalysis data between 1979 and 2020.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass- and Energy-Balance Modeling and Sublimation Losses on Dokriani Bamak and Chhota Shigri Glaciers in Himalaya Since 1979

Srivastava¹,

Azam²

2022

Front. Water

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Available surface energy balance (SEB) studies on the Himalayan glaciers generally investigate the melt-governing energy fluxes at a point-scale. Further, the annual glacier-wide mass balance (Ba) reconstructions have often been performed using temperature-index (T-index) models. In the present study, a mass- and energy-balance model is used to simulate the Ba on Dokriani Bamak Glacier (DBG, central Himalaya) and Chhota Shigri Glacier (CSG, western Himalaya) using the bias-corrected ERA5 data from 1979 to 2020. The model is calibrated using in-situ Ba and validated against available in-situ altitudinal and geodetic mass balances. DBG and CSG show mean Ba of −0.27 ± 0.32 and −0.31 ± 0.38 m w.e. a−1 (meter water equivalent per year), respectively, from 1979 to 2020. Glacier-wide net shortwave radiation dominates the SEB followed by longwave net radiation, latent heat flux, and sensible heat flux. The losses through sublimation are around 22% on DBG and 20% on CSG to the total ablation with a strong spatial and temporal variability. Modeled Ba is highly sensitive to snow albedo —with sensitivities of 0.29 and 0.37 m w.e. a−1 for 10% change in the calibrated value—on DBG and CSG, respectively. The sensitivity of the modeled mean Ba to 1°C change in air temperature and 10% change in precipitation, respectively is higher on DBG (−0.50 m w.e. a−1°C−1, 0.23 m w.e. a−1) than the CSG (−0.30 m w.e. a−1°C−1, 0.13 m w.e. a−1). This study provides insights into the regional variations in mass-wastage governing SEB fluxes at a glacier-wide scale, which is helpful for understanding the glacier–climate interactions in the Himalaya and stresses an inclusion of sublimation scheme in T-index models.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass- and Energy-Balance Modeling and Sublimation Losses on Dokriani Bamak and Chhota Shigri Glaciers in Himalaya Since 1979

Srivastava¹,

Azam²

2022

Front. Water

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“…The Chandra-Bhaga Basin is selected because this basin as well as its Chhota Shigri Glacier Catchment has been investigated for glaciohydrology by several studies (Azam et al, 2019;Mandal et al, 2020;Singh et al, 2021;Gaddam et al, 2022;Srivastava et al, 2022, etc. ) and also, the Chhota Shigri Glacier Catchment is having the longest series of observed meteorological data and discharge measurements that were available for the present study (Azam, 2021).…”

Section: Topographical and Climatic Characteristics Of The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 94%

“…In rough terrain like the Himalaya, the measurement of these parameters is very difficult because of the remote access and adverse climate conditions. But the Chhota Shigri Catchment is one of the glacier catchments which is having the longest series of observed meteorological data and discharge measurements (Azam, 2021), hence among the nine parameters three parameters (LRs, "x" and "y") were calculated and constrained using the field measurements in the Chhota Shigri Catchment, whereas the other model parameters were calibrated for the Chhota Shigri Catchment. C S and C R represent the losses between the available water (snowmelt + rainfall) and the runoff volume from the catchment or basin, it depends on the surface conditions in the catchment or basin.…”

Section: Model Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the transferability of snowmelt runoff model parameters: Discharge modeling in the Chandra-Bhaga Basin, western Himalaya

Vinze

Azam²

2023

Front. Water

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Snowmelt runoff plays a major role in the glacierized and snow-covered basins in the western Himalaya. Modeling is the most helpful tool to quantify snowmelt contribution in mountainous rivers. However, the model calibration is very difficult because of the scarcity of ground observations in the Himalaya. We applied snowmelt runoff model (SRM) in a reference catchment of Chhota Shigri Glacier in the Chandra-Bhaga Basin, western Himalaya. Three model parameters [temperature lapse rate and recession coefficients (x and y)] among the nine model parameters were constrained using extensive field observations while initial values of other parameters were adopted from previous studies and calibrated, and the model was calibrated and validated against the observed discharge data. The daily discharge was simulated over 2003–2018 for both Chhota Shigri Catchment and Chandra-Bhaga Basin using snow cover area (SCA), precipitation, and temperature as inputs. The simulated mean annual discharges were 1.2 ± 0.2 m3/s and 55.9 ± 12.1 m3/s over 2003–2018 for Chhota Shigri Catchment and Chandra-Bhaga Basin, respectively. The reconstructed discharge was mainly controlled by summer temperature and summer SCA in the Chhota Shigri Catchment and summer SCA and summer precipitation in the Chandra-Bhaga Basin. The decadal comparison showed an increase (11% and 9%) and early onset (10 days and 20 days) of maximum monthly discharge over 2011–2018 compared to 2003–2010 in both catchment and basin scales. The model output is almost equally sensitive to the “degree day factor” and “runoff coefficient for snow” in the Chhota Shigri Catchment and most sensitive to the “runoff coefficient for snow” in the Chandra-Bhaga Basin. Though the SRM parameters were constrained/calibrated in a data-plenty reference catchment of Chhota Shigri Glacier, their application resulted in large discharge overestimation at the basin scale and were not transferable in the same basin i.e., Chandra-Bhaga Basin. Extreme care must be taken while using SRM parameters from other basins.

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“…during a slightly different period (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016), from multiple ASTER DEMs (Brun et al, 2017). Hence, Chhota Shigri is not only a reference glacier in the Himalaya (Azam, 2021) but also a representative glacier for the whole Lahaul-Spiti region, as already suggested (Vincent et al, 2013).…”

Section: Geodetic Mass Balancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the present study, we apply the nonlinear model to reanalyse the annual MB series of Chhota Shigri Glacier since 2002, the longest series in the Himalaya. Azam (2021) highlighted the importance of Chhota Shigri as a reference glacier for large-scale MB and hydrological studies; therefore, the main aim of the present study is to produce the most accurate glacier-wide MB series in this region. First, the nonlinear model of Vincent et al (2018) was used to detect the erroneous point MB measurements in the series.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reanalysis of the longest mass balance series in Himalaya using nonlinear model: Chhota Shigri Glacier (India)

Azam,

Vincent,

Srivastava

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Abstract. In-situ glacier‒wide mass balances (MB) from traditional glaciological method often carry systematic biases. The glacier‒wide MB series on Chhota Shigri Glacier has been reanalysed by combining the traditional MB reanalysis framework and a nonlinear MB model. The nonlinear model is preferred over the traditional glaciological method to compute the glacier‒wide MBs as the former can capture the spatiotemporal variability of point MBs from a heterogeneous in-situ point MB network. Further, nonlinear model is also used to detect the erroneous measurements from the point MB observations over 2002‒2023. ASTER and Pléiades stereo-imagery show limited areal changes but negative mass balances of ‒0.38 ± 0.05 m w.e. a−1 during 2003‒2014 and ‒0.51 ± 0.06 m w.e. a−1 during 2014‒2020. The nonlinear model outperforms the traditional glaciological method and agrees better with these geodetic estimates. The reanalysed mean glacier‒wide MB over 2002‒2023 is ‒0.47 ± 0.19 m w.e. a−1, equivalent to a cumulative loss of ‒9.81 m w.e. Our analysis suggests that the nonlinear model can also be used to complete the MB series if for some years the field observations are poor or unavailable. With this analysis, we revisit the glacier-wide MB series of Chhota Shigri Glacier and provide the most accurate and up-to-date version of this series, the longest continuous ever recorded in the Himalaya. We recommend applying the nonlinear model on all traditional glaciological mass balance series worldwide whenever data is sufficient, especially in the Himalaya where in-situ data are often missing due to access issues.

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Need of integrated monitoring on reference glacier catchments for future water security in Himalaya

Cited by 10 publications

References 40 publications

Mass- and Energy-Balance Modeling and Sublimation Losses on Dokriani Bamak and Chhota Shigri Glaciers in Himalaya Since 1979

Mass- and Energy-Balance Modeling and Sublimation Losses on Dokriani Bamak and Chhota Shigri Glaciers in Himalaya Since 1979

On the transferability of snowmelt runoff model parameters: Discharge modeling in the Chandra-Bhaga Basin, western Himalaya

Reanalysis of the longest mass balance series in Himalaya using nonlinear model: Chhota Shigri Glacier (India)

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