Recession and Morphological Changes of the Debris-Covered Milam Glacier in Gori Ganga Valley, Central Himalaya, India, Derived From Satellite Data

Mal, Suraj; Mehta, Manish; Singh, Rajeev; Schickhoff, Udo; Bisht, M. P. S.

doi:10.3389/fenvs.2019.00042

Cited by 23 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 105 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This could perhaps be attributed to the warming environment that increases ablation and [77,78] forces change in the form of precipitation [21,31,79] and potentially high ambient black carbon concentration, such as that observed near glaciers in the Kashmir region [80,81]. The accelerated rate of retreat of glaciers in northwest Himalaya has been very well documented in many recent studies [82][83][84]. The melt of Kolahoi Glacier has strongly impacted the streamflows of the two largest tributaries, Lidder and Sindh, draining into Jhelum.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

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

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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...

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

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

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Generally, classifying land-use patterns from panchromatic images with a high resolution, like the ones from CORONA, is challenging as a result of spectral limitations [26]. Some efforts have been made to acquire land-use maps using CORONA images, such as monitoring irrigation ponds, soil erosion, and cultivated land [22,25,26,[35][36][37][38][39]. To cover the coarse spectral limitations of CORONA images, Gurjar et al combined contrast, textural, and geometrical information to perform classification [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large-Scale Marsh Loss Reconstructed from Satellite Data in the Small Sanjiang Plain since 1965: Process, Pattern and Driving Force

Yan

2020

Sensors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Monitoring wetland dynamics and related land-use changes over long-time periods is essential to understanding wetland evolution and supporting knowledge-based conservation policies. Combining multi-source remote sensing images, this study identifies the dynamics of marshes, a core part of wetlands, in the Small Sanjiang Plain (SSP), from 1965 to 2015. The influence of human activities on marsh patterns is estimated quantitatively by the trajectory analysis method. The results indicate that the marsh area decreased drastically by 53.17% of the total SSP area during the study period, which covered the last five decades. The marsh mostly transformed to paddy field and dry farmland in the SSP from 1965 to 2015, indicating that agricultural encroachment was the dominant contributor to marsh degradation in the area. Analysis of the landscape indexes indicates that marsh fragmentation was aggravated during the past five decades in the SSP. Trajectory analysis also indicated that human activities have acted as the primary driving force of marsh changes in the SSP since 1965. This study provides scientific information to better understand the evolution of the wetland and to implement ecological conservation and sustainable management of the wetlands in the future.

show abstract

The World’s Mountains in the Anthropocene

Schickhoff

Bobrowski

Mal

et al. 2021

Mountain Landscapes in Transition

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recession and Morphological Changes of the Debris-Covered Milam Glacier in Gori Ganga Valley, Central Himalaya, India, Derived From Satellite Data

Cited by 23 publications

References 105 publications

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

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

Large-Scale Marsh Loss Reconstructed from Satellite Data in the Small Sanjiang Plain since 1965: Process, Pattern and Driving Force

The World’s Mountains in the Anthropocene

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About