Snow cover trend and hydrological characteristics of the Astore River basin (Western Himalayas) and its comparison to the Hunza basin (Karakoram region)

Tahir, Adnan Ahmad; Chevallier, Pierre; Arnaud, Yves; Ashraf, Muhammad Salman; Bhatti, Muhammad Tousif

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.10.065

Cited by 116 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Similar observation has been reported from this region by other studies and has attributed to high degree of SCA variability and shorter temporal span of data (Immerzeel et al, 2009). Positive SCA trend in western Himalaya has also been reported by others (Singh et al, 2014;Tahir et al, 2015), may be due to increase in winter precipitation as a result of stronger westerly circulation (Archer and Fowler, 2004;Hewitt, 2005). A similar positive SCA trend is also reported from western China from 1951 to 1997 (Dahe et al, 2006).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 87%

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Climate and topographic controls on snow cover dynamics in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Gurung

Maharjan

Shrestha³

et al. 2017

Intl Journal of Climatology

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Snow governs interaction between atmospheric and land surface processes in high mountains, and is also source of fresh water. It is thus important to both climate scientists and local communities. However, our understanding of snow cover dynamics in terms of space and time is limited across the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, which is known to be a climatically sensitive region. We used MODIS snow cover area (SCA) data (2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012), APHRODITE temperature data (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007), and monthly long term in-situ river discharge data of the Gandaki (1968Gandaki ( -2010, Koshi (1977Koshi ( -2010 and Manas (1987Manas ( -2004 basins to analyse variations among four basins. We gained insights into short term SCA and temperature, long term discharge trends, and regional variability thereby. Strong correlations were observed among SCA, temperature and discharge thereby highlighting the strong nexus between them. Temporal and spatial snow cover variability across the basins is strongly coupled with the variability of two weather systems: Western Disturbances (WD) and Indian Monsoon System (IMS), and strongly influenced by topography. Manifestation of these variability in terms if downstream discharge can have repercussion to water based sectors: hydropower and agriculture, as low flow seasons is seen affected. This study adds to our knowledge of snow fall and melt dynamics in the HKH region, and intra-annual snow melt contributions to downstream discharges. The study is limited by short span of data and it is desirable to perform a similar study using data representing a much longer time span.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 87%

“…In contrary studies (Tahir et al, 2015) have reported an increase in SCA in the western Himalaya and the Karakoram area. These differences indicate that snow cover variability is high as it is affected by micro-climates, and research on snow therefore needs to be performed at an appropriate scale to capture micro-climatic effects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Climate and topographic controls on snow cover dynamics in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Gurung

Maharjan

Shrestha³

et al. 2017

Intl Journal of Climatology

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“…Ji et al (2016) and Ji (2016) noted that BC and dust in snow/ice decreased surface albedo and caused the snow water equivalent to decrease by 5-25 mm over the TP. Ménégoz et al (2014) has estimated that both dry and wet BC depositions affect the snow cover, reducing its annual duration by 1-8 days, which may potentially influence sustaining seasonal water availability (Immerzeel et al, 2010;Tahir et al, 2015).…”

Section: Changes In Snow Cover Duration Daysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Black carbon and mineral dust in snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Snow cover plays a key role for sustaining ecology and society in mountainous regions. Light-absorbing particulates (including black carbon, organic carbon, and mineral dust) deposited on snow can reduce surface albedo and contribute to the near-worldwide melting of snow and ice. This study focused on understanding the role of black carbon and other water-insoluble light-absorbing particulates in the snow cover of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The results found that the black carbon, organic carbon, and dust concentrations in snow cover generally ranged from 202 to 17 468 ng g −1 , 491 to 13 880 ng g −1 , and 22 to 846 µg g −1 , respectively, with higher concentrations in the central to northern areas of the TP. Back trajectory analysis suggested that the northern TP was influenced mainly by air masses from Central Asia with some Eurasian influence, and air masses in the central and Himalayan region originated mainly from Central and South Asia. The relative biomassburning-sourced black carbon contributions decreased from ∼ 50 % in the southern TP to ∼ 30 % in the northern TP. The relative contribution of black carbon and dust to snow albedo reduction reached approximately 37 and 15 %, respectively. The effect of black carbon and dust reduced the snow cover duration by 3.1 ± 0.1 to 4.4 ± 0.2 days. Meanwhile, the black carbon and dust had important implications for snowmelt water loss over the TP. The findings indicate that the impacts of black carbon and mineral dust need to be properly accounted for in future regional climate projections, particularly in the high-altitude cryosphere.

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“…Few field campaigns have suggested that the maximum precipitation within the UIB occurs roughly between 5000 and 6000 m asl [27,31,43,[58][59][60][61], where it becomes five to ten fold [27,61] and then decreases above such elevation range. Since, no long-term record is available above 4400 m asl, so far, observed precipitation datasets are neither fully representative of the basin discharge nor the glacial nourishment [10,42,62,63]. Based on glacier mass balance proxy, a first-order approximation of the vertical precipitation lapse rate for the western Karakoram has been reported to be around 0.21% ± 12% at the height of 5500 m asl [63].…”

Section: Model Setupmentioning

confidence: 99%

Future Water Availability from Hindukush-Karakoram-Himalaya upper Indus Basin under Conflicting Climate Change Scenarios

Hasson

2016

Climate

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Future of the crucial Himalayan water supplies has generally been assessed under the anthropogenic warming, typically consistent amid observations and climate model projections. However, conflicting mid-to-late melt-season cooling within the upper Indus basin (UIB) suggests that the future of its melt-dominated hydrological regime and the subsequent water availability under changing climate has yet been understood only indistinctly. Here, the future water availability from the UIB is presented under both observed and projected-though likely but contrasting-climate change scenarios. Continuation of prevailing climatic changes suggests decreased and delayed glacier melt but increased and early snowmelt, leading to reduction in the overall water availability and profound changes in the overall seasonality of the hydrological regime. Hence, initial increases in the water availability due to enhanced glacier melt under typically projected warmer climates, and then abrupt decrease upon vanishing of the glaciers, as reported earlier, is only true given the UIB starts following uniformly the global warming signal. Such discordant future water availability findings caution the impact assessment communities to consider the relevance of likely (near-future) climate change scenarios-consistent to prevalent climatic change patterns-in order to adequately support the water resource planning in Pakistan.

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Snow cover trend and hydrological characteristics of the Astore River basin (Western Himalayas) and its comparison to the Hunza basin (Karakoram region)

Cited by 116 publications

References 50 publications

Climate and topographic controls on snow cover dynamics in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Climate and topographic controls on snow cover dynamics in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Black carbon and mineral dust in snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau

Future Water Availability from Hindukush-Karakoram-Himalaya upper Indus Basin under Conflicting Climate Change Scenarios

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