Glacier inventory and glacier changes (1994-2020) in the Upper Alaknanda Basin, Central Himalaya

Aditya Mishra; H. C. Nainwal; Tobias Bolch; Sunil Singh Shah; R. Shankar

doi:10.1017/jog.2022.87

Glacier inventory and glacier changes (1994-2020) in the Upper Alaknanda Basin, Central Himalaya

Aditya Mishra^*, H. C. Nainwal, Tobias Bolch, Sunil Singh Shah, R. Shankar

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Himalayan glaciers have been shrinking and losing mass rapidly since 1970s with an enhanced rate after 2000. The shrinkage is, however, quite heterogeneous and it is important to document individual glacier characteristics and their changes at the basin scale. We present an updated glacier inventory of the Upper Alaknanda Basin (UAB), Central Himalaya for the year 2020 and report area, debris cover and length changes for the periods 1994-2006 and 2006-2020 based on remote-sensing data. We identified 198 glaciers, comprising an area of 354.6 ± 8.5 km2, and classified them according to their size and morphology. The glaciers of the basin lost 4.2 ± 2.9% (0.16 ± 0.11% a-1) of their frontal area (from 368.6 ± 9.2 to 353.0 ± 5.3 km2) from 1994 to 2020. The average retreat rate was higher in the period 2006-2020 (13.3 ± 1.8 m a-1) in comparison to 1994-2006 (9.3 ± 1.9 m a-1). However, the area change rate was similar for the two periods (0.14 ± 0.27% a-1 for 1994-2006 and 0.16 ± 0.19% a-1 for 2006-2020). The debris-covered area has increased by 13.4 ± 4.4% from 1994 to 2020. A comparison with previous studies in UAB indicates consistent area loss of ~0.15% a-1 since the 1960s.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	591-606
Number of pages	16
Journal	Journal of Glaciology
Volume	69
Issue number	275
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2022.87
Publication status	Published - 13 Jun 2023
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Central Himalaya
climate change
debris-covered glaciers
glacier changes
glacier inventory

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Earth-Surface Processes

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1017/jog.2022.87Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Cite this

@article{b878110f74f44f1887fd610dae5e25a9,

title = "Glacier inventory and glacier changes (1994-2020) in the Upper Alaknanda Basin, Central Himalaya",

abstract = "Himalayan glaciers have been shrinking and losing mass rapidly since 1970s with an enhanced rate after 2000. The shrinkage is, however, quite heterogeneous and it is important to document individual glacier characteristics and their changes at the basin scale. We present an updated glacier inventory of the Upper Alaknanda Basin (UAB), Central Himalaya for the year 2020 and report area, debris cover and length changes for the periods 1994-2006 and 2006-2020 based on remote-sensing data. We identified 198 glaciers, comprising an area of 354.6 ± 8.5 km2, and classified them according to their size and morphology. The glaciers of the basin lost 4.2 ± 2.9% (0.16 ± 0.11% a-1) of their frontal area (from 368.6 ± 9.2 to 353.0 ± 5.3 km2) from 1994 to 2020. The average retreat rate was higher in the period 2006-2020 (13.3 ± 1.8 m a-1) in comparison to 1994-2006 (9.3 ± 1.9 m a-1). However, the area change rate was similar for the two periods (0.14 ± 0.27% a-1 for 1994-2006 and 0.16 ± 0.19% a-1 for 2006-2020). The debris-covered area has increased by 13.4 ± 4.4% from 1994 to 2020. A comparison with previous studies in UAB indicates consistent area loss of ~0.15% a-1 since the 1960s.",

keywords = "Central Himalaya, climate change, debris-covered glaciers, glacier changes, glacier inventory",

author = "Aditya Mishra and Nainwal, {H. C.} and Tobias Bolch and Shah, {Sunil Singh} and R. Shankar",

note = "Funding Information: The field work at Satopanth Glacier was supported by SERB & DST, New Delhi (Grant No. SB/DGH-101/2015 and DST/CCP/NHC/158/2018), IMSc, Chennai and SAC-ISRO funded projects. Parts of the work were conducted in the framework of the project {\textquoteleft}Understanding and quantifying the transient dynamics and evolution of debris-covered glaciers{\textquoteright} funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant No. 200021-169775). HCN, AM & SS are thankful to the Vice-Chancellor, HNB Garhwal University to provide infrastructural facilities. AM is grateful to Dr Prabhat Semwal for his help in GIS-related issues, and to Dr Argha Banerjee and Dr D. P. Dobhal for their valuable suggestions and discussion during the work. We also acknowledge the USGS (Earth Explorer), European Space Agency (ESA), NASA's Earth Data, and the RGI working group, ICIMOD and A. Sakai (GGI2) for providing satellite images, and other relevant data such as the glacier inventories free of cost. We thank Dr. Rachel Carr, Scientific Editor, and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions which led to the present improved manuscript. Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press.",

year = "2023",

month = jun,

day = "13",

doi = "10.1017/jog.2022.87",

language = "English",

volume = "69",

pages = "591--606",

journal = "Journal of Glaciology",

issn = "0022-1430",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press",

number = "275",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Glacier inventory and glacier changes (1994-2020) in the Upper Alaknanda Basin, Central Himalaya

AU - Mishra, Aditya

AU - Nainwal, H. C.

AU - Bolch, Tobias

AU - Shah, Sunil Singh

AU - Shankar, R.

N1 - Funding Information: The field work at Satopanth Glacier was supported by SERB & DST, New Delhi (Grant No. SB/DGH-101/2015 and DST/CCP/NHC/158/2018), IMSc, Chennai and SAC-ISRO funded projects. Parts of the work were conducted in the framework of the project ‘Understanding and quantifying the transient dynamics and evolution of debris-covered glaciers’ funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant No. 200021-169775). HCN, AM & SS are thankful to the Vice-Chancellor, HNB Garhwal University to provide infrastructural facilities. AM is grateful to Dr Prabhat Semwal for his help in GIS-related issues, and to Dr Argha Banerjee and Dr D. P. Dobhal for their valuable suggestions and discussion during the work. We also acknowledge the USGS (Earth Explorer), European Space Agency (ESA), NASA's Earth Data, and the RGI working group, ICIMOD and A. Sakai (GGI2) for providing satellite images, and other relevant data such as the glacier inventories free of cost. We thank Dr. Rachel Carr, Scientific Editor, and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions which led to the present improved manuscript. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press.

PY - 2023/6/13

Y1 - 2023/6/13

N2 - Himalayan glaciers have been shrinking and losing mass rapidly since 1970s with an enhanced rate after 2000. The shrinkage is, however, quite heterogeneous and it is important to document individual glacier characteristics and their changes at the basin scale. We present an updated glacier inventory of the Upper Alaknanda Basin (UAB), Central Himalaya for the year 2020 and report area, debris cover and length changes for the periods 1994-2006 and 2006-2020 based on remote-sensing data. We identified 198 glaciers, comprising an area of 354.6 ± 8.5 km2, and classified them according to their size and morphology. The glaciers of the basin lost 4.2 ± 2.9% (0.16 ± 0.11% a-1) of their frontal area (from 368.6 ± 9.2 to 353.0 ± 5.3 km2) from 1994 to 2020. The average retreat rate was higher in the period 2006-2020 (13.3 ± 1.8 m a-1) in comparison to 1994-2006 (9.3 ± 1.9 m a-1). However, the area change rate was similar for the two periods (0.14 ± 0.27% a-1 for 1994-2006 and 0.16 ± 0.19% a-1 for 2006-2020). The debris-covered area has increased by 13.4 ± 4.4% from 1994 to 2020. A comparison with previous studies in UAB indicates consistent area loss of ~0.15% a-1 since the 1960s.

AB - Himalayan glaciers have been shrinking and losing mass rapidly since 1970s with an enhanced rate after 2000. The shrinkage is, however, quite heterogeneous and it is important to document individual glacier characteristics and their changes at the basin scale. We present an updated glacier inventory of the Upper Alaknanda Basin (UAB), Central Himalaya for the year 2020 and report area, debris cover and length changes for the periods 1994-2006 and 2006-2020 based on remote-sensing data. We identified 198 glaciers, comprising an area of 354.6 ± 8.5 km2, and classified them according to their size and morphology. The glaciers of the basin lost 4.2 ± 2.9% (0.16 ± 0.11% a-1) of their frontal area (from 368.6 ± 9.2 to 353.0 ± 5.3 km2) from 1994 to 2020. The average retreat rate was higher in the period 2006-2020 (13.3 ± 1.8 m a-1) in comparison to 1994-2006 (9.3 ± 1.9 m a-1). However, the area change rate was similar for the two periods (0.14 ± 0.27% a-1 for 1994-2006 and 0.16 ± 0.19% a-1 for 2006-2020). The debris-covered area has increased by 13.4 ± 4.4% from 1994 to 2020. A comparison with previous studies in UAB indicates consistent area loss of ~0.15% a-1 since the 1960s.

KW - Central Himalaya

KW - climate change

KW - debris-covered glaciers

KW - glacier changes

KW - glacier inventory

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85160769957&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1017/jog.2022.87

DO - 10.1017/jog.2022.87

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85160769957

SN - 0022-1430

VL - 69

SP - 591

EP - 606

JO - Journal of Glaciology

JF - Journal of Glaciology

IS - 275

ER -

Glacier inventory and glacier changes (1994-2020) in the Upper Alaknanda Basin, Central Himalaya

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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