A precipitation perspective of the Hydrosphere-cryosphere interaction in the Himalaya

Abstract

The hydrological budget of the three major Asian rivers, namely the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, is controlled by the Indian monsoon and Westerlies but their contribution in these basins are highly variable. Widely varying average annual precipitation has been reported within these basins. A poor network of in situ rain gauges, particularly in mountainous regions, inaccessible terrain, high variations in altitude and the significantly large size of basins forces adaption of satellite-based average annual precipitation. We investigate precipitation patterns for these three basins by using satellite-based Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM-3B42) data and compare and validate it with Asian Precipitation Highly Resolved Data Integration Towards Evaluation (APHRODITE) and India Meteorological Department (IMD) interpolated gridded precipitation data. The entire basins as well as basinal areas within the geographic limits of India have been considered. Our study shows that the precipitation broadly follows an east–west and north–south gradient control. The easternmost Brahmaputra Basin has the highest amount of precipitation followed by the Ganga Basin, and the westernmost Indus Basin has the least precipitation; precipitation is highest on the higher elevations than compared to lower elevations of the basins. A seasonal- and elevation-based approach is adapted to estimate snow precipitation and is discussed in terms of overall precipitation.

Evaluation of Gridded Multi-Satellite Precipitation Estimation (TRMM-3B42-V7) Performance in the Upper Indus Basin (UIB)

“…In general, such investigations are less frequently carried out for mountainous regions and even less so for our study area, the Hindukush, Karakurm, and Himalays (HKH) region. In the HKH and the Upper Indus Basin (UIB) region, most of the reported works related to the evaluation of gridded precipitation products are suggestive of considerable biases in the gridded products in comparison to the gauge records [16][17][18][19].…”

Evaluation of Gridded Multi-Satellite Precipitation (TRMM-3B42-V7) Estimation Performance in the Upper Indus Basin (UIB)

“…In general such investigations are specifically for mountainous regions, and even less for the Hindukush, Karakurm and Himalays (HKH) region. In the HKH and the Upper Indus Basin (UIB) region, most of the reported work related to evaluation of gridded precipitation products, are suggestive of considerable biases in the gridded products in comparison to the gauge records [16][17][18][19].…”

The Himalayan cryosphere: past and present variability of the ‘third pole’

“…The present Khan et al (2017) estimate the average annual precipitation of the three Himalayan river basins, describe the east to west and north to south precipitation controls, and discuss solid v. liquid precipitation using 10-year remote sensing data. They explain the causes of variability in the existing data and comment on the relationship between the summer monsoon and precipitation from westerly winds.…”