Decadal Change in Supraglacial Debris Cover in Baspa Basin, Western Himalaya

Pratibha, S.; Kulkarni, Anil V.

doi:10.18520/cs/v114/i04/792-799

Cited by 21 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The reflectivity and surface temperature of debris cover, varies according to its constituent material [36]. Some researchers have recommended the NIR/SWIR band ratio (using the DN values) to demarcate debris-covered glacier boundaries [34,35]. In our study, Figure 3e represents the NIR/SWIR map which represents a better identification of the debris-covered parts of the glacier.…”

Section: Normalized Differential Indexing and Band Ratiomentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The present study shows that the given threshold value of NDSI (+0.4 for TM,ETM+ and OLI imagery) coincide with the debris free glacier boundaries but does not match with the debris-covered glacier boundary (Figure 3a). The spectral reflectance value from the ice, which is completely buried under thick supraglacial debris, may not be different from the surrounding non-glaciated areas, and hence NDSI proves to be incompetent in delineating debris covered parts of glacier ice [34]. Snow and glacier ice reflect up to 95% of its incoming solar energy at the visible (VIS) band, but reflects 50-80% at the near-infrared (NIR) region, while rock or debris-covered surface reflectivity is highly varied at visible and near-infrared (VNIR), shortwave infrared (SWIR) and thermal infrared (TIR) regions [35].…”

Section: Normalized Differential Indexing and Band Ratiomentioning

confidence: 99%

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Glacier Dynamics in Changme Khangpu Basin, Sikkim Himalaya, India, between 1975 and 2016

2019

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This study provides a high resolution glacier database in the Changme Khangpu Basin (CKB) using LANDSAT 8 (2014) and Sentinel-2A image (2016), mapping of 81 glaciers that cover a 75.78 ± 1.54 km2 area. Composite maps of land surface temperature, slope and Normalized differential Snow Index have been successfully utilized in delineating near accurate debris cover boundary of glaciers. The cumulative controlling parameters of aspect, elevation, slope, and debris cover have been assessed to evaluate the nature of glacier distribution and dynamics. The local topographic settings seem to have significantly determined the glacier distribution in the CKB. Almost 20% area erstwhile under glacier cover has been lost since 1975 at an average rate of −0.453 ± 0.001 km2a−1. The recent decade (2001–2016) has witnessed a higher rate of area shrinkage (−0.665 ± 0.243 km2a−1), compared to a relatively lower rate of recession (−0.170 ± 0.536 km2a−1) between 1988 and 2001. The lower rates of glacial recession can most likely be induced regionally due to relatively cooler decadal late summer temperatures and peak in the monsoon spell. Glaciers with western and north-western aspects showed more vulnerability to area loss than the rest of the aspects. Lower altitude glaciers have receded faster than ones perched up on higher elevations. The rate of glacier area recession has been nearly twice that on clean glaciers as compared to debris-covered glaciers in the CKB.

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Section: Normalized Differential Indexing and Band Ratiomentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Normalized Differential Indexing and Band Ratiomentioning

confidence: 99%

Glacier Dynamics in Changme Khangpu Basin, Sikkim Himalaya, India, between 1975 and 2016

2019

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“…For instance, a significant negative snow cover trend was reported in the upper Indus basins during the winter for the other seasons. The glaciers across the Himalaya were found retreating at a rate of 15.5 ± 11.8 m year -1 and have lost an overall area of 13.6 ± 7.9 % from the last four decades (W. Immerzeel, 2008;Pratibha & Kulkarni, 2018). A conspicuous variation in the trend from west to east over the HKH has been observed in recent studies.…”

Section: Temporal Trend Of Snow Covermentioning

confidence: 84%

Snow cover variability and trend over Hindu Kush Himalayan region using MODIS and SRTM data

Desinayak

Prasad

Kafatos

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Abstract. Snow cover changes has a direct bearing on the regional and global energy and water cycles, and the change in Earth's climate condition The study of long term altitudinal (spatial and temporal, 2000–2017) in the coverage of snow and glaciers in one of the world’s largest mountainous region, the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region including Tibet have been studied using remote sensing data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Terra (at 5 km grid resolution). Terra provided a unique opportunity to study zonal and hypsographic changes in the intra-annual (growing season and melting season) and inter-annual variations of snow and glacial cover over the HKH region (2000–2017). The zonal and altitudinal (hypsographic) analyses were carried out for melting-season and accumulating-season. The altitude-wise linear trend analysis (Pearson’s) of snow cover, shown as a hypsographic curve, clearly indicate a major decline in snow cover (average of 5 % or more, at 100 m interval aggregates) between 4000–4500 m and 5500–6000 m altitudes, which is consistent with the median trend (Theil-Sen, TS) and the monotonic trend (Mann-Kendall statistics, MK) analysis. The regions and altitudes where major and statistically significant increase (10 to 30 %) or decrease (−10 to −30 %) in snow cover are identified. The extrapolation of the altitude-wise linear trend shows that it may take between ~74 to 7900 year (for 3001–6000 m and 6000–7000 m altitude zones respectively) for mean snow cover to decline approximately 25 % in the HKH region, assuming no-change in other parameters) that affect the snow cover.

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“…The large debris-covered area over the ablation zones compared to the accumulation zones indicated the glacial transportation (englacial, subglacial, and supraglacial) of rocks and sediment from the higher to the lower zones, melting and glacial erosion, and hillslope processes (Banerjee and Wani, 2018). Some of the satellite observations have reported increasing debris cover over the Chandra basin glaciers and reported increasing glacier retreat as the major factor (Gaddam et al, 2016;Pratibha and Kulkarni, 2018). The increasing debris cover has also been reported for the Bhaga and Baspa river basins of the Western Himalaya (Pratibha and Kulkarni, 2018;Das and Sharma, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Supraglacial Debris Thickness on Thermal Resistance of the Glaciers of Chandra Basin, Western Himalaya

et al. 2021

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A large number of glaciers in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya are covered with debris in the lower part of the ablation zone, which is continuously expanding due to enhanced glacier mass loss. The supraglacial debris transported over the melting glacier surface acts as an insulating barrier between the ice and atmospheric conditions and has a strong influence on the spatial distribution of surface ice melt. We conducted in-situ field measurements of point-wise ablation rate, supraglacial debris thickness, and debris temperature to examine the thermal resistivity of the debris pack and its influence on ablation over three glaciers (Bara Shigri, Batal, and Kunzam) in Chandra Basin of Western Himalaya during 2016–2017. Satellite-based supraglacial debris cover assessment shows an overall debris covered area of 15% for Chandra basin. The field data revealed that the debris thickness varied between 0.5 and 326 cm, following a spatially distributed pattern in the Chandra basin. The studied glaciers have up to 90% debris cover within the ablation area, and together represent ∼33.5% of the total debris-covered area in the basin. The supraglacial debris surface temperature and near-surface air temperature shows a significant correlation (r = > 0.88, p = < 0.05), which reflects the effective control of energy balance over the debris surface. The thermal resistivity measurements revealed low resistance (0.009 ± 0.01 m2°C W−1) under thin debris pack and high resistance (0.55 ± 0.09 m2°C W−1) under thick debris. Our study revealed that the increased thickness of supraglacial debris significantly retards the glacier ablation due to its high thermal resistivity.

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Decadal Change in Supraglacial Debris Cover in Baspa Basin, Western Himalaya

Cited by 21 publications

References 40 publications

Glacier Dynamics in Changme Khangpu Basin, Sikkim Himalaya, India, between 1975 and 2016

Glacier Dynamics in Changme Khangpu Basin, Sikkim Himalaya, India, between 1975 and 2016

Snow cover variability and trend over Hindu Kush Himalayan region using MODIS and SRTM data

Influence of Supraglacial Debris Thickness on Thermal Resistance of the Glaciers of Chandra Basin, Western Himalaya

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