Fountain scheduling strategies for improving water-use efficiency of artificial ice reservoirs (Ice stupas)

Balasubramanian, Suryanarayanan; Hoelzle, Martin; Waser, Roger

doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2022.103706

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Distances between layers vary between 20 and 50 m. The trapping structure itself does not add additional risk in case it is destroyed during an avalanche event, as it does not add any rolling mass. If the site for avalanche trapping is found and selected at an altitude of around 4000 m a.s.l., it can be expected that some of the condensed snow mass will remain and can grow with subsequent snowfall and avalanches, hence producing a permanent mass that could be referred to as an artificial glacier, as in previous attempts using means to create such bodies of ice with water fountains (Balasubramanian et al, 2023).…”

Section: Avalanches and Irrigationmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Combining the available database of events with past regional climate data would allow one to understand climatologies of avalanches in HMA better, an approach already employed in the Alps (Eckert et al, 2010). This could allow for a better understanding of the link between a changing climate and the occurrence of avalanches, so far only investigated for a field site in India (Ballesteros-Cánovas et al, 2018) and one in China (Hao et al, 2023). More recently, distributed datasets on a number of variables including snow cover (Muhammad and Thapa, 2021), snow depth (Lievens et al, 2019), snow water equivalent (Smith and Bookhagen, 2018;Liu et al, 2021) and, locally, refreezing within the snowpack (Veldhuijsen et al, 2022) have become available.…”

Section: Avalanche Incidents and Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This has so far not been expanded beyond the western Himalaya, presumably also because in the east avalanches have been a minor concern so far. Contrary to Afghanistan, no comprehensive database of avalanches without any notable impact exists in India, but the only study to date linking a changing climate to avalanche frequency has been conducted here (Ballesteros-Cánovas et al, 2018).…”

Section: Mitigation Adaptation and Scientific Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Review article: Snow and ice avalanches in high mountain Asia – scientific, local and indigenous knowledge

Acharya¹,

Steiner²,

Walizada³

et al. 2023

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The cryosphere in high mountain Asia (HMA) not only sustains the livelihoods of people residing downstream through its capacity to store water but also holds the potential for hazards. One of these hazards, avalanches, so far remains inadequately studied, as the complex relationship between climate and potential triggers is poorly understood due to lack of long-term observations, inaccessibility, severe weather conditions, and financial and logistical constraints. In this study, the available literature was reviewed covering the period from the late 20th century to June 2022 to identify research and societal gaps and propose future directions of research and mitigation strategies. Beyond scientific literature, technical reports, newspapers, social media and other local sources were consulted to compile a comprehensive, open-access and version-controlled database of avalanche events and their associated impacts. Over 681 avalanches with more than 3131 human fatalities were identified in eight countries of the region. Afghanistan has the highest recorded avalanche fatalities (1057), followed by India (952) and Nepal (508). Additionally, 564 people lost their lives while climbing peaks above 4500 m a.s.l., one-third of which were staff employed as guides or porters. This makes it a less deadly hazard than in the less populated European Alps, for example, but with a considerably larger number of people affected who did not voluntarily expose themselves to avalanche risk. Although fatalities are significant, and local long-term impacts of avalanches may be considerable, so far, limited holistic adaptation or mitigation measures exist in the region. These measures generally rely on local and indigenous knowledge adapted to modern technologies. Considering the high impact avalanches have in the region, we suggest to further develop adaptation measures including hazard zonation maps based on datasets of historic events and modelling efforts. This should, however, happen acknowledging the already existing knowledge in the region and in close coordination with communities, local government and civil society stakeholders. More research studies should also be attempted to understand the trends and drivers of avalanches in the region.

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Section: Avalanches and Irrigationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Avalanche Incidents and Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mitigation Adaptation and Scientific Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Review article: Snow and ice avalanches in high mountain Asia – scientific, local and indigenous knowledge

Acharya¹,

Steiner²,

Walizada³

et al. 2023

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…If the site for avalanche trapping is found and selected at an altitude of around 4000 m a.s.l., it can be expected that some of the condensed snow mass will remain and can grow with subsequent snowfall and avalanches, hence producing a permanent mass that could be referred to as an artificial glacier, as in previous attempts using means to create such bodies of ice with water fountains (Balasubramanian et al, 2023). Moreover, FOCUS has also sourced an avalanche expert to help develop short and medium-term plans to mitigate the risk of avalanches in the highest-risk areas (Chabot and Kaba, 2016).…”

Section: Avalanches and Irrigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review article: Snow and ice avalanches in high mountain Asia – scientific, local and indigenous knowledge

Acharya

Steiner

Walizada

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The cryosphere in high mountain Asia (HMA) not only sustains livelihoods of people residing downstream through its capacity to store water but also holds potential for hazards. One of these hazards, avalanches, so far remains poorly studied as the complex relationship between climate and potential triggers is poorly understood due to lack of long-term observations, inaccessibility, severe weather conditions, and financial and logistic constraints. In this study, available literature was reviewed covering the period from the late 20th century to June 2022 to identify research and societal gaps and propose future directions of research and mitigation strategies. Beyond scientific literature, technical reports, newspapers, social media and other local sources were consulted to compile a comprehensive, open access and version controlled database of avalanche events and their associated impacts. Over 681 avalanches with more than 3131 human fatalities were identified in eight countries of the region. Afghanistan has the highest recorded avalanche fatalities (1057) followed by India (952) and Nepal (508). Additionally, 564 people lost their lives while climbing peaks above 4500 m a.s.l., one third of which were staff employed as guides or porters. This makes it a less deadly hazard than in the less populated European Alps for example, but with a considerably larger number of people affected who did not voluntarily expose themselves to avalanche risk. Although fatalities are significant, and local long-term impacts of avalanches may be considerable, so far, limited holistic adaptation or mitigation measures exist in the region. These measures generally rely on local and indigenous knowledge adapted with modern technologies. Considering the high impact avalanches have in the region we suggest to further develop adaptation measures including hazard zonation maps based on datasets of historic events and modelling efforts. This should however happen acknowledging the already existing knowledge in the region and in close coordination with communities and local government and civil society stakeholders. More research studies should also be attempted to understand trends and drivers of avalanches in the region.

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Nature-based solutions in Hindu Kush Himalayas: IUCN global standard based synthesis

Mehta,

Pandey,

Kumar Gupta

et al. 2023

Ecological Indicators

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Fountain scheduling strategies for improving water-use efficiency of artificial ice reservoirs (Ice stupas)

Cited by 3 publications

References 21 publications

Review article: Snow and ice avalanches in high mountain Asia – scientific, local and indigenous knowledge

Review article: Snow and ice avalanches in high mountain Asia – scientific, local and indigenous knowledge

Review article: Snow and ice avalanches in high mountain Asia – scientific, local and indigenous knowledge

Nature-based solutions in Hindu Kush Himalayas: IUCN global standard based synthesis

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