Spatiotemporal snow cover characterization and its linkage with climate change over the Chenab river basin, western Himalayas

Dharpure, Jaydeo K.; Patel, Akansha; Goswami, Ajanta; Kulkarni, Anil V.; Snehmani,

doi:10.1080/15481603.2020.1821150

Cited by 18 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 99 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The mMK-test shows a statistically significant increasing trend in annual SCA, with a rate of 663.88 km 2 /year (Table 1). A positive SCA trend and a decreasing temperature trend over the region have also been observed in previous studies [11,16,35,72].…”

Section: Sca Trend Analysissupporting

confidence: 87%

“…The sudden peak indicates that temperature has a stronger correlation with snow cover compared to precipitation. Dharpure et al[72] also demonstrated a sudden peak in temperature in 2016 and highlighted that the SCA is more sensitive to temperature over the Chenab river basin in the western Himalaya. In a recent study, Krishnan et al[73] inferred an increasing variability in western disturbances and expected a higher probability of snowfall in the Karakoram and western Himalayan regions, which will likely contribute to an increase in glacier mass.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Response of Snow Cover to the Climate in the Northwest Himalaya (NWH) Using Satellite Products

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Himalayan region is one of the most crucial mountain systems across the globe, which has significant importance in terms of the largest depository of snow and glaciers for fresh water supply, river runoff, hydropower, rich biodiversity, climate, and many more socioeconomic developments. This region directly or indirectly affects millions of lives and their livelihoods but has been considered one of the most climatically sensitive parts of the world. This study investigates the spatiotemporal variation in maximum extent of snow cover area (SCA) and its response to temperature, precipitation, and elevation over the northwest Himalaya (NWH) during 2000–2019. The analysis uses Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)/Terra 8-day composite snow Cover product (MOD10A2), MODIS/Terra/V6 daily land surface temperature product (MOD11A1), Climate Hazards Infrared Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) precipitation product, and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM product for the investigation. Modified Mann-Kendall (mMK) test and Spearman’s correlation methods were employed to examine the trends and the interrelationships between SCA and climatic parameters. Results indicate a significant increasing trend in annual mean SCA (663.88 km2/year) between 2000 and 2019. The seasonal and monthly analyses were also carried out for the study region. The Zone-wise analysis showed that the lower Himalaya (184.5 km2/year) and the middle Himalaya (232.1 km2/year) revealed significant increasing mean annual SCA trends. In contrast, the upper Himalaya showed no trend during the study period over the NWH region. Statistically significant negative correlation (−0.81) was observed between annual SCA and temperature, whereas a nonsignificant positive correlation (0.47) existed between annual SCA and precipitation in the past 20 years. It was also noticed that the SCA variability over the past 20 years has mainly been driven by temperature, whereas the influence of precipitation has been limited. A decline in average annual temperature (−0.039 °C/year) and a rise in precipitation (24.56 mm/year) was detected over the region. The results indicate that climate plays a vital role in controlling the SCA over the NWH region. The maximum and minimum snow cover frequency (SCF) was observed during the winter (74.42%) and monsoon (46.01%) season, respectively, while the average SCF was recorded to be 59.11% during the study period. Of the SCA, 54.81% had a SCF above 60% and could be considered as the perennial snow. The elevation-based analysis showed that 84% of the upper Himalaya (UH) experienced perennial snow, while the seasonal snow mostly dominated over the lower Himalaya (LH) and the middle Himalaya (MH).

show abstract

Section: Sca Trend Analysissupporting

confidence: 87%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Response of Snow Cover to the Climate in the Northwest Himalaya (NWH) Using Satellite Products

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Therefore, α was observed maximum in March that correspond to minimum SWN. Several authors have reported that the maximum snow cover extent measured in February and March over the Chenab basin for the period 2017/2018 (Dharpure, Patel, Goswami, & Kulkarni, 2020; Randhawa & Gautam, 2019). However, LWN constitutes a large amount of energy loss.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of mass and energy balance of glaciers using a distributed energy balance model over the Chandra river basin (Western Himalaya)

Patel

Goswami

Dharpure

et al. 2021

Hydrological Processes

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ongoing glacier shrinking in the Himalayan region causes a significant threat to freshwater sustainability and associated future runoff. However, data on the spatial climatic contribution of glacier retreat is scanty in this region. To investigate the spatially distributed glacier surface energy and mass fluxes, a two-dimensional mass balance model was developed and applied to the selected glaciers of the Chandra basin, in the Upper Indus Basin, Western Himalaya. This model is driven by the remote sensing data and meteorological variables measured in the vicinity of the Chandra basin for six hydrological years (October 2013 to September 2019). The modelled variables were calibrated/validated with the in-situ observation from the Himansh station in the Chandra basin. We have derived air temperature (T a) spatially using the multivariate statistical approach, which indicates a relative error of 0.02-0.05 C with the observed data. Additionally, the relative error between the modelled and observed radiation fluxes was <10.0 W m −2. Our study revealed that the Chandra basin glaciers have been losing its mass with a mean annual mass balance of −0.59 ± 0.12 m w.e. a −1 for the six hydrological years. Results illustrated that the mean surface melt rate of the selected glaciers ranged from −5.1 to −2.5 m w.e. a −1 that lies between 4500 and 5000 m a.s.l. The study revealed that the net radiation (R N) contributes $75% in total energy (F M) during the melt season while sensible heat (H S), latent heat (H l), and ground heat (H G) fluxes shared 15%, 8%, and 2%, respectively. Sensitivity analysis of the energy balance components suggested that the mass balance is highly sensitive to albedo and surface radiations in the study area. Overall, the proposed model performed well for glacier-wide energy and mass balance estimation and confirms the utility of remote sensing data, which may help in reducing data scarcity in the upper reaches of the Himalayan region.

show abstract

“…The station of which data was analysed falls in southern part of the basin. Moreover, rising trends in annual SCA were also reported in Indus basin (2000-2017Singh et al, 2014b), Kashmir Himalaya (2000Shafiq et al, 2019) and Chenab basin (2001-2017Dharpure et al, 2020;Sahu and Gupta, 2020).…”

Section: Insert Figurementioning

confidence: 83%

Exploring the links between variations in snow cover area and climatic variables in a Himalayan catchment using earth observations and CMIP6 climate change scenarios

Singh

Zhu

Liu

et al. 2022

Journal of Hydrology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spatiotemporal snow cover characterization and its linkage with climate change over the Chenab river basin, western Himalayas

Cited by 18 publications

References 99 publications

A Response of Snow Cover to the Climate in the Northwest Himalaya (NWH) Using Satellite Products

A Response of Snow Cover to the Climate in the Northwest Himalaya (NWH) Using Satellite Products

Estimation of mass and energy balance of glaciers using a distributed energy balance model over the Chandra river basin (Western Himalaya)

Exploring the links between variations in snow cover area and climatic variables in a Himalayan catchment using earth observations and CMIP6 climate change scenarios

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About