Abstract
Central Asia consists of the five former Soviet States Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, therefore comprising an area of ~4 Mio km2. The continental climate is characterized by hot and dry summer months and cold winter seasons with most precipitation occurring as snowfall. Accordingly, freshwater supply is strongly depending on the amount of accumulated snow as well as the moment of its release after snowmelt. The aim of the presented study is to identify possible changes in snow cover characteristics, consisting of snow cover duration, onset and offset of snow cover season within the last 28 years. Relying on remotely sensed data originating from medium resolution imagers, these snow cover characteristics are extracted on a daily basis. The resolution of 500–1000 m allows for a subsequent analysis of changes on the scale of hydrological sub-catchments. Long-term changes are identified from this unique dataset, revealing an ongoing shift towards earlier snowmelt within the Central Asian Mountains. This shift can be observed in most upstream hydro catchments within Pamir and Tian Shan Mountains and it leads to a potential change of freshwater availability in the downstream regions, exerting additional pressure on the already tensed situation.
Highlights
Freshwater availability in Central Asia depends on the occurrence and amount of snowfall (e.g., [1,2,3])
Snow Cover Duration (SCD), SCDES, and SCDLS are calculated for all hydrological years between 1986/1987 and 2013/2014
This map illustrates how SCD is distributed in whole Central Asia (Figure 8d) as well as within the single catchment areas (Figure 8a–c): Longest SCD is found within the mountainous region to the south and southeast
Summary
Freshwater availability in Central Asia depends on the occurrence and amount of snowfall (e.g., [1,2,3]). Population growth and the intensifying demand on more water for irrigation and the production of hydropower stand in contrast to the decline of the resource [10,11], causing political tensions to arise [8,12]. Against this background a detailed analysis of processes like changing snow cover duration, onset, or melt of snow-covered areas becomes more important. The economy of Central Asia depends largely on agriculture, namely cotton and grains [13]. River runoff of Amu Darya and Syr Darya is of particular importance especially in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan as these countries irrigate large portions of their arable land
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