Mass and Energy Balance Estimation of Yala Glacier (2011–2017), Langtang Valley, Nepal

Anushilan Acharya,Rijan Kayastha

doi:10.3390/w11010006

Abstract

Six-year glaciological mass balance measurements, conducted at the Yala Glacier between November 2011 and November 2017 are presented and analyzed. A physically-based surface energy balance model is used to simulate summer mass and energy balance of the Yala Glacier for the 2012–2014 period. Cumulative mass balance of the Yala Glacier for the 2011–2017 period was negative at −4.88 m w.e. The mean annual glacier-wide mass balance was −0.81 ± 0.27 m w.e. with a standard deviation of ±0.48 m w.e. The modelled mass balance values agreed well with observations. Modelling showed that net radiation was the primary energy source for the melting of the glacier followed by sensible heat and heat conduction fluxes. Sensitivity of mass balance to changes in temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, surface albedo and snow density were examined. Mass balance was found to be most sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation.

Highlights

The Himalaya, water tower of the world feeds several major river systems, sustaining one-sixth of the Earth’s population downstream mainly in China, India, and Nepal [1,2,3,4]
This study presented results of analysis of a six-year dataset of annual and seasonal mass balance values measured using the direct glaciological method between November 2011 and November 2017
It presents the use of energy balance model to predict the summer mass and energy balance for the period of 2011–2014 for Yala Glacier

Summary

Introduction

The Himalaya, water tower of the world feeds several major river systems, sustaining one-sixth of the Earth’s population downstream mainly in China, India, and Nepal [1,2,3,4]. It is one of the largest glacierized areas outside the polar regions with a total area coverage of 22,800 km2 [5] and regarded as the ‘Third Pole’ of the world [6,7,8]. Area and volume are used to quantify glacier response to climate change. Most glaciers in the Eastern and Central Himalaya belong to the summer-accumulation type, gaining mass mainly from summer-monsoon snowfall, whereas winter accumulation is more important in the Northwest [5,19,20]

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