Chenab Basin Research Articles

Multi-criteria assessment of PDGLs for GLOFs hazards in the Bhut and Warwan sub-basin of the Chenab basin Northwestern Himalaya

Multi-criteria assessment of PDGLs for GLOFs hazards in the Bhut and Warwan sub-basin of the Chenab basin Northwestern Himalaya

Inventory and GLOF susceptibility of glacial lakes in Chenab basin, Western Himalaya

Global warming causes glacial mass loss, leading to the growth of high-mountain glacial lakes. The presence of glacial lakes poses a significant threat to downstream communities, as they can produce destructive Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs). Timely basin-scale inventory and GLOF susceptibility assessments are crucial, considering past GLOF events in the Himalayan region. Here, an updated inventory of glacial lakes in the Chenab basin, Western Himalayas was generated based on Sentinel-2 datasets for 2022. We assessed temporal changes and GLOF susceptibility for glacial lakes (>0.05 km2) through a multi-criteria based Analytical Hierarchical Process, classifying them into low, medium, high, and very high susceptibility classes. The results reveal 419 lakes (>0.001 km2; 9.97 ± 0.67 km2) in the basin in 2022. Glacial lakes (>0.05 km2) area increased by ∼75%, from 3.92 ± 0.58 to 6.86 ± 0.25 km2 during 1990–2022. Of the 42 lakes (>0.05 km2) evaluated, four showed very high GLOF susceptibility. The study emphasizes the impact of local geomorphology and glacier-lake interaction under warming climate, likely to increase the GLOF susceptibility in the region. Regular monitoring and detailed fieldwork for these susceptible lakes are crucial for early warning and disaster risk reduction for downstream communities.

Multi-parametrical analysis of Haptal glacier, lower Chenab basin, Jammu and Kashmir, India: A remote sensing approach

Multi-parametrical analysis of Haptal glacier, lower Chenab basin, Jammu and Kashmir, India: A remote sensing approach

Glacier Volume Estimation Using Laminar-Flow and Volume–Area Scaling Techniques in the Chenab Basin

Glacier Volume Estimation Using Laminar-Flow and Volume–Area Scaling Techniques in the Chenab Basin

An assessment of factors influencing morphometry of the Himalayan rivers Chenab and Teesta

Water resource is rapidly falling short to meet the needs of the population worldwide. The unjust anthropogenic activities have led countries to water stressed/scarce conditions, higher number of hydrological disasters such as floods, droughts and descending levels of groundwater. Being an alpine region, the trans Himalayan region is among the most susceptible regions of the world to the climate change. In this study, the comparative morphometric assessment was made of the eastern and western regions of the alpine zones of the Himalayas. Morphometry of the river basin is a step towards water resource management which provides baseline statistical data about river water. Both river basins were compared using morphometric parameters and further on the basis of 4th order watersheds. The study revealed significant differences in both the basins where the upper Chenab basin has a comparatively higher water discharge, more powerful geological control and lesser basin lag time. The upper Teesta basin demands more management strategies to cope up with higher soil erosion and floods.

Monitoring glaciers in the Chenab basin with SBAS InSAR technology

Monitoring glaciers in the Chenab basin with SBAS InSAR technology

Effect of shadow on atmospheric and topographic processed NDSI values in Chenab basin, western Himalayas

The present study was undertaken in the Chenab basin, western Himalayas to explore the effect of shadow on atmospherically and topographically corrected normalized difference snow index (NDSI) values. The research was conducted using the Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) datasets of two time periods i.e., February 2015 and February 2018. Our results suggested that total snow cover area (SCA) computed using NDSI from raw satellite images, under estimated SCA (viz. 10,938.66 and 7739.97 Km2); relative to atmospherically corrected (AC) (14,819.01 and 11,199.7 Km2) and topographically corrected (TC) (14,882.07 and 11,188.18 Km2) images during both the time periods (i.e., 2015 and 2018, respectively). This is mainly due to the non-identification of snow pixels in the shadow regions of raw imageries. Maximum SCA lies in the higher NDSI range in case of AC and TC images, unlike raw image where maximum SCA lies in lower NDSI range for both sunlit and shadow test sites. In the sunlit and shadow terrains, minimum NDSI values were found to be higher for TC images as compared to AC images, except few observations which exhibited similar values for both AC and TC images. In case of maximum NDSI values, most of the observations exhibited similar values for both AC and TC images, except few observations which depicted higher maximum NDSI value in AC images as compared to TC images in both the terrains. This observation ascertains the narrow range of NDSI values for TC images as compared to AC images, which could be attributed to reduced background reflection and low atmospheric scattering in the TC images. Comparison among shadow and sunlit snow terrains, reveals low values of minimum and maximum NDSI in the shadow site, which is ascertained by significant (p < 0.001) t-values of means difference between shadow and sunlit terrains. Moreover, snow surface temperature (SST) values computed for both the time periods, reveal low SST values for shadow sites (t-values −5.1 and − 10.57 for minimum SST, and − 9.1 and − 12.61 for maximum SST for the years 2015 and 2018, respectively) as compared to sunlit sites, and this observation validates that minimum amount of solar radiation reaches the shadow sites. Thus, it is concluded that AC and TC are helpful for delineation of snow pixels under shadow, but shadow has a significant impact on the spectral reflectance of snow, even in the AC and TC images. The influence of shadow should be taken into account for accurate estimation of physical properties and broadband albedo of the snow.

People-centric geo-spatial exposure and damage assessment of 2014 flood in lower Chenab Basin, upper Indus Plain in Pakistan

People-centric geo-spatial exposure and damage assessment of 2014 flood in lower Chenab Basin, upper Indus Plain in Pakistan

Flow velocities of the debris-covered Miyar Glacier, western Himalaya, India

ABSTRACT Spatiotemporal surface velocity measurements of the alpine valley type debris-covered Miyar Glacier of the Chandrabhaga (Chenab) basin, western Himalaya, were assessed based on the cross-correlation of Landsat images spanning nearly three decades (1992-2019). Long-term (1950-2015) temperature and precipitation trends were evaluated using Asian Precipitation Highly Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation (APHRODITE) datasets. The mean velocity (1992-2019) of the Miyar Glacier is ∼29 m/yr, with spatial patterns revealing that the debris-covered tongue is nearly stagnant (∼5 m/yr) compared to the debris-free up-glacier zone (∼35 m/yr). The transition zone from clean to debris-covered ice in the mid-ablation area shows the highest long-term mean velocities of ∼60 m/yr during the observation period, likely resulting from a steep surface gradient and greater ice thickness than the other regions of this glacier. The slow-moving and nearly stagnant debris-covered area reveals the highest amount of surface lowering due to the expansion of supraglacial ponds. Miyar Glacier experiences summer speed-up of ∼67–80% in seasonal velocity compared to winter, interpreted as a result from enhanced basal sliding during summer months due to warmer temperatures inputting more meltwater into the subsurface drainage system. Inter-annual velocity variations are greatest in the upper glacier, with higher velocities observed more frequently in recent decades. Future work should aim to elucidate the causes of this pattern, considering the overall rising air temperature trend in the western Himalaya.

Effect of changes in climate variables on hydrological regime of Chenab basin, western Himalaya

Abstract In high altitude, scarcely gauged basins, climate change impact assessment on river discharge is important for sustainable management of water resources. These basins are sources for irrigation and hydropower generation in the region. Expected changes in precipitation and temperature can affect the basin's hydrological regime which will have consequential impacts on the dependent sectors. For quantifying the impacts of major climatic variables on hydrological processes, this paper examined bias-corrected GCM outputs coupled with a hydrological model – HBV for Chenab basin. Trend analysis shows that precipitation would decrease after the short-term period and temperature is expected to increase throughout the century. Simulated river discharge is expected to increase throughout the 21st century under both RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios. It is also observed that there would be a shift in seasonal discharge patterns with increased pre- and post-monsoon contributions. Increase in snow and ice melt contribution to the overall discharge is also expected and would range between 50 and 59% until 2100. This study concluded that expected increase in discharge volume coupled with shift in seasonal discharge pattern would impact the basin water management and thus it is important to consider the impact of climate change on the hydrological regimes of basins.

Estimation of LST from multi-sensor thermal remote sensing data and evaluating the influence of sensor characteristics.

ABSTRACTRemote sensing science has proven fruitful for land surface temperature (LST) determination contrary to other techniques used especially for the rugged terrain like the Himalayan mountain system. In this study, an attempt has been made to estimate the land surface temperature in parts of Chenab basin, Jammu & Kashmir, by using Landsat-7 ETM+, TM, and Terra ASTER satellite data. The current study basically utilizes different surface temperature estimation techniques i.e. Reference Channel Method (RCM), Emissivity Normalization Method (ENM), Classification based and Stefan Boltzmann’s approach to inter-compare various temperature estimation techniques and to examine the influence of the difference in sensor characteristics on the estimated surface temperature on a glacier terrain. For the effect of spatial resolution variation in the determined (LST) values for ETM+ and TM was estimated and for radiometric resolution, effect comparison was carried between the ETM+ and ASTER-derived LST image. Furthermore, an effect of spatial resolution has been quantified and has been evaluated successfully due to the fact that two sensors used for the purpose did not differ much in their characteristics features.

Monitoring of Snow Cover Variability in Chenab Basin Using IRS AWiFS Sensor

Monitoring of seasonal snow cover is important for many applications such as melt runoff estimation, climate change studies and strategic requirements. Contribution of seasonal snow melt runoff of Chenab River is significant and important to meet hydrological requirement at foothills. Seasonal snow cover of Chandra, Bhaga, Miyar, Bhut, Warwan and Ravi, six major tributaries of Chenab River, becomes crucial to assess the water availability. In addition, altitudinal distribution of snow cover significantly influences the melt runoff which is highly sensitive to minor variations in atmospheric temperature. In this investigation, remote sensing based Normalized Difference Snow Index technique has been used to generate 10 daily snow cover product. Snow cover monitoring of all the sub-basins were carried out for 10 years from 2004–2005 to 2013–2014 during hydrological year (October to June) using Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) of Indian remote sensing satellite (IRS). Accumulation and ablation patterns of snow cover have also been analyzed for the six sub-basins. Accumulation and ablation pattern of snow cover, from 2004 to 2014 which shows slightly increasing trend for all the sub-basins. Meteorological data of Kelong at Bhaga sub-basin was also analysed. Average monthly snow line altitude was estimated for all the sub-basins using hypsographic curve. Chandra and Bhaga sub-basins are at higher altitude and Ravi sub-basin is at lower altitude. It was also observed that areal extent of snow reaches to lower altitude during last 5 years, particularly in Ravi sub-basin.

Significance of glacio-morphological factors in glacier retreat: a case study of part of Chenab basin, Himalaya

A study has been carried out in part of Chenab basin, Himalaya to understand the relationship between glacio-morphological factors and change in glacial area. Initially change in areal extent of glaciers was derived for two time frames (1962-2001/02 and 2001/02-2010/11). The study comprised of 324 glaciers for the monitoring period of 1962-2001/02 for, which 11% loss in glacial area was observed. Two hundred and thirty-eight glaciers were further monitored between 2001/02 and 2010/11. These glaciers showed an area loss of 1.1%. The annual deglaciation has been found to be higher during the period of 1962-2001/02 compared to 2001/02-2010/11. The spatial and temporal variability in deglaciation was also addressed using glacio-morphic parameters. Area, length, percentage of debris cover, and various elevation parameters of glaciers were observed to have significant controls on relationships to the rate of glacial shrinkage. Larger-area and longer glaciers show a lower percentage of retreat than smaller and shorter ones. Moreover, glaciers located at lower altitudes and having gentle slopes show more area retreat. The results of area retreat in debris covered and debris free glaciers supports that the glaciers covered by debris retard ice melting at some extent. 158 glaciers were observed having no debris cover, and these exhibit 14% of loss in surface area. In glaciers having 40% debris cover, 8% of deglaciation was observed. The glaciers located below equilibrium line altitude (ELA) have experienced 4.6% of deglaciation for the time frame 2001/02–2010/11 whereas it was found to be 1.1% for the glaciers occurring above ELA. However, the orientation of glaciers did not show any considerable influence on glacial change based on hypothesis.

Influence of shadow on the thermal and optical snow indices and their interrelationship

Abstract In snow-covered mountainous terrains, topography-induced different illumination conditions would cause varying influence on the snow characteristics in the sunlit and shadowed sites owing to albedo variation. Since the thermal bands suffer less by the shadows as compared to the optical bands, it is imperative to investigate the effect of shadow on the optical and thermal snow indices. The investigation comprises determination of (a) difference of means between the sunlit snow cover and snow cover under shadow for thermal snow indices, optical snow cover indices and optical snow cover characteristic indices and (b) correlation coefficient of the thermal snow indices with the respective optical snow cover indices and optical snow cover characteristic indices. The study was conducted in the test sites of the Chenab basin, western Himalayas using the Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager and Thermal Infrared Sensor data. The mean values of different snow indices exhibit significant difference between the sunlit and shadow test sites with Z-values ranging between 68.92 and 1220.39 (p r ≥ 0.81, while r -values lie below 0.29 in the sunlit test site (Student's t -test, p r = − 0.37 to − 0.62, p

Effects of terrain attributes on snow-cover dynamics in parts of Chenab basin, western Himalayas

ABSTRACTTerrain variables are the main factors affecting the spatial distribution of snow cover. This paper aims to find a relationship between snow-cover area (SCA) and topographic variables (elevation, slope and aspect), using MODIS Terra data (MOD09A1) in parts of the Chenab basin, western Himalayas. The inter-annual variability of SCA% for each month has been analysed for the years 2000 to 2011. The analysis reveals that mean annual SCA value was maximum (37.89%) in 2005 and minimum (32.07%) in 2001. The slope classes with maximum and minimum SCA% are 5°–10° and 30°–35°, respectively. Among the 16 aspect classes, the ESE-facing slope evinces maximum SCA%. During the snow accumulation period, the expanse at 3600–4300 m elevation, and in the depletion period, 4300–5000 m elevation are found to have maximum rate of change in SCA% per 100 m rise in elevation, i.e. 3.37% and 3.67%, respectively.EDITOR Z.W. Kundzewicz; ASSOCIATE EDITOR not assigned

Assessment of temporal dynamics of snow cover and its validation with hydro-meteorological data in parts of Chenab Basin, western Himalayas

The present investigation was conducted to analyze the temporal patterns of snow cover area% (SCA%), air temperature, snowfall and river discharge in parts of Chenab basin, western Himalayas. The relationship of mean SCA% with mean air temperature and river discharge was also tested using Pearson’s product-moment correlation at 95% confidence limit and further sensitivity analysis of river discharge to SCA and SCA to air temperature was performed. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 8-day surface reflectance product MOD09A1 was used to delineate SCA during the period 2000–2013. Moreover, variation in the lowest elevation from where snow cover area starts (LESCA) was also analyzed and its relationship with mean air temperature was also studied. Non-parametric method, Mann-Kendall test was employed to determine the trend in the SCA%, air temperature, snowfall and river discharge. The investigation carried out for three meteorological stations i.e. Batote, Reasi and Tandi revealed significant findings. At Batote and Reasi, statistically significant decreasing trends were observed over the period 2000 to 2012, for maximum, minimum and mean air temperature. Mean minimum SCA% exhibited a significant upward trend during 2000–2013 which is corroborated by the significantly increasing trend of mean annual snowfall (Tandi station) from 2000 to 2010. Further, significant decreasing trend of river discharge for the winter season at Batote station from 2000 to 2011 and decreasing trends in the maximum, minimum and mean air temperature at Batote and Reasi stations are also consistent with the increasing trend of SCA%. At both Batote and Reasi stations, mean SCA% exhibited significant negative relationship with the mean air temperature. On the other hand, LESCA exhibited positive correlation with the mean air temperature except in a few months, where negative relationship was seen. Sensitivity analysis of river discharge to SCA exhibited very low values of sensitivity coefficient in most of the months, indicating less sensitivity of river discharge to SCA. On the other hand, sensitivity coefficient of SCA to air temperature exhibited comparatively higher values which indicate SCA is more sensitive to air temperature.

Development of a new thermal snow index and its relationship with snow cover indices and snow cover characteristic indices

In this study, we have developed a new thermal snow index viz. S3 thermal snow index (S3TSI) and determined its relationship with two existing thermal snow indices (i.e., normalized difference snow thermal index (NDSTI) and normalized difference thermal snow index (NDTSI)) and with snow cover indices (i.e., normalized difference snow index (NDSI) and S3) and snow cover characteristic indices (i.e., snow grain size index (SGI) and snow contamination index (SCI)) for two different sites such as bare snow cover and snow cover mixed with vegetation, respectively, based on Pearson’s correlation coefficients. Whereas NDSTI uses blue band, NDTSI incorporates NDSI. With this analogy, we have developed “S3TSI” by substituting S3 for NDSI since S3 better demarcates snow cover mixed with vegetation. The study was conducted in snow cover test sites of the Chenab basin, Western Himalayas using LANDSAT-8 Operational Land Imager and Thermal Infrared Sensor data of November 2013. The investigation revealed that S3TSI exhibits considerably higher correlation with NDTSI and also with NDSI and S3 in either site except in the case of snow cover mixed with vegetation where NDTSI correlates better with NDSI. All the three thermal snow indices exhibit very high correlation with the snow cover indices in snow cover mixed with vegetation as compared to bare snow cover. However, the thermal snow indices show weak correlation with the snow cover characteristic indices as compared to the snow cover indices in either site. The findings demonstrate the significance of the new thermal snow index as compared to NDSTI and NDTSI.

Assessment of relationship between snow cover characteristics (SGI and SCI) and snow cover indices (NDSI and S3)

Snow cover characteristics play a vital role in hydrological and climatological analyses. Snow characteristics have been retrieved using different techniques but no study has been conducted hitherto to determine its relationship with snow cover indices. In the present study the relationship of snow cover characteristics i.e., snow grain size index (SGI) and snow contamination index (SCI) with the snow cover indices viz. normalized difference snow index (NDSI) and S3 index is investigated using LANDSAT 8 OLI data in parts of Chenab Basin, western Himalayas. This task has been accomplished through comparative assessment of the relationship of snow cover characteristics with NDSI and S3: first, over two distinct illumination conditions i.e., sunlit snow cover and snow cover under shadow and second, for two different time periods i.e., November 2013 and February 2014 respectively. The results reveal the following observations. First, in the sunlit snow cover, there occurs positive correlation of both NDSI and S3 with SGI whereas they are negatively correlated with SCI, but in the snow cover under shadow, both NDSI and S3 exhibit negative correlation with SGI and SCI each. Second, S3 shows higher correlation with SGI and SCI than NDSI in the respective illumination conditions and time periods. Third, SGI and SCI portray highly positive correlation between them in the shadow side and a smaller negative correlation in the sunlit side. The results provide improved understanding regarding the relationship of the snow cover characteristics with the snow cover indices.

Resilience and adaptation to extremes in a changing Himalayan environment

Human communities inhabiting remote and geomorphically fragile high-altitude regions are particularly vulnerable to climate change-related glacial hazards and hydrometeorological extremes. This study presents a strategy for enhancing adaptation and resilience of communities living immediately downstream of two potentially hazardous glacial lakes in the Upper Chenab Basin of the Western Himalaya in India. It uses an interdisciplinary investigative framework, involving ground surveys, participatory mapping, comparison of local perceptions of environmental change and hazards with scientific data, identification of assets and livelihood resources at risk, assessment of existing community-level adaptive capacity and resilience and a brief review of governance issues. In addition to recommending specific actions for securing lives and livelihoods in the study area, the study demonstrates the crucial role of regional ground-level, community-centric assessments in evolving an integrated approach to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation for high-altitude environments, particularly in the developing world.

Delineation of debris-covered glacier boundaries using optical and thermal remote sensing data

The varying extent of debris cover on a glacier's boundary may seriously hinder automated mapping and inventorying of glaciers in various parts of the world. The problem arises because supraglacial debris (i.e. debris on the glacier) and the adjacent periglacial debris (occurring outside the glacier boundary) have a similar spectral response in the solar reflection region, as both are derived from the same source (i.e. the valley rock). This study based on remote sensing data in a test area in the Chenab basin, Himalayas, shows that the thermal infrared bands have potential in resolving such ambiguity, as considerable temperature differences are found to exist between supraglacial debris and periglacial debris.