Karakoram Research Articles

Evaluation of glacial resource potential for sustaining kuhl irrigation system under changing climate in the Himalayan region

A large numbers of mountain communities in the Himalayan region depend on glacier-fed kuhl system - gravity flow irrigation, for their sustenance. The depletion and retreat of glaciers often result in disruption of melt flows to kuhl system, which ultimately impacts the agriculture as well as livelihood of the local communities. Sustainability of glacial resource was assessed for establishing kuhl irrigation system based on indices of glacier decrease by number (GDN) and glacier depletion by volume (GDV) during the 2001–2013 period. The selected factors are important in terms of understanding point source and reserve potential of glaciers for sustaining glacier-fed kuhl irrigation in this region. The sustainability of glaciers was found good (i.e. a least decrease or rather increase in glacier number and volume) in about 23.6% glaciers (ice reserves about 705.9 km3) under >10 km2 area class of glaciers mainly in Gilgit and Shigar river basins of the Karakoram range. In the 5–10 km2 class of glaciers, sustainability was good in 49 glaciers (ice reserve 26.59 km3) and under 1–5 km2 class, in 558 glaciers (ice reserve 60.189 km3). Overall sustainability of glaciers appears to prevail in the Karakoram basins. The lesser sustainability of glaciers in the Himalaya basins like Astore and Jhelum would apparently be compensated by monsoon and change in rainfall pattern. A regular monitoring of the glacier resource and utilizing advance water conservation techniques would help in coping with negative impacts of down-wasting of glaciers and provide long-term support to kuhl irrigation system in the Himalayan region in future.

Assessment of glacier stored water in Karakoram Himalaya using satellite remote sensing and field investigation

Karakoram Himalaya (KH) has continental climatic conditions and possesses largest concentration of glaciers outside the polar regions. The melt water from these glaciers is a major contributor to the Indus river. In this study, various methods have been used to estimate the ice volume in the Karakoram Range of glaciers such as Co-registration of Optically Sensed Images and Correlation (COSI-Corr) method and Area-Volume relations. Landsat 8 satellite data has been used to generate the ice displacement, velocity and thickness map. Our study for 558 Karakoram glaciers revealed that the average ice thickness in Karakoram is 90 m. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey has been conducted in one of the KH glacier i.e. Saser La glacier and the collected GPR data is used for the validation of satellite derived thickness map. GPR measured glacier thickness values are found comparable with satellite estimated values with RMSE of 4.3 m. The total ice volume of the Karakoram glaciers is estimated to be 1607±19 km3(1473±17 Gt), which is equivalent to 1473±17 km3 of water equivalent. Present study also covers the analysis of glacier surface displacement, velocity and ice thickness values with reference to glacier mean slope.

Geology and Geochemistry of the giant Huoshaoyun zinc-lead deposit, Karakorum Range, northwestern Tibet

The recently discovered giant Huoshaoyun zinc-lead deposit in the Karakorum Range, northwestern Tibet, China, consists of a major zinc-lead carbonate and a minor lead-dominant sulfide mineralization with metal reserves of zinc and lead of over 16 million tonnes. The zinc-lead carbonate mineralization is composed of smithsonite and cerussite, with laminated, massive, veined and botryoidal textures, showing sedimentary and metasomatic structures. The lead-dominant sulfide mineralization is composed mainly of galena and minor sphalerite and pyrite, with laminated, brecciated, and veined textures. The laminated sulfide mineralized zones occur at the top of the deposit, whereas the zinc-lead carbonate mineralized bodies are located below the sulfide zones. Lead-dominant sulfide veins cut the zinc-lead carbonate ores and the host limestone. The sequence of formation of the lead-zinc ores with various mineral colors in thin sections is as follows: (1) light-colored to yellowish, fine- to coarse- and subhedral to euhedral smithsonite; (2) yellowish to reddish, fine- to coarse- and subhedral to euhedral smithsonite; (3) light-colored veined smithsonite; (4) white coarse-grained, xenomorphic cerussite; (5) colorless euhedral to sub-angular quartz crystals; (6) euhedral to anhedral lead-zinc sulfides and gypsum. The mineralization events of the Huoshaoyun deposit are: (1) early hydrothermal sedimentary smithsonite mineralization; (2) hydrothermal replacive smithsonite mineralization; (3) vein-type smithsonite mineralization; (4) open space filling and replacive cerussite mineralization; (5) lead-zinc sulfide mineralization. The fluid inclusions of cerussite indicate that the hydrothermal fluids of the cerussite ore-forming stage are characterized by a temperature range of at least 186–206 °C and low salinities (0.7–1.2 wt% NaCl eq.). The source of oxygen and carbon for the zinc-lead carbonate mineralization is possibly consistent with the involvement of marine water and a magmatic fluid, and is probably dominated by the magmatic fluid. The source of sulfur for the lead-dominant sulfide mineralization is possibly related to a magma reservoir. The zinc-lead-carbonate portion of the deposit represents a primary hypogene non-sulfide mineralization.

Summer Atmospheric Heat Sources over the Western–Central Tibetan Plateau: An Integrated Analysis of Multiple Reanalysis and Satellite Datasets

Multiple bias-corrected top-quality reanalysis datasets, gauge-based observations, and selected satellite products are synthetically employed to revisit the climatology and variability of the summer atmospheric heat sources over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). Verification-based selection and ensemble-mean methods are utilized to combine various datasets. Different from previous works, this study pays special attention to estimating the total heat source (TH) and its components over the data-void western plateau (70°–85°E), including the surface sensible heat (SH), latent heat released by precipitation (LH), and net radiation flux (RD). Consistent with previous studies, the climatology of summer SH (LH) typically increases (decreases) from southeast to northwest. Generally, LH dominates TH over most of the TP. A notable new finding is a minimum TH area over the high-altitude region of the northwestern TP, where the Karakoram mountain range is located. We find that during the period of 1984–2006, TH shows insignificant trends over the eastern and central TP, whereas it exhibits an evident increasing trend over the western TP that is attributed to the rising tendency of LH before 1996 and to that of RD after 1996. The year-to-year variation of TH over the central–eastern TP is highly correlated with that of LH, but that is not the case over the western TP. It is also worth noting that the variations of TH in each summer month are not significantly correlated with each other, and hence study of the interannual variation of the TP heat sources should consider the remarkable subseasonal variations.

Spaceborne Satellite for Snow Cover and Hydrological Characteristic of the Gilgit River Basin, Hindukush⁻Karakoram Mountains, Pakistan.

The Indus River, which flows through China, India, and Pakistan, is mainly fed by melting snow and glaciers that are spread across the Hindukush–Karakoram–Himalaya Mountains. The downstream population of the Indus Plain heavily relies on this water resource for drinking, irrigation, and hydropower generation. Therefore, its river runoff variability must be properly monitored. Gilgit Basin, the northwestern part of the Upper Indus Basin, is selected for studying cryosphere dynamics and its implications on river runoff. In this study, 8-day snow products (MOD10A2) of moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer, from 2001 to 2015 are selected to access the snow-covered area (SCA) in the catchment. A non-parametric Mann–Kendall test and Sen’s slope are calculated to assess whether a significant trend exists in the SCA time series data. Then, data from ground observatories for 1995–2013 are analyzed to demonstrate annual and seasonal signals in air temperature and precipitation. Results indicate that the annual and seasonal mean of SCA show a non-significant decreasing trend, but the autumn season shows a statistically significant decreasing SCA with a slope of −198.36 km2/year. The annual mean temperature and precipitation show an increasing trend with highest values of slope 0.05 °C/year and 14.98 mm/year, respectively. Furthermore, Pearson correlation coefficients are calculated for the hydro-meteorological data to demonstrate any possible relationship. The SCA is affirmed to have a highly negative correlation with mean temperature and runoff. Meanwhile, SCA has a very weak relation with precipitation data. The Pearson correlation coefficient between SCA and runoff is −0.82, which confirms that the Gilgit River runoff largely depends on the melting of snow cover rather than direct precipitation. The study indicates that the SCA slightly decreased for the study period, which depicts a possible impact of global warming on this mountainous region.

Diversity, ecological feature and conservation of a high montane flora of the Shigar valley (Karakorum range) Baltistan region, northern Pakistan

Diversity, ecological feature and conservation of a high montane flora of the Shigar valley (Karakorum range) Baltistan region, northern Pakistan

Hypsometric analysis of major glaciers of Shigar river basin in the Karakoram mountain range

Unique environment and multifaceted mountain geo-dynamics of Karakoram disguise the variations present in the hypsometries (frequency distribution of altitudes). We report hypsometry of mountain glaciers of Shigar river basin (with a 7046 km² land-covered area) in the Karakoram, to understand area-elevation relations of glacier environments and effects of magnitude of glaciated-area and location of Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA). We apply a method based on histogram analysis of glacier hypsometry and a pixel-based regression tool on an updated version of glacier outlines. A big portion of the largest glaciated area (20.63%) of Shiger river basin lies between mixed (high velocity), net accumulation (low velocity) regime of horizontal zone and clean-dusty regime of vertical zone. The smallest glaciated area is found in the extreme ends of the high (in the net avalanche accumulation and low velocity zone and temperature below -18° C) and low (the mostly debris and clean dust-covered ice, net ablation and medium velocity area) altitudes. There are major differences in the hypsometry of the smallest and largest glaciers like except Panmah glacier, large portions of largest glaciers (e.g. Baltoro, Biafo and Chogo Lungma) lies at ELA. Smallest glaciated area lies in low altitudes may contribute melt-water significantly to Indus river rise due to their shorter response times as compared to larger glaciers. The high elevation precipitation may sustain the glaciers of this basin whose melt-waters, especially those from largest glaciers, in turn feed the Shigar river. This dependence of the river on glacial and ice melt is manifested in the huge seasonal variation in its flow.

Siachin Dilemma: Strategic Importance and the way forward for India and Pakistan

The aim of this paper is to study the significance of the issue entailing military presence of India and Pakistan with a view to offer way forward to avert similar future conflicts between the two nuclear states. Ranked amongst the top five largest glaciers in the Eastern Karakorum Range of Himalayas, Siachin is situated at the average altitude of 18000 feet above the sea level. Spread over more than 700 kms, bed of the glacier is point NJ 9842. Siachin, being the highest battleground of the world, continues to be the bone of contention between Pakistan and India since 1984 which has cost immense loss men and material to the two neighboring states as a result of unfinished partition plan 1947. In the backdrop this paper focuses the history of conflict, the paper endeavors to analyze the environmental challenges and offer recommendations to resolve the long standing military conflict.

Predictions of future hydrological conditions and contribution of snow and ice melt in total discharge of Shigar River Basin in Central Karakoram, Pakistan

The high mountains of Hindu-Kush Karakoram and Himalaya (HKKH) contain a large volume of snow and ice, which are the primary sources of water for the entire mountainous population of HKKH. Thus, knowledge of these available resources is very important in relation to their sustainable use. A Modified Positive Degree Day Model was used to simulate daily discharge with the contribution of snow and ice melt from the Shigar River Basin, Central Karakoram, Pakistan. The basin covers an area of 6,921 km 2 with an elevation range of 2,204 to 8,611 m a.s.l.. Forty percent of the total area is glaciated among which 20% is covered by debris and remaining 80% by clean ice and permanent snow. To simulate daily discharge, the entire basin was divided into 26 altitude belts. Remotely sensed land cover types are derived by classifying Landsat images of 2009. Daily temperature and precipitation from Skardu meteorological station is used to calibrate the glacio-hydrological model as an input variable after correlating data with the Shigar station data ( r =0.88). Local temperature lapse rate of 0.0075 °C/m is used. 2 °C critical temperature is used to separate rain and snow from precipitation. The model is calibrated for 1988~1991 and validated for 1992~1997. The model shows a good Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency and volume difference in calibration (0.86% and 0.90%) and validation (0.78% and 6.85%). Contribution of snow and ice melt in discharge is 32.37% in calibration period and 33.01% is validation period. The model is also used to predict future hydrological regime up to 2099 by using CORDEX South Asia RCM considering RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 climate scenarios. Predicted future snow and ice melt contributions in both RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 are 36% and 37%, respectively. Temperature seems to be more sensitive as compared to other input variables, which is why the contribution of snow and ice in discharge varies significantly throughout the whole century.

Large observational bias on discharge in the Indus River since 1970s

The discharge of one of the world’s largest river - Indus River was reported to be increasing that was not supported by the Karakoram (KK) glacier expansion. A major hydrometric bias was ignored, which seemed similar to the montage that the Himalayan glaciers would disappear. This study proposed a framework for quantifying the bias resulting from inaccurate data affecting hydrologic studies on the Indus. We constructed a statistical model by converting the rating curves of rivers into air temperature (T) – discharge (Q) curves from an adjacent catchment in China where flow measurement was carried out using a standard method. We found that most flow data for the Indus were much greater than the error limits of T-Q curves estimated by daily data, a greater bias occurred in recent decades when discharge increased, the higher the flow was, the larger the bias was. The estimated mean annual and maximum monthly bias was 22.5% and 210%, respectively. These biases indicated that discharge increase in the Indus probably resulted from the large errors of hydrometrics without a scientific basis. We suggested a montage bias was needed in the hydrologic science of KK’s rivers that may strongly affect water resource management.

Rock‐glacier dams in High Asia

AbstractRock glaciers in semiarid mountains contain large amounts of ice and might be important water stores aside from glaciers, lakes, and rivers. Yet whether and how rock glaciers interact with river channels in mountain valleys remains largely unresolved. We examine the potential for rock glaciers to block or disrupt river channels, using a new inventory of more than 2000 intact rock glaciers that we mapped from remotely sensed imagery in the Karakoram (KR), Tien Shan (TS), and Altai (ALT) mountains. We find that between 5% and 14% of the rock glaciers partly buried, blocked, diverted or constricted at least 95 km of mountain rivers in the entire study area. We use a Bayesian robust logistic regression with multiple topographic and climatic inputs to discern those rock glaciers disrupting mountain rivers from those with no obvious impacts. We identify elevation and potential incoming solar radiation (PISR), together with the size of feeder basins, as dominant predictors, so that lower‐lying and larger rock glaciers from larger basins are more likely to disrupt river channels. Given that elevation and PISR are key inputs for modelling the regional distribution of mountain permafrost from the positions of rock‐glacier toes, we infer that river‐blocking rock glaciers may be diagnostic of non‐equilibrated permafrost. Principal component analysis adds temperature evenness and wet‐season precipitation to the controls that characterise rock glaciers impacting on rivers. Depending on the choice of predictors, the accuracy of our classification is moderate to good with median posterior area‐under‐the‐curve values of 0.71–0.89. Clarifying whether rapidly advancing rock glaciers can physically impound rivers, or fortify existing dams instead, deserves future field investigation. We suspect that rock‐glacier dams are conspicuous features that have a polygenetic history and encourage more research on the geomorphic coupling between permafrost lobes, river channels, and the sediment cascades of semiarid mountain belts. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Quantifying mass balance of East-Karakoram glaciers using geodetic technique

The Karakoram Range comprises the heavily glaciated mountains outside the Polar regions. A comprehensive assessment of glaciers variation in this region is crucial to ascertain constant water supply under different scenarios of futuristic climate change. Lack of accessibility to the Karakoram region has limited the use of conventional methods in monitoring variations in thickness and mass of glaciers, alternatively promoting the use of remote sensing based methods. The present study quantifies changes in thickness and mass budget of 24 glaciers in East-Karakoram region using geodetic technique. The Digital Elevation Model (DEM) adjustments and comparisons were made between Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) C-band DEM, year 2000 and recent DEMs of the years 2009 and 2014, which were generated using stereo pairs of Panchromatic Remote Sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) onboard the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) and Cartosat-1 respectively. The vertical accuracy of recent DEMs was assessed using ICESat-1 laser points. Other biases such as elevation dependent, radar penetration, terrain curvature and seasonality were also rectified before computing the glacier mass balance. Geodetic esimates indicate an overall marginal thinning (−0.09 ± 0.16 m/yr) and negative mass budget (−0.08 ± 0.13 m.w.e./yr) during the years 2000–2014. Interestingly, one glacier showed surge-type activity (advancing and thickening terminus) during 2000-2014, with highest (0.59) Accumulation Area Ratio (AAR) amongst studied glaciers. Time series analysis of climate data (temperature and precipitation) recorded at field observatories depict overall warming in the East-Karakoram region. The higher rate of mass loss during 2009–2014 (−0.07 ± 0.13 m.w.e./yr) compared to 2000–2009 (−0.05 ± 0.12 m.w.e./yr) was found in agreement with the rise in temperature and decline in precipitation over the region during different years. The results thus indicate an insignificant mass loss in East-Karakoram glaciers and thus exhibit a nearly balanced state since the year 2000 in contrast to glacier mass loss in other Himalayan ranges.

Contrasting streamflow regimes induced by melting glaciers across the Tien Shan \u2013 Pamir \u2013 North Karakoram

The glacierized Tien Shan – Pamir – Karakoram mountain complex supplies water to about 42 million people. Yet, the knowledge about future glacial runoff in response to future climate is limited. Here, we address this issue using a hydrological model, that includes the three components of glacial runoff: ice melt, snowmelt and the runoff of rainfall over ice. The model is forced by climate projections of the CMIP5 models. We find that the three components exhibit different long-term trajectories, sometimes opposite in sign to the long-term trend in glacier impacts. For the eastern slope basins, streamflow is projected to increase by 28% (ranging from 9 to 44%, from climate model variation (CMV)) by the late 21st century, under the representative concentration pathway, RCP8.5. Ice melt contributes 39% (25 to 65%, CMV) of the total streamflow increase. However, streamflow from the western slopes is projected to decrease by 5% (−24 to 16%, CMV), due to the smaller contribution of ice melt, less precipitation and higher evapotranspiration. Increasing water supply from the eastern slopes suggests more water availability for currently degraded downstream ecosystems in the Xinjiang province of China, while the likely decreasing streamflow in Central Asian rivers on the western slopes indicates new regulations will be needed.

Changing Food Systems and Their Resilience in the Karakoram Mountains of Northern Pakistan: A Case Study of Nagar

Mountain communities are considered particularly vulnerable to food insecurity, and their vulnerability is sometimes assumed to be increasing because of a loss of food self-sufficiency. Based on a case study of Nagar District in the Karakoram of northern Pakistan, the present article challenges this assumption by taking a broader perspective on food systems and their changes in recent decades. Defining food security as the outcome of a resilient food system, it investigates how major transformations of livelihoods and farming systems since the 1970s have increased or decreased the resilience of food systems in Nagar in various ways. Based on empirical field research conducted between 2014 and 2016, the study finds that local food systems have transformed from largely subsistence-oriented systems of food production and consumption to increasingly complex, multilocal networks in which off-farm livelihoods, external markets, and government-subsidized food supplies play central roles. This process of diversification of food systems has generally improved communities' resilience to food crises, despite the emergence of various new risks. The article argues that rather than overemphasizing local food self-sufficiency, research and policy related to food security in mountains must address the multidynamic and multifaceted character of food systems, as local production constitutes only one of several interrelated elements.

Impacts of Climate and Supraglacial Lakes on the Surface Velocity of Baltoro Glacier from 1992 to 2017

The Baltoro Glacier is one of the largest glaciers in the Karakoram mountain range. Long-term monitoring of glacier dynamics provides key information on glacier evolution in a changing climate, which is essential for regional water resource and natural hazard management. On large glaciers, detailed field based mass balance is not feasible. Ice dynamic variations quantify changes in mass transport and possibly the influence of environmental parameters on the evolution of the glacier. Although velocity variations of Baltoro Glacier during winter and summer are linked to seasonally enhanced basal sliding, little is known about differences in timing and magnitude of (intra-)seasonal velocity variations and their determining mechanisms. We present time series of annual, seasonal, and intra-seasonal glacier surface velocities by means of intensity offset tracking applied on multi-mission Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data for a period of 25 years from 1992 to 2017. Supraglacial lakes forming on the downstream glacier surface in summer were mapped from 1991 to 2017 based on the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), calculated from multi-spectral Landsat and ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) imagery. Additionally, precipitation data of the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) and temperature data of ERA-Interim were used to derive the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Temperature Index (STI) from 1998 to 2017. Linking surface velocities to the SPI confirmed a strong correlation between heavy precipitation events in winter and the magnitude and the timing of glacier acceleration in summer. Downstream extensions of summer acceleration that have been found since 2015 may be explained by additional water draining from an increased number of supraglacial lakes through crevasses that have been formed in consequence of higher initial velocities, evoked by strong winter precipitation. The warmer melt seasons observed in the years 2015 to 2017 additionally affects the formation of a supraglacial lake, so stronger summer acceleration events in recent years may be indirectly related to global warming.

A consistent glacier inventory for Karakoram and Pamir derived from Landsat data: distribution of debris cover and mapping challenges

Abstract. Knowledge about the coverage and characteristics of glaciers in High Mountain Asia (HMA) is still incomplete and heterogeneous. However, several applications, such as modelling of past or future glacier development, run-off, or glacier volume, rely on the existence and accessibility of complete datasets. In particular, precise outlines of glacier extent are required to spatially constrain glacier-specific calculations such as length, area, and volume changes or flow velocities. As a contribution to the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) and the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) glacier database, we have produced a homogeneous inventory of the Pamir and the Karakoram mountain ranges using 28 Landsat TM and ETM+ scenes acquired around the year 2000. We applied a standardized method of automated digital glacier mapping and manual correction using coherence images from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite 1 (ALOS-1) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar 1 (PALSAR-1) as an additional source of information; we then (i) separated the glacier complexes into individual glaciers using drainage divides derived by watershed analysis from the ASTER global digital elevation model version 2 (GDEM2) and (ii) separately delineated all debris-covered areas. Assessment of uncertainties was performed for debris-covered and clean-ice glacier parts using the buffer method and independent multiple digitizing of three glaciers representing key challenges such as shadows and debris cover. Indeed, along with seasonal snow at high elevations, shadow and debris cover represent the largest uncertainties in our final dataset. In total, we mapped more than 27 800 glaciers >0.02 km2 covering an area of 35 520±1948 km2 and an elevation range from 2260 to 8600 m. Regional median glacier elevations vary from 4150 m (Pamir Alai) to almost 5400 m (Karakoram), which is largely due to differences in temperature and precipitation. Supraglacial debris covers an area of 3587±662 km2, i.e. 10 % of the total glacierized area. Larger glaciers have a higher share in debris-covered area (up to >20 %), making it an important factor to be considered in subsequent applications (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.894707).

Projection of future streamflow of the Hunza River Basin, Karakoram Range (Pakistan) using HBV hydrological model

Hydrologiska Byrans Vattenbalansavdeling (HBV) Light model was used to evaluate the performance of the model in response to climate change in the snowy and glaciated catchment area of Hunza River Basin. The study aimed to understand the temporal variation of streamflow of Hunza River and its contribution to Indus River System (IRS). HBV model performed fairly well both during calibration (R2=0.87, Reff=0.85, PBIAS=−0.36) and validation (R2=0.86, Reff=0.83, PBIAS=−13.58) periods on daily time scale in the Hunza River Basin. Model performed better on monthly time scale with slightly underestimated low flows period during both calibration (R2=0.94, Reff=0.88, PBIAS=0.47) and validation (R2=0.92, Reff=0.85, PBIAS=15.83) periods. Simulated streamflow analysis from 1995–2010 unveiled that the average percentage contribution of snow, rain and glacier melt to the streamflow of Hunza River is about 16.5%, 19.4% and 64% respectively. In addition, the HBV-Light model performance was also evaluated for prediction of future streamflow in the Hunza River using future projected data of three General Circulation Model (GCMs) i.e. BCC-CSM1.1, CanESM2, and MIROCESM under RCP2.6, 4.5 and 8.5 and predictions were made over three time periods, 2010–2039, 2040–2069 and 2070–2099, using 1980–2010 as the control period. Overall projected climate results reveal that temperature and precipitation are the most sensitive parameters to the streamflow of Hunza River. MIROC-ESM predicted the highest increase in the future streamflow of the Hunza River due to increase in temperature and precipitation under RCP4.5 and 8.5 scenarios from 2010–2099 while predicted slight increase in the streamflow under RCP2.6 during the start and end of the 21th century. However, BCCCSM1.1 predicted decrease in the streamflow under RCP8.5 due to decrease in temperature and precipitation from 2010–2099. However, CanESM2 predicted 22%-88% increase in the streamflow under RCP4.5 from 2010–2099. The results of this study could be useful for decision making and effective future strategic plans for water management and their sustainability in the region.

DEM Generation from Multi Satellite PlanetScope Imagery

Planet Labs have recently launched a large constellation of small satellites (3U cubesats) capable of imaging the whole Earth landmass everyday. These small satellites capture multiple images of an area on consecutive days or sometimes on the same day with a spatial resolution of 3–4 m. Planet Labs endeavors to operate the constellation in a nadir pointing mode, however, the view angle of these satellites currently varies within a few degrees from the nadir leading to varying B/H ratio for overlapping image pairs. Due to relatively small scene footprint and small off-nadir angle, the baseline to height ratio (B/H) of the overlapping PlanetScope images is often less than 1:10, which is not ideal for 3D reconstruction. Therefore, this paper explores the potential of Digital Elevation Model generation from this multi-date, multi-satellite PlanetScope imagery. The DEM generation from multiple PlanetScope images is achieved using a volumetric stereo reconstruction technique, which applies semi global matching in georeferenced object space. The results are evaluated using a LiDAR based DEM (5 m) over Mount Teide (3718 m) in Canary Islands and the ALOS (30 m) DEM on rugged terrain of the Nanga Parbat massif (8126 m) in the western Himalaya range. The proposed methodology is then applied on images from two PlanetScope satellites overpasses within a couple of minutes difference to compute the DEM of the Khurdopin glacier in the Karakoram range, known for its recent surge. The quantitative assessment of the generated elevation models is done by comparing statistics of the elevation differences between the reference LiDAR and ALOS DEM and the PlanetScope DEM. The Normalized Median of Absolute Deviation (NMAD) of the elevation differences between the computed PlanetScope DEM and LiDAR DEM is 4.1 m and the elevation differences for the ALOS DEM over stable terrain is 3.9 m. The results show that PlanetScope imagery can lead to sufficient quality DEM even with a small baseline to height ratio. Therefore, the daily PlanetScope imagery is a valuable data source and the DEM generated from this imagery can potentially be employed in numerous applications requiring multi temporal DEMs.

"Impact of Sudden Advancing of Shishper Glacier - A Case Study of Interaction between Hydrology and Natural Environment in the Karakoram Mountains"

Livelihood of about 44% or~40,000 inhabitants’, residing in five major villages of the Central Hunza, situated in the western Karakoram depends on the arrangement and dynamics of water irrigation networks. These irrigation channels transport melt-water from shishper glacier for irrigation and to generate hydro-power. Until 1986, there was little double cropping even in the low-elevation areas (e.g. Aliabad) due to rugged-terrain and inaccessibility of melt-water from this glacier, which depends upon the season, glacier fluctuation, arrangement and dynamics of water irrigation networks. Wheat, barley, millet and buckwheat were ancestral crops of Central Hunza.

Morphological and Genetic Diversity of Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) in the Karakoram Mountains of Northern Pakistan

Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) is a dioecious, wind-pollinated shrub growing in Eurasia including the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan territory). Contrary to the situation in other countries, in Pakistan this species is heavily underutilized. Moreover, a striking diversity of berry colors and shapes in Pakistan raises the question: which varieties might be more suitable for different national and international markets? Therefore, both morphological and genetic diversity of sea buckthorn were studied to characterize and evaluate the present variability, including hypothetically ongoing domestication processes. Overall, 300 sea buckthorn individuals were sampled from eight different populations and classified as wild and supposedly domesticated stands. Dendrometric, fruit and leaf morphometric traits were recorded. Twelve EST-SSRs (expressed sequence tags-simple sequence repeats) markers were used for genotyping. Significant differences in morphological traits were found across populations and between wild and village stands. A significant correlation was found between leaf area and altitude. Twenty-two color shades of berries and 20 dorsal and 15 ventral color shades of leaves were distinguished. Mean genetic diversity was comparatively high (He = 0.699). In total, three distinct genetic clusters were observed that corresponded to the populations’ geographic locations. Considering high allelic richness and genetic diversity, the Gilgit-Baltistan territory seems to be a promising source for selection of improved germplasm in sea buckthorn.