scholarly journals Glacial lake variation and hazard assessment of glacial lakes outburst in the Parlung Zangbo River Basin

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1132-1143
Author(s):  
LIU Juan ◽  
◽  
YAO Xiaojun ◽  
GAO Yongpeng ◽  
QI Miaomiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Hazard Assessment ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Lake Variation

scholarly journals Simulation and Assessment of Future Glacial Lake Outburst Floods in the Poiqu River Basin, Central Himalayas

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1376
Author(s):  
Taigang Zhang ◽  
Weicai Wang ◽  
Tanguang Gao ◽  
Baosheng An
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Hazard Assessment ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Central Himalayas ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Flood

A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a typical glacier-related hazard in high mountain regions. In recent decades, glacial lakes in the Himalayas have expanded rapidly due to climate warming and glacial retreat. Some of these lakes are unstable, and may suddenly burst under different triggering factors, thus draining large amounts of water and impacting downstream social and economic development. Glacial lakes in the Poiqu River basin, Central Himalayas, have attracted great attention since GLOFs originating there could have a transboundary impact on both China and Nepal, as occurred during the Cirenmaco GLOF in 1981 and the Gongbatongshaco GLOF in 2016. Based on previous studies of this basin, we selected seven very high-risk moraine-dammed lakes (Gangxico, Galongco, Jialongco, Cirenmaco, Taraco, Beihu, and Cawuqudenco) to simulate GLOF propagation at different drainage percentage scenarios (i.e., 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%), and to conduct hazard assessment. The results show that, when any glacial lake is drained completely or partly, most of the floods will enter Nepal after raging in China, and will continue to cause damage. In summary, 57.5 km of roads, 754 buildings, 3.3 km2 of farmland, and 25 bridges are at risk of damage due to GLOFs. The potentially inundated area within the Chinese part of the Poiqu River basin exceeds 45 km2. Due to the destructive impacts of GLOFs on downstream areas, appropriate and effective measures should be implemented to adapt to GLOF risk. We finally present a paradigm for conducting hazard assessment and risk management. It uses only freely available data and thus is easy to apply.

scholarly journals Glacial Lake Inventory and Lake Outburst Flood/Debris Flow Hazard Assessment after the Gorkha Earthquake in the Bhote Koshi Basin

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei Liu ◽  
Ningsheng Chen ◽  
Yong Zhang ◽  
Mingfeng Deng
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flow ◽  
Hazard Assessment ◽  
Debris Flows ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Gorkha Earthquake ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
High Hazard ◽  
Koshi Basin

Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) evolve into debris flows by erosion and sediment entrainment while propagating down a valley, which highly increases peak discharge and volume and causes destructive damage downstream. This study focuses on GLOF hazard assessment in the Bhote Koshi Basin (BKB), where was highly developed glacial lakes and was intensely affected by the Gorkha earthquake. A new 2016 glacial lake inventory was established, and six unreported GLOF events were identified with geomorphic outburst evidence from GaoFen-1 satellite images and Google Earth. A new method was proposed to assess GLOF hazard, in which large numbers of landslides triggered by earthquake were considered to enter into outburst floods enlarge the discharge and volume of debris flow in the downstream. Four GLOF hazard classes were derived according to glacial lake outburst potential and a flow magnitude assessment matrix, in which 11 glacial lakes were identified to have very high hazard and 24 to have high hazard. The GLOF hazard in BKB increased after the earthquake due to landslide deposits, which increased by 216.03 × 106 m3, and provides abundant deposits for outburst floods to evolve into debris flows. We suggest that in regional GLOF hazard assessment, small glacial lakes should not be overlooked for landslide deposit entrainment along a flood route that would increase the peak discharge, especially in earthquake-affected areas where large numbers of landslides were triggered.

scholarly journals Glacial Lake Changes and Identification of Potentially Dangerous Glacial Lakes in the Yi’ong Zangbo River Basin

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 538
Author(s):  
Hongyu Duan ◽  
Xiaojun Yao ◽  
Dahong Zhang ◽  
Miaomiao Qi ◽  
Juan Liu
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Huge Number ◽  
First Order ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacier Melting ◽  
First Order Method ◽  
Very High

The southeastern Tibetan Plateau, where monsoonal temperate glaciers are most developed, has a huge number of glacial lakes. Based on Landsat Operational Land Imager (OLI) images, 192 glacial lakes with a total area of 45.73 ± 6.18 km2 in 2016 were delineated in the Yi’ong Zangbo River Basin. Glacial lakes with areas of less than 0.1 km2 accounted for 81.77% of the total number, and glacial lakes located above 4500 m elevation comprised 83.33%. Dramatic glacier melting caused by climate warming has occurred, resulting in the formation and expansion of glacial lakes and the increase of potential glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) risk. From 1970 to 2016, the total area of glaciers in the basin has decreased by 35.39%, whereas the number and total area of glacial lakes have, respectively, increased by 86 and 1.59 km2. In that time, 110 new glacial lakes emerged, whereas 24 of the original lakes disappeared. The newly formed lakes have a smaller mean area but higher mean elevation than the lakes that disappeared. Based on five indicators, a first-order method was used to identify glacial lakes that pose potential threats. We identified 10 lakes with very high, 7 with high, 31 with medium, and 19 with low GLOF susceptibility, out of 67 moraine-dammed glacial lakes with areas larger than 0.02 km2. Understanding the behavior of glaciers and glacial lakes is a vital aspect of GLOFs disaster management, and the monitoring of glacial lakes should be strengthened.

scholarly journals Glacial lake evolution and glacier–lake interactions in the Poiqu River basin, central Himalaya, 1964–2017

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (251) ◽  
pp. 347-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
GUOQING ZHANG ◽  
TOBIAS BOLCH ◽  
SIMON ALLEN ◽  
ANDREAS LINSBAUER ◽  
WENFENG CHEN ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Central Himalaya ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Elevation Change ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Entire Study ◽  
Lake Development ◽  
The Mean

ABSTRACTDespite previous studies, glacier–lake interactions and future lake development in the Poiqu River basin, central Himalaya, are still not well understood. We mapped glacial lakes, glaciers, their frontal positions and ice flow from optical remote sensing data, and calculated glacier surface elevation change from digital terrain models. During 1964–2017, the total glacial-lake area increased by ~110%. Glaciers retreated with an average rate of ~1.4 km2 a−1 between 1975 and 2015. Based on rapid area expansion (>150%), and information from previous studies, eight lakes were considered to be potentially dangerous glacial lakes. Corresponding lake-terminating glaciers showed an overall retreat of 6.0 ± 1.4 to 26.6 ± 1.1 m a−1 and accompanying lake expansion. The regional mean glacier elevation change was −0.39 ± 0.13 m a−1 while the glaciers associated with the eight potentially dangerous lakes lowered by −0.71 ± 0.05 m a−1 from 1974 to 2017. The mean ice flow speed of these glaciers was ~10 m a−1 from 2013 to 2017; about double the mean for the entire study area. Analysis of these data along with climate observations suggests that ice melting and calving processes play the dominant role in driving lake enlargement. Modelling of future lake development shows where new lakes might emerge and existing lakes could expand with projected glacial recession.

scholarly journals Changes in glacial lakes in the Poiqu River basin in the central Himalayas

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 5879-5903
Author(s):  
Pengcheng Su ◽  
Jingjing Liu ◽  
Yong Li ◽  
Wei Liu ◽  
Yang Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Lake Basin ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Water Supplies ◽  
Central Himalayas ◽  
Lake Evolution ◽  
Glacier Melting

Abstract. The Poiqu River basin is an area of concentration for glaciers and glacial lakes in the central Himalayas, where 147 glacial lakes were identified, based on perennial remote sensing images, with lake area ranging from 0.0002 to 5.5 km2 – a total of 19.89 km2. Since 2004, the retreat rate of glacier has reached as high as 5.0 km2 a−1, while the growth rate of glacial lake has reached 0.24 km2 a−1. We take five typical lakes as our case study and find that the retreat of glacier area reaches 31.2 %, while the glacial lake area has expanded by 166 %. Moreover, we reconstruct the topography of the lake basin to calculate the water capacity and propose a water balance equation (WBE) to explore the lake evolution. By applying the WBE to the five lakes, we calculate the water supplies of the last few years and compare this with the results of field surveys, which are in agreement, within an error of only 1.86 % on average. The WBE also reveals that the water supplies to the lake depend strongly on the altitude. Lakes at low altitudes are supplied by glacier melting, and lakes at high altitudes are supplied by snowmelts. The WBE is not only applicable for predicting future changes in glacial lakes under climate warming conditions but is also useful for assessing water resources from rivers in the central Himalayas.

scholarly journals Changes in Glaciers and Glacial Lakes and the Identification of Dangerous Glacial Lakes in the Pumqu River Basin, Xizang (Tibet)

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Che ◽  
Lin Xiao ◽  
Yuei-An Liou
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Increase Rate ◽  
Increasing Temperature

Latest satellite images have been utilized to update the inventories of glaciers and glacial lakes in the Pumqu river basin, Xizang (Tibet), in the study. Compared to the inventories in 1970s, the areas of glaciers are reduced by 19.05% while the areas of glacial lakes are increased by 26.76%. The magnitudes of glacier retreat rate and glacial lake increase rate during the period of 2001–2013 are more significant than those for the period of the 1970s–2001. The accelerated changes in areas of the glaciers and glacial lakes, as well as the increasing temperature and rising variability of precipitation, have resulted in an increased risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in the Pumqu river basin. Integrated criteria were established to identify potentially dangerous glacial lakes based on a bibliometric analysis method. It is found, in total, 19 glacial lakes were identified as dangerous. Such finding suggests that there is an immediate need to conduct field surveys not only to validate the findings, but also to acquire information for further use in order to assure the welfare of the humans.

scholarly journals Glacial Lake Outburst Floods Simulation in the Yi’ong Zangbo River Basin Based on One-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Wang ◽  
Hongyu Duan ◽  
Na Liu ◽  
Zhishui Du ◽  
Pan Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Hydrodynamic Model ◽  
Peak Discharge ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
The One

Abstract Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are a serious potential threat to the safety of life and property in downstream areas. In this study, moraine-dammed glacial lakes in the Yi’ong Zangbo River basin were recognized based on Landsat ETM+/TM/OLI images in 2000 and 2019. And the GLOFs for the Jionglaco, the largest glacial lake in this basin, was simulated using the one-dimensional hydrodynamic model. The results show that the total number and area of moraine-dammed glacial lakes in this basin increased by 10 (10.52%) and 5.49 km2 (48.24%) from 2000 to 2019, in which the area of the Jionglaco increased by 3.22 km2. The peak discharge at the breach outlet for five scenarios with different combinations of breach width (80 m and 120 m), depth (2.5 m and 5 m) and flood time (1.5 h and 3 h) are 489 m3/s, 1327.43 m3/s, 444.32 m3/s, 617.47 m3/s and 1570.61 m3/s. With the addition of baseflow in river, the peak discharge at bridge site 15 138.93 km from Jionglaco are 1040.89 m3/s, 1724.00 m3/s, 1024.85 m3/s, 1162.25 m3/s and 1990.52 m3/s. The combination of baseflow in river and the GLOFs discharge results in the increasing peak discharge in the further downstream region. However, the arrival of peak discharge in downstream areas is delayed, which increases the chances of people escaping. This study aims to provide some references for the prevention of GLOFs in this region.

scholarly journals Risk Analysis and Flood Hazard Assessment in the Hornád River Basin

2021 ◽  
Vol 656 (1) ◽  
pp. 012010
Author(s):  
M Zeleňáková ◽  
M Šugareková ◽  
P Purcz ◽  
S Gałaś ◽  
M M Portela ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Analysis ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Hazard Assessment ◽  
Flood Hazard ◽  
Flood Hazard Assessment

scholarly journals Assessing Climate Change Trends and Their Relationships with Alpine Vegetation and Surface Water Dynamics in the Everest Region, Nepal

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 987
Author(s):  
Mana Raj Rai ◽  
Amnat Chidthaisong ◽  
Chaiwat Ekkawatpanit ◽  
Pariwate Varnakovida
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Annual Precipitation ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Alpine Vegetation ◽  
Koshi River Basin

The Himalayas, especially the Everest region, are highly sensitive to climate change. Although there are research works on this region related to cryospheric work, the ecological understandings of the alpine zone and climate impacts are limited. This study aimed to assess the changes in surface water including glacier lake and streamflow and the spatial and temporal changes in alpine vegetation and examine their relationships with climatic factors (temperature and precipitation) during 1995–2019 in the Everest region and the Dudh Koshi river basin. In this study, Landsat time-series data, European Commission’s Joint Research Center (JRC) surface water data, ECMWF Reanalysis 5th Generation (ERA5) reanalysis temperature data, and meteorological station data were used. It was found that the glacial lake area and volume are expanding at the rates of 0.0676 and 0.0198 km3/year, respectively; the average annual streamflow is decreasing at the rate of 2.73 m3/s/year. Similarly, the alpine vegetation greening as indicated by normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is increasing at the rate of 0.00352 units/year. On the other hand, the annual mean temperature shows an increasing trend of 0.0329 °C/year, and the annual precipitation also shows a significant negative monotonic trend. It was also found that annual NDVI is significantly correlated with annual temperature. Likewise, the glacial lake area expansion is strongly correlated with annual minimum temperature and annual precipitation. Overall, we found a significant alteration in the alpine ecosystem of the Everest region that could impact on the water–energy–food nexus of the Dudh Koshi river basin.

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