Linking glacial lake expansion with glacier dynamics: An assessment of the South Lhonak lake, Sikkim Himalaya

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saurabh Kaushik ◽  
Pawan Kumar Joshi ◽  
Tejpal Singh ◽  
Anshuman Bhardwaj
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Surface Flow ◽  
Meteorological Station ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Glacier Dynamics ◽  
Heterogeneous Behavior ◽  
Multitemporal Remote Sensing

<p>The Himalayan Cryosphere is imperative to the people of south and central Asia owing to its water availability, hydropower generation, environmental services, eco-tourism, and influences on overall economic development of the region. Additionally, this influences the energy balance of the earth and contributes significantly to the sea level rise. Therefore Himalayan Cryosphere remains center of attraction for scientific community.  Glacier dynamics, seasonal snow and glacial lakes are studied at various scales using a combination of remote sensing and field observations. The existing literature reveals heterogeneous behavior of Himalayan glaciers which is largely influenced by climate change, debris cover and presence of glacial lake at the terminus. There are very limited studies that attempt to comprehend glacier dynamics and lake expansion in the Eastern Himalayan region. Therefore the present study aims to demonstrate link between glacier dynamics and lake expansion of South Lhonak glacier which is situated in the northern Sikkim. Multitemporal remote sensing data (Landsat, 1979-2019) and climate data (1990-2017) observed at Gangtok meteorological station are used in the study. The results reveal that the lake has expanded with a rate of 0.026 km<sup>2</sup> yr<sup>-1</sup> during the last four decades. The preliminary results show strongly imbalanced state of glacier, as glacier has deglaciated (area and length), and surface flow velocity and ice thickness have reduced significantly. The statistical analysis (Mann Kendall and Sens slope) of climate data measured at Gangtok meteorological station shows an accelerated trend of mean maximum (0.031°C yr-1) and mean minimum (0.043°C yr-1) temperatures (95% confidence interval). Whereas, no significant trend in total annual precipitation was observed. Inference can be drawn from study that glacier slow down and retreat contribute significantly to the glacial lake expansion under the influence of climate change, such lake expansion pose anticipated risk of glacial lake outburst in the region.</p>

scholarly journals Temporal monitoring of Ghamu bar glacial lakes using remote sensing and GIS

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Alamgeer Hussain ◽  
Dilshad Bano
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Remote Sensing And Gis ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Landsat Images ◽  
Water Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Water Index

The trends of glacial lakes formation and glacial lake outburst flooding events have been increased across Himalayan Karakorum Hindu Kush (HKH) ranges during last decade due to increase in global warming. This research is addressing the temporal monitoring of ghamu bar glacial lakes using remote sensing and GIS. Landsat images of 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2015 were used to map temporal glacial lakes using normalized difference water index (NDWI) index. The results of normalized difference water index were validated through modified normalized difference water index and field photographs. Temporal variability shows that, glacier lake area has been increase from 1990 to 2015. In 1990 total area of lake was 0.052 sq, which further increased 0.0423 in 1995 than it decreases to 0.314 in 2000 due to detached of debris cover moraine from glacier tongue and it reach 0.0846 sq.km in 2005. The area gradually increased up to 0.1296 sq.km in 2010 and it goes up to 0.157 sq.km 2015. The overall increase in area are expanding at an accelerated rate in past two decades, indicating that Darkut glacier is more vulnerable toward climate change through increase in size and volume ofghamu bar glacial lakes. There is need for vigilance in monitoring of ghamu bar glacial lake through high resolution remote sensing data and development of Geo-database enabling more details about past and future lakes behaviors toward climate change impacts.    

scholarly journals Analysing the Impact of Climate Change on Hydrological Ecosystem Services in Laguna del Sauce (Uruguay) Using the SWAT Model and Remote Sensing Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 2014
Author(s):  
Celina Aznarez ◽  
Patricia Jimeno-Sáez ◽  
Adrián López-Ballesteros ◽  
Juan Pablo Pacheco ◽  
Javier Senent-Aparicio
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Erosion Control ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Extreme Precipitation Events ◽  
The Impact

Assessing how climate change will affect hydrological ecosystem services (HES) provision is necessary for long-term planning and requires local comprehensive climate information. In this study, we used SWAT to evaluate the impacts on four HES, natural hazard protection, erosion control regulation and water supply and flow regulation for the Laguna del Sauce catchment in Uruguay. We used downscaled CMIP-5 global climate models for Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5 projections. We calibrated and validated our SWAT model for the periods 2005–2009 and 2010–2013 based on remote sensed ET data. Monthly NSE and R2 values for calibration and validation were 0.74, 0.64 and 0.79, 0.84, respectively. Our results suggest that climate change will likely negatively affect the water resources of the Laguna del Sauce catchment, especially in the RCP 8.5 scenario. In all RCP scenarios, the catchment is likely to experience a wetting trend, higher temperatures, seasonality shifts and an increase in extreme precipitation events, particularly in frequency and magnitude. This will likely affect water quality provision through runoff and sediment yield inputs, reducing the erosion control HES and likely aggravating eutrophication. Although the amount of water will increase, changes to the hydrological cycle might jeopardize the stability of freshwater supplies and HES on which many people in the south-eastern region of Uruguay depend. Despite streamflow monitoring capacities need to be enhanced to reduce the uncertainty of model results, our findings provide valuable insights for water resources planning in the study area. Hence, water management and monitoring capacities need to be enhanced to reduce the potential negative climate change impacts on HES. The methodological approach presented here, based on satellite ET data can be replicated and adapted to any other place in the world since we employed open-access software and remote sensing data for all the phases of hydrological modelling and HES provision assessment.

Mapping and verification of the snow cover timing in the Baikal region by remote sensing data MODIS “snow cover”

2021 ◽  
Vol 973 (7) ◽  
pp. 21-31
Author(s):  
Е.А. Rasputina ◽  
A.S. Korepova
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Baikal Region ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Meteorological Station ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Modis Data ◽  
Weather Stations ◽  
The Difference

The mapping and analysis of the dates of onset and melting the snow cover in the Baikal region for 2000–2010 based on eight-day MODIS “snow cover” composites with a spatial resolution of 500 m, as well as their verification based on the data of 17 meteorological stations was carried out. For each year of the decennary under study, for each meteorological station, the difference in dates determined from the MODIS data and that of weather stations was calculated. Modulus of deviations vary from 0 to 36 days for onset dates and from 0 to 47 days – for those of stable snow cover melting, the average of the deviation modules for all meteorological stations and years is 9–10 days. It is assumed that 83 % of the cases for the onset dates can be considered admissible (with deviations up to 16 days), and 79 % of them for the end dates. Possible causes of deviations are analyzed. It was revealed that the largest deviations correspond to coastal meteorological stations and are associated with the inhomogeneity of the characteristics of the snow cover inside the pixels containing water and land. The dates of onset and melting of a stable snow cover from the images turned out to be later than those of weather stations for about 10 days. First of all (from the end of August to the middle of September), the snow is established on the tops of the ranges Barguzinsky, Baikalsky, Khamar-Daban, and later (in late November–December) a stable cover appears in the Barguzin valley, in the Selenga lowland, and in Priolkhonye. The predominant part of the Baikal region territory is covered with snow in October, and is released from it in the end of April till the middle of May.

scholarly journals Monitoring Changes to Arctic Vegetation and Glaciers at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Based on Time Series Remote Sensing

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 3845
Author(s):  
Guangbo Ren ◽  
Jianbu Wang ◽  
Yunfei Lu ◽  
Peiqiang Wu ◽  
Xiaoqing Lu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Time Series ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Vegetation Coverage ◽  
Coastal Regions ◽  
Average Annual Temperature

Climate change has profoundly affected global ecological security. The most vulnerable region on Earth is the high-latitude Arctic. Identifying the changes in vegetation coverage and glaciers in high-latitude Arctic coastal regions is important for understanding the process and impact of global climate change. Ny-Ålesund, the northern-most human settlement, is typical of these coastal regions and was used as a study site. Vegetation and glacier changes over the past 35 years were studied using time series remote sensing data from Landsat 5/7/8 acquired in 1985, 1989, 2000, 2011, 2015 and 2019. Site survey data in 2019, a digital elevation model from 2009 and meteorological data observed from 1985 to 2019 were also used. The vegetation in the Ny-Ålesund coastal zone showed a trend of declining and then increasing, with a breaking point in 2000. However, the area of vegetation with coverage greater than 30% increased over the whole study period, and the wetland moss area also increased, which may be caused by the accelerated melting of glaciers. Human activities were responsible for the decline in vegetation cover around Ny-Ålesund owing to the construction of the town and airport. Even in areas with vegetation coverage of only 13%, there were at least five species of high-latitude plants. The melting rate of five major glaciers in the study area accelerated, and approximately 82% of the reduction in glacier area occurred after 2000. The elevation of the lowest boundary of the five glaciers increased by 50–70 m. The increase in precipitation and the average annual temperature after 2000 explains the changes in both vegetation coverage and glaciers in the study period.

scholarly journals Applications of Satellite Remote Sensing to Water Governance and the Mitigation of Climate Change Effects

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilham Ali ◽  
Jay Famiglietti ◽  
Jonathan McLelland
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Management ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Water Stress ◽  
Satellite Remote Sensing ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Climate Change Effects ◽  
Water Issues

Water stress in both surface and groundwater supplies is an increasing environmental and sustainable management issue. According to the UN Environment Program, at current depletion rates almost half of the world's population will suffer severe water stress by 2030. This is further exacerbated by climate change effects which are altering the hydrologic cycle. Understanding climate change implications is critical to planning for water management scenarios as situations such as rising sea levels, increasing severity of storms, prolonged drought in many regions, ocean acidification, and flooding due to snowmelt and heavy precipitation continue. Today, major efforts towards equitable water management and governance are needed. This study adopts the broad, holistic lenses of sustainable development and water diplomacy, acknowledging both the complex and transboundary nature of water issues, to assess the benefits of a “science to policy” approach in water governance. Such negotiations and frameworks are predicated on the availability of timely and uniform data to bolster water management plans, which can be provided by earth-observing satellite missions. In recent decades, significant advances in satellite remote sensing technology have provided unprecedented data of the Earth’s water systems, including information on changes in groundwater storage, mass loss of snow caps, evaporation of surface water reservoirs, and variations in precipitation patterns. In this study, specific remote sensing missions are surveyed (i.e. NASA LANDSAT, GRACE, SMAP, CYGNSS, and SWOT) to understand the breadth of data available for water uses and the implications of these advances for water management. Results indicate historical precedent where remote sensing data and technologies have been successfully integrated to achieve more sustainable water management policy and law, such as in the passage of the California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014. In addition, many opportunities exist in current transboundary and interstate water conflicts (for example, the Nile Basin and the Tri-State Water Wars between Alabama, Georgia, and Florida) to integrate satellite-remote-sensed water data as a means of “joint-fact finding” and basis for further negotiations. The authors argue that expansion of access to satellite remote sensing data of water for the general public, stakeholders, and policy makers would have a significant impact on the development of science-oriented water governance measures and increase awareness of water issues by significant amounts. Barriers to entry exist in accessing many satellite datasets because of prerequisite knowledge and expertise in the domain. More user-friendly platforms need to be developed in order to maximize the utility of present satellite data. Furthermore, sustainable co-operations should be formed to employ satellite remote sensing data on a regional scale to preempt problems in water supply, quantity, and quality.

Landscape Biodiversity Characterization in Ecoregion 29 Using MODIS

2013 ◽  
pp. 815-831
Author(s):  
Nitin Kumar Tripathi ◽  
Aung Phey Khant
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Modis Data ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Landscape Biodiversity

Biodiversity conservation is a challenging task due to ever growing impact of global warming and climate change. The chapter discusses various aspects of biodiversity parameters that can be estimated using remote sensing data. Moderate resolution satellite (MODIS) data was used to demonstrate the biodiversity characterization of Ecoregion 29. Forest type map linked to density of the study area was also developed by MODIS data. The outcome states that remote sensing and geographic information systems can be used in combination to derive various parameters related to biodiversity surveillance at a regional scale.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document