Center of Studies in Resources Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India.
Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
Sci Rep. 2019 Nov 13;9(1):16730. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-53055-y.
Himalayan glaciers have long been the focus of glaciologists across the world while trying to understand the contrasting patterns of elevation and mass changes. However, with limited number of ground observations, a comprehensive assessment of mass balance on a regional scale still remains elusive. Using the synoptic coverage of remote sensing data, we estimate a detailed spatial variation of glacier ice thickness change in the Central Himalaya of Uttarakhand using geodetic method, on a catchment scale. High resolution TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X (12 m) and SRTM (30 m) digital elevation models (DEMs) have been utilized. The mean elevation change in the catchments is found to be -9.56 ± 0.2 m (mean annual elevation change rate is -0.68 ± 0.01 m a). To highlight the water potential of this region, the total ice mass loss has been estimated to be 16.0 ± 1.2 Gigatonne (Gt) from 2000-2014 from eight identified catchments namely Yamunotri, Bhagirathi, Mandakini, Alaknanda, Dhauliganga, Pindar, Goriganga and Kali/Sarda. The estimated mass balance has been validated using reported observations on five selective glaciers and the coefficient of determination is 0.93. This spatial variation of ice thickness estimated in the eight catchments is critical, as the melt-water from these glaciers contribute to the upper Ganga basin.
喜马拉雅山脉的冰川一直是世界各地冰川学家关注的焦点，他们试图了解海拔和质量变化的对比模式。然而，由于地面观测数量有限，对区域尺度上的质量平衡进行全面评估仍然难以实现。本研究利用遥感数据的同步覆盖，采用大地测量方法，在流域尺度上估算了北阿坎德邦中央喜马拉雅地区冰川冰厚度变化的详细空间变化。研究利用了高分辨率 TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X（12 米）和 SRTM（30 米）数字高程模型（DEMs）。结果发现，流域的平均高程变化为-9.56±0.2 米（平均年高程变化率为-0.68±0.01 米）。为了突出该地区的水资源潜力，从 2000 年到 2014 年，从 8 个已确定的流域（即 Yamunotri、Bhagirathi、Mandakini、Alaknanda、Dhauliganga、Pindar、Goriganga 和 Kali/Sarda）估算出的总冰质量损失估计为 16.0±1.2 千兆吨（Gt）。利用对五个有代表性冰川的报告观测对估算的质量平衡进行了验证，决定系数为 0.93。在这 8 个流域中估算的冰厚空间变化是至关重要的，因为这些冰川的融水会流入上恒河流域。
