TY - JOUR
T1 - Runoff from glacier ice and seasonal snow in High Asia:
T2 - separating melt water sources in river flow
AU - Armstrong, Richard
AU - Rittger, Karl
AU - Brodzik, Mary J.
AU - Racoviteanu, Adina
AU - Barrett, Andrew
AU - Khalsa, Siri Jodha Singh
AU - Raup, Bruce H.
AU - Hill, Alice
AU - Khan, Alia L.
AU - Wilson, Alana M.
AU - Kayastha, Rijan
AU - Fetterer, Florence
AU - Armstrong, Betsy
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements The CHARIS project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID, Cooperative Agreement No. AID-0AA-A-11-00045). NASA earth observing satellite data sets are an indispensable part of this project. This work utilizes the RMACC supercomputer, which is supported by the National Science Foundation (awards ACI-1532235 and ACI-1532236), the University of Colorado Boulder, and Colorado State University. The Summit supercomputer is a joint effort of the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado State University. Sincere thanks to CHARIS’ Asian partners for their continued enthusiasm and engagement in the mission of the CHARIS project. These partners include Kathmandu University, Nepal; Kabul University, Afghanistan; Department of Hydro-Meteorological Services, Bhutan; Royal University of Bhutan, Sherubtse College, Bhutan; Jawaharlal Nehru University, India; Sharda University, India; Institute of Geography, Kazakhstan; Institute of Water Problems and Hydropower, Kyrgyzstan; Karakorum International University, Pakistan; Water and Power Development Authority, Pakistan; Institute of Water Problems, Hydropower, and Ecology, Tajikistan.
Funding Information:
The CHARIS project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID, Cooperative Agreement No. AID-0AA-A-11-00045). NASA earth observing satellite data sets are an indispensable part of this project. This work utilizes the RMACC supercomputer, which is supported by the National Science Foundation (awards ACI-1532235 and ACI-1532236), the University of Colorado Boulder, and Colorado State University. The Summit supercomputer is a joint effort of the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado State University. Sincere thanks to CHARIS? Asian partners for their continued enthusiasm and engagement in the mission of the CHARIS project. These partners include Kathmandu University, Nepal; Kabul University, Afghanistan; Department of Hydro-Meteorological Services, Bhutan; Royal University of Bhutan, Sherubtse College, Bhutan; Jawaharlal Nehru University, India; Sharda University, India; Institute of Geography, Kazakhstan; Institute of Water Problems and Hydropower, Kyrgyzstan; Karakorum International University, Pakistan; Water and Power Development Authority, Pakistan; Institute of Water Problems, Hydropower, and Ecology, Tajikistan.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, The Author(s).
PY - 2019/6/1
Y1 - 2019/6/1
N2 - Across High Asia, the amount, timing, and spatial patterns of snow and ice melt play key roles in providing water for downstream irrigation, hydropower generation, and general consumption. The goal of this paper is to distinguish the specific contribution of seasonal snow versus glacier ice melt in the major basins of High Mountain Asia: Ganges, Brahmaputra, Indus, Amu Darya, and Syr Darya. Our methodology involves the application of MODIS-derived remote sensing products to separately calculate daily melt outputs from snow and glacier ice. Using an automated partitioning method, we generate daily maps of (1) snow over glacier ice, (2) exposed glacier ice, and (3) snow over land. These are inputs to a temperature index model that yields melt water volumes contributing to river flow. Results for the five major High Mountain Asia basins show that the western regions are heavily reliant on snow and ice melt sources for summer dry season flow when demand is at a peak, whereas monsoon rainfall dominates runoff during the summer period in the east. While uncertainty remains in the temperature index model applied here, our approach to partitioning melt from seasonal snow and glacier ice is both innovative and systematic and more constrained than previous efforts with similar goals
AB - Across High Asia, the amount, timing, and spatial patterns of snow and ice melt play key roles in providing water for downstream irrigation, hydropower generation, and general consumption. The goal of this paper is to distinguish the specific contribution of seasonal snow versus glacier ice melt in the major basins of High Mountain Asia: Ganges, Brahmaputra, Indus, Amu Darya, and Syr Darya. Our methodology involves the application of MODIS-derived remote sensing products to separately calculate daily melt outputs from snow and glacier ice. Using an automated partitioning method, we generate daily maps of (1) snow over glacier ice, (2) exposed glacier ice, and (3) snow over land. These are inputs to a temperature index model that yields melt water volumes contributing to river flow. Results for the five major High Mountain Asia basins show that the western regions are heavily reliant on snow and ice melt sources for summer dry season flow when demand is at a peak, whereas monsoon rainfall dominates runoff during the summer period in the east. While uncertainty remains in the temperature index model applied here, our approach to partitioning melt from seasonal snow and glacier ice is both innovative and systematic and more constrained than previous efforts with similar goals
KW - High Mountain Asia
KW - seasonal snow
KW - glaciers
KW - melt contribution to river flow
KW - Seasonal snow
KW - Melt contribution to river flow
KW - Glaciers
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85056327238&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10113-018-1429-0
DO - 10.1007/s10113-018-1429-0
M3 - Article
SN - 1436-3798
VL - 19
SP - 1249
EP - 1261
JO - Regional Environmental Change
JF - Regional Environmental Change
IS - 5
ER -
