Publications

Singh, V; Jain, SK; Shukla, S (2021). Glacier change and glacier runoff variation in the Himalayan Baspa river basin. JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY, 593, 125918.

Abstract
Monitoring the changes in glaciers and their impact on melt runoff is significant to assess the availability of water resources in the Himalayan basins. In this study, the spatial processes in Hydrology (SPHY) model has been incorporated with variable degree-day factors coupled with temperature index model in the Baspa river basin, a major tributary of Satluj River, located in Western Himalaya. The temporal glacier maps derived from the LANDSAT satellite sensors and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) derived snow covered area (SCA) maps have been used to compute the snow and glacier melt runoff separately. The SCA maps generated through the model were found comparable to the MODIS derived SCA maps for the years 2010 and 2018. Model simulation results showed that SPHY based computed flow at the outlet i.e. Sangla gauge was found satisfactory when compared to the observed flow and R-2 computed >0.7. The contribution from Glacier melt has been found to be reduced from 18 to 12% while Snow melt contribution increased from 58 to 64% from 2000 to 2018. On the basis of analysis of the 17 watersheds (i.e. dominated by snow and glaciers) out of 30 watersheds created in the basin, the flow from Glacier melt in glacier dominated watersheds is increasing while in other watersheds it is reducing due to reduced glacier cover. On an average, Glacier melt has decreased 14% and 44%, Snow melt increased 24 and 42% and Rain flow (rainfall induced runoff) 31 and 40% for the year 2011 to 2018 with respect to the year 2003 from these 17 watersheds. As per SPHY, corresponding to glacier map of the year 2000, the glacier ice volume has been computed around 13.41 km(3), while for the glacier map of 2018, it has been reduced around 10.99 km(3).

DOI:
10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125918

ISSN:
0022-1694